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Coconut Oil

What Coconut Oil is & what it does

A rich, saturated-fat oil that deeply softens and locks in moisture. It is highly occlusive and conditioning but can clog pores on acne-prone skin.

What is Coconut Oil and what does it do in sunscreen?

Coconut Oil (INCI Cocos Nucifera Oil) is a rich, saturated plant oil used as an emollient. In a sunscreen it deeply softens the skin and locks in moisture, leaving a conditioned, occlusive finish. It is comforting on dry skin, but its heaviness makes it less suited to oily or breakout-prone skin.

Is Coconut Oil safe?

Yes. Coconut Oil is a long-used, food-grade plant oil that is well tolerated by most people as a skin emollient. The main caveat is not safety but suitability: it is heavy and can clog pores on acne-prone skin. People with very sensitive or reactive skin should patch test, as with any rich oil.

Does Coconut Oil clog pores?

It can. We flag Coconut Oil as moderately comedogenic, meaning it is more likely than many ingredients to clog pores or trigger breakouts on acne-prone skin. It is highly occlusive and rich in pore-clogging fatty acids, so oily and blemish-prone skin types often do better avoiding it. Drier skin usually tolerates it well.

Is Coconut Oil fungal-acne safe?

No. Coconut Oil is a plant oil whose fatty acids can be used as food by the malassezia yeast behind fungal acne, so it is a known ingredient to avoid if you are managing that condition. It is harmless for people without fungal acne, who simply weigh it for its richness and comedogenicity instead. Note this is a separate concern from its general safety, which is not in question.

Is Coconut Oil natural and vegan?

Yes. It is pressed directly from the flesh of the coconut, so it is a natural, plant-derived oil with no animal ingredients. Whether a full sunscreen counts as natural or vegan still depends on the rest of its formula.

Sunscreens with Coconut Oil

We rate 348 sunscreens that contain it, showing the top 10 by overall score:

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