WHY EVERY NATURAL OIL CANNOT BE GOOD FOR YOUR SKIN

10 Aug 2019


As long as a product contains natural oils, it is good for your skin-so they say. Not so true. All natural oils is not good for your skin. Coconut oil is not the master key to any skin problem. Shea Butter would not solve all your skin woes. Let's see why:
Most natural oils have a comedogenic rating. Comedogenic rating is the ability for the oil to clog your pores. It starts at 0 and ends at 5. The higher the number, the higher chances of the oil clogging your skin pores.  
It is advisable for people with acne and oily prone skin types to use oils that have a 0-1 rating, anything higher, you are run the risk of clogging your pores and more breakouts.
 Normal/Combo skin type should use oils with ratings up to a 2 and dry/mature skin type should use oils with ratings up to a 3.
 Before buying that product or requesting for a custom made product, check the ingredients for something that might react with your skin or request for that ingredient to be left out of your product, if the formulator uses it. Don't use products just because they are popular or you got them for free, stick to products or ingredients that your skin prefers.  Always remember that all skin types ain't the same. What works for your friend might not work for you. 

Let's see a break down of Comedogenic rating of oils



0 Does not clog pores .E.g Black currant oil, Hempseed oil, Gojiberry seed oil, safflower oil, squalene oil,

1 Low risk of clogging pores E.g castor oil, cucumber seed oil, tea tree oil, grapeseed oil, neem oil, rosehip, sea buckthorn

2 Moderately low (May clog pores for some but be fine for most)
e.g olive oil, rice bran oil, jojoba, evening prime rose, borage, mango butter.

3 Moderate (Will most like clog acne prone/oily skin type, but may not clog dry skin types. It all depends on the skin type). E.g carrot seed oil, avocado oil, chia seed, Moringa, papaya seed, shea butter

4 Fairly high (Clogs pores for most people) e.g palm oil, flaxseed, marula, cocoa butter, coconut butter/oil

5 High probability your pores will become clogged e.g wheatgerm, soybean

Now you can understand why that product, though natural seems to react with your skin. I react to products containing coconut oil, red oil, carrot oil even carrot seed oil!- I was pretty surprised by that one. Now, I know what my skin likes and I feed it accordingly. Whenever I react to a product, I usually have an idea of what the problem might have been, as I am wiser about such stuff. I have also noticed that it is very important to pay attention to carrier oils as base oils when formulating. Some formulators use avocado, almond, olive oils as base oils, which isn't a bad thing. The problem becomes when the intending buyer has a skin type that doesn't suit these oils. When buying any oil, try to find out, the major ingredient of such oil and as a formulator, endeavor to ask the intending buyer, the skin type or allergies to a particular ingredient before you would start hearing that, someone somewhere said your product reacts to people's skin .  As always, we would love to listen to your ideas and comments, so please do not leave without commenting.....xoxo


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