I am 42 years old and still suffer from cystic acne. It’s been a long and arduous battle to keep my skin care marriage happy. I’ve tried all the popular skin care lines the celebrities talk about in commercials aired during talk shows and teen tv shows. None of them worked for me and some of them made my skin more sensitive to the sun. For this fair skinned woman of German and Irish descent, having sun sensitivity is something I have to be vigilant about. Last year I began flirting with various natural products to figure out what would work best for me. I had divorced all the popular make up lines as well. I started using Bare Minerals several years ago and that did help minimize break outs, but I still had to come face to face with clogged pores and boil-like acne whenever Aunt Flo visited (she’s such an interloper!). It’s been somewhat of a fad to use coconut oil for just about everything, but let me tell you why I stopped using coconut oil on my face.
I’m breaking up!
For the most part, coconut oil was better for my skin than the other popular and expensive lines I had used before, but as the week of Aunt Flo approached every month, my pores would clog and produce acne. I would dab a bit of coconut oil on each blemish a few times a day and it did clear up faster, but I couldn’t get acne to stop intruding in my life. Every month I had to steam, cleanse, massage, and extract clogged pores. At my age, I shouldn’t have acne. I’m sick of the acne (and I’m sick of having a period, but lets not go there today. Acne is depressing enough as it is).
While I’ve been studying in my aromatherapy course, I came to the lesson on making skin care products. I also happened to see a comment on Dr. Axe’s website mention that coconut oil is a 4 on the comedogenic scale. Yet, many women do use it on their faces without ever getting a clogged pore. While I’m happy for them, I don’t want to be a home wrecker to them. All of our skin and pores are unique and mine just isn’t happy with me using coconut oil.
I’m breaking up with coconut oil. Well sort of. Just when it comes to my face. It’s still great on the feet, elbows, and knees. It’s also a luxurious oral treat to loosen up food particles in between your teeth to help make flossing easier. There are many wonderful uses for coconut oil, I’m just not going to keep lathering it all over my face.
I had to find something else so I started flirting with other oils. Oils for acne prone skin, you ask? Yes!
I tried tea tree oil (Melaleuca), but here’s what happened….indeed it would dry up the acne, but then it just stayed there in the pore, dried up, and looking rather unsightly. Any product that dries up the skin didn’t work out for me. My skin would then work over time and produce tons of oil. I’m not fond of having a lubricated sheen on my face.
I figured my skin is thirsty so why am I trying to dry it up? Using a lower comedogenic moisture rich product is just what my skin needed. For now, I’m using almond oil with Vetiver and Lavender essential oils. Within 24 hours I noticed a remarkable difference in my skin. Almond oil is a 2 on the comedogenic scale, while coconut oil is a 4. I’m currently having that monthly visit from Aunt Flo and my skin looks amazing. Just a couple days prior, I began to have a break out on my chin. That was the day I made the change and that was when my skin actually cleared up during PMS week (instead of 2 weeks later).
To clear that starter acne up faster, I applied Vetiver (neat) to the blemish at night after cleansing and by morning it was just about gone. Two days later and it’s as if it was never there to begin with.
Now let me tell you, I’m NOT a fan of blog articles that offer a “golden ticket” promise when it comes to using essential oils. I don’t like the “hurry, while supplies last” tone I read all over the Internet. I’m going to be downright honest with you so you aren’t mislead in any way. This may not be a popular move among some essential oils reps nor among bloggers who are making money from you buying coconut oil through their affiliate links.
Since all of us have unique skin care needs, you need to find what works for YOUR skin. I still feel like I’m in the experimental stage of discovering what my skin will be happiest with. I’d love to be able to tell you a “my skin lived happily ever after” story, but I’m just not there yet. But I am 100% happily married to essential oils and I will continue to date coconut oil for other reasons.
I’ll keep using almond oil for a month before trying a mix of shea butter and sunflower oil (they’re both a zero on the comedogenic scale). For now, I’m much happier with almond oil than coconut oil. I don’t mean to be fickle, I just have to be more committed to my skin than to a popular trend.
*Disclaimer: As an Wellness Advocate I provide my personal opinion and experiences with essential oils, and am not endorsed by dōTERRA Corporate. None of what I testify of has been evaluated by the FDA, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. I am not a registered medical professional and I encourage you to discuss your health concerns with your own doctor. I simply share resources and tools to raise consumer awareness. This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclaimer here.
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