A beauty writer explains why she finally decided to test out the popular ingredient after avoiding it.
As a former acne girlie, I avoid some ingredients, and coconut oil is one of them. There was a time I overused the ingredients on my face, and let's just say the payoff wasn't what I expected. My face slowly became full of breakouts when the assignment was supposed to give a goddess glow. It took months for my skin to heal and even longer to remove acne scars. When BeautyStat sent me their Triple Plump Coconut Milk Serum, it was an absolute no until I researched.
According to this study, coconut milk can help heal hyperpigmentation. Coconut milk's healing attributes are due to its fatty acids, which contain antiseptics. On the other hand, fatty acids on the skin can also cause acne, making the ingredient almost counterproductive. The study fights this claim by stating the cause of breakouts can happen for many reasons: hormones, stress, diet, etc. It also mentions that coconut oil, which has more of a bad reputation for those with acne, has 92% more saturated fats. This makes coconut milk safer for those with acne-prone skin than coconut oil.
My first experience with coconut was using it as an oil. The study gave me the confidence to try coconut milk instead, hoping this ingredient would enhance hydration and keep any unwanted breakouts far away. I implemented the coconut serum about 1-2 times a week, day and night. It was important for me to slowly introduce my skin to a new ingredient, mainly because our history hasn't been the best. Taking this slow was the best way for my pores to receive this product and determine whether this experiment was worth leaning into.
One to two times a week was enough for me to notice a difference. Luckily, I did not break out as I anticipated. It was the complete opposite. My skin received the product gracefully, allowing its natural healing properties to provide a supple glow. Pure hydration followed me throughout my days as I continued to go through life's callings. This quality only made me more comfortable with my skin remaining in receiving mode. My pores continued taking in the hyaluronic acid, polyglutamic acid, and micro-silver ingredients that added to this product and my experience.
After a month of using the serum, it naturally became part of my morning and, slowly, nighttime routine. Almost every day, I would use the serum as a first step in my routine before moving on to other skincare products. One morning, I noticed the serum became clogged. What was once a satisfying liquid product that glided against my skin became a chunky "coconut milk-like" consistency. Just as I was loving the serum, it seemed as though our journey was coming to an end. The feeling was the equivalent of a relationship going well and being entirely blind-sided by a breakup. Naturally, I thought, "Maybe we can work through things!" The reality is all good things come to an end -- even our beauty products.
The good thing about this product is that it doesn't cause acne breakouts. Knowing I can enjoy the coconut ingredient without sacrificing my canvas fills me with immense joy. However, because coconut is a natural ingredient, incorporating this product will have an expiration date earlier than anticipated, which is slightly unsettling. If you don't repurchase after using coconut milk, it just might be worth a try.