Pure Fiji Reniu Coconut Body Butter

Coconut Oil for Dry Skin: What Two Clinical Trials Actually Found

August is when Auckland skin gets tight and itchy across the shins and forearms. Coconut oil comes up every winter, and unusually for a traditional ingredient there are actual randomised controlled trials to point at rather than testimonials.

The dry skin trial

A double blind randomised trial put virgin coconut oil against mineral oil in 34 people with mild to moderate xerosis, applied to the legs twice a day for two weeks, with skin hydration and surface lipids measured instrumentally rather than by eye (Agero and Verallo-Rowell, 2004, PMID 15724344).

Both oils significantly improved hydration and raised surface lipid levels, and neither worsened water loss through the skin or shifted its pH. The investigators noted a general trend toward better improvement with coconut oil, and were careful to say it was not statistically evident. Their conclusion was parity: coconut oil is as effective and as safe as mineral oil.

That is a more modest finding than the internet usually reports, and it is worth stating plainly. Coconut oil did not beat the boring comparator. It matched it.

The trial where it did do better

A second randomised double blind trial, this time in 117 children with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis, ran for eight weeks. Mean SCORAD scores fell 68.23 per cent with virgin coconut oil against 38.13 per cent with mineral oil, and the instrumental measures moved with the clinical ones: water loss through the skin fell from 26.68 to 7.09 in the coconut oil group, and skin capacitance rose from 32.0 to 42.3 (Evangelista et al., 2014, PMID 24320105).

Two things to hold onto. That was a genuine superiority result. It was also in children with a diagnosed skin condition, over eight weeks, which is not the same population as an adult with dry shins in August.

Why an oil helps at all

A 2017 review of topical plant oils sets out the general mechanisms: effects on inflammation, on antioxidant activity, and on repair of the skin barrier (Lin et al., 2017, PMID 29280987). Dry skin is a barrier problem before it is anything else, which is why an occlusive layer that slows water loss tends to help regardless of how romantic the oil sounds.

Using it without wasting it

  • Apply to skin that is still damp, straight out of the shower. An oil slows water leaving; it is not itself a source of water.
  • Less than you think, warmed between the palms first.
  • If your skin is broken, weeping or infected, that is a matter for a doctor and not for an oil.
  • Coconut oil is comedogenic for some people. It earns its place on bodies far more easily than on faces.

What we stock

We carry the Pure Fiji Nourishing Exotic Coconut Oil across the scent range, and the richer Reniu Coconut Body Butter if you want something that stays put on heels and elbows. Come and smell them in Parnell before you commit to a scent, because that is the part nobody can decide for you.

Written by the team at Verdo Cosmetics in Parnell. This is general information about cosmetic ingredients, not medical advice. If something on your skin is painful, spreading or not settling, please see your GP or a dermatologist.

Frequently asked questions

Is coconut oil actually proven to help dry skin?
A randomised double blind trial in 34 people with mild to moderate xerosis found virgin coconut oil significantly improved skin hydration and surface lipids, and concluded it was as effective and as safe as mineral oil (Agero and Verallo-Rowell, 2004, PMID 15724344). The trend favouring coconut oil over mineral oil was not statistically evident, so parity is the honest description.
Is coconut oil better than a normal moisturiser?
In the xerosis trial it matched mineral oil rather than beating it. In a separate trial of 117 children with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis it did do better, with SCORAD scores falling 68.23 per cent against 38.13 per cent over eight weeks (Evangelista et al., 2014, PMID 24320105). That result is in children with a diagnosed condition, not general dry skin in adults.
When should I put it on?
On damp skin, straight after a shower. An oil works by slowing water loss from the skin rather than adding water, so it does more when there is water there to hold.
Can I use coconut oil on my face?
Some people can and some people break out, because coconut oil is comedogenic for a proportion of users. It is a much easier recommendation for the body than for the face.
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