Can You Use Coconut Oil on Acneic Skin? We Asked Dermatologists

By Maya Allen

May, 2020

Coconut oil might as well be magic, because its multitasking powers are everything. Have you ever looked up its benefits? There's literally a list of 100 uses on Google. At Byrdie, we're proponents of using this hardworking oil every single day. It can whiten your teeth, remove makeup, help with diabetes, make your nails longer, and even burn fat. Sure, there's been some controversy over coconut oil this past year, but we've concluded that it's fine to use in moderation.

But as true skincare fanatics, we couldn't help but wonder: Is coconut oil okay for acne-prone skin? Everyone deals with breakouts from time to time, and since this magic oil is good for just about everything else, inquiring minds want to know if it's an acne fighter, too. So we turned to the experts—in this case, dermatologists Dendy Engelman, MD, and Nava Greenfield, MD, of Schweiger Dermatology Group—to get the answer to our burning question.