Coconut Oil in the Natural Bar Soap Industry
I thought Coconut oil was good for us...It is, but...
Here's what you DON'T know about Soap Making. At TERRA-TORY, soap making is a science first, an art second. It involves measuring and combining water, fat and lye together to create a cleanser for your hair, face and body. All oils have different properties, acids and behaviors. Each oil that is used is important for each purpose.
Coconut Oil (Tree Nut Oil; along with Palm Oil) is one of the most popular ingredients used in soap making. Look at...[insert commercial soap brands here] (won't use any names) who use terms like "Sodium Cocoate” aka Coconut oil is also very cheap. So when running a soap business, many soap makers use Coconut oil in large quantities in their soap recipes. This is why your skin either becomes dry or breaks out. However, this mainly means the majority (especially the commercial brands) are using "hydrogenated" coconut oil, and a lot of it...bad news.
But at the end of the day, soap-makers are making one thing. Soap. Nothing more, nothing less.
Coconut oil is too alkaline for the skin, it has a pH of 7-6 whereas our natural skin pH is 5. Washing with soap containing coconut oil can drop the skin’s pH balance to 3. Making the reason why “soap” gets such a bad reputation with dermatitis.
Read your labels. Don't be fooled by the beautiful packaging. Customers need to actually do something called "Reading The Label" before purchasing products. Something we didn't often do in the beginning, but now people are wising up and doing their research.
Labeling can get really tricky with coconut oil, which is why I probably get so many questions about it why I DON'T use it. My first rule of thumb is to simply read the labels. Most commercial coconut oil found in your typical grocery store, skin or haircare products, are not what you want to put in or on your body.
It contains hexane. I can nerd out and list all the short and long-term effects hexane can cause on our central nervous system but I’m anti-fear mongering so you can research them yourself. Many companies use petroleum byproducts (like hexane solvents) to produce their coconut oil. Hexane (n-Hexane) is a chemical byproduct of crude oil (petroleum) a known irritant and both environmental and health hazard. You can find studies on it here.
Body butter and oils contain large amounts of Coconut Oil, but where are they getting all these coconuts!?!?
Who knows, but what I DO know is that there's an existing Coconut oil allergy. It can be as serious as Anaphylactic reactions to less dramatic as contact dermatitis. Either way, we simply don't want any parts.
Let's face it. We've ALL used a product of some sort that contained Coconut oil (Sodium Cocoate or Sodium Lauryl Sulfate). Shampoo, soaps, lubricants, lotions, you name it. But the absence of Coconut oil makes all the difference. Ever felt dry and itchy after a shower? Do You realize you're eczema flares up more often? Does Your skin always end up dull & and tight after cleansing?
Well, I’d like to believe it's the amount of coconut oil in your cleansers and body butter. Because pure virgin coconut oil is so expensive, hydrogenated/fractionated coconut oil is the next runner-up for mass-produced and “organic” skincare.
With purpose,
Kim