Cocos Nucifera Oil.

What it does

On skin it is an occlusive emollient moisturizer; on hair its small, linear fatty acids let it penetrate the hair shaft and reduce protein loss, which is well documented.

Benefits

• Effective occlusive emollient for dry skin and body care; studies find it as effective as mineral oil for xerosis and better for pediatric atopic dermatitis
• Penetrates the hair shaft and reduces protein loss and combing damage, helping with dryness, breakage, and split ends (a genuine, well-supported hair benefit)
• Inexpensive and widely available

Side effects

• Highly comedogenic on the face (commonly rated 4/5); many acne-prone users report blackheads and breakouts, with mixed individual tolerance
• Its lauric/myristic/palmitic acids sit in the C11-C24 range that lipid-dependent Malassezia yeast can feed on, so it is generally flagged as a potential fungal-acne (Malassezia folliculitis) trigger

Who it's for

Dry skin (especially body), and most hair types as a pre-wash or conditioning treatment

Who should be careful

Acne-prone or fungal-acne (Malassezia folliculitis)-prone skin should avoid it on the face