Is Palm Oil Bad For Your Skin?

Palm oil and palm kernel oil can also be bad for skin if you are prone to blocked pores. This is because these oils are high in oleic fatty acids are believed to block pores which can lead to acne outbreaks. A soap bar made from majority palm oil will not be good for your skin. Palm Oil & Palm Kernel Oil that have been refined are probably not the best for your skin as they have been through a chemical process and bleaching to make them more appealing for food or cosmetics. A soap bar made from majority palm oil will not be good for your skin. Palm kernel oil is a cleanser in soap and will dry the skin out. Palm kernel oil is one of the most common oils used in soap bars you can buy over the counter at supermarkets and pharmacies. Palm oil is also used to create other ingredients used in skin care. In the process of refining palm oil, fatty ‘oleic’ alcohols are produced as a side product. Truly palm oil free soap bars are good for skin. Soap bars made from palm oil and palm kernel oil can be very drying, especially when palm oil derivatives like sodium lauryl sulphate are used as well. In general soap made with palm oil is bad for skin, usually because they contain way too much of this cleansing oil. Palm kernel oil is a cleanser in soap making and should only make up at the most 20-30% of a soap bar. Palm oil free soap bars that are free from chemicals used in commercial soap making tend to perform the best and give great results. Natural soap free from palm oil and containing moisturising ingredients, also known as emollients are really good for skin. Some emollients like olive oil, hempseed oil and cocoa butter can have great results on the skin as they are naturally moisturising, even in soap. One of the ingredients in a natural palm oil free soap is glycerin. This ingredient naturally produced in the soap making process is amazing for skin as it naturally draws moisture towards it. Commercially produced palm oil based soaps are in general bad for skin as they are very drying and usually have their moisturising glycerin removed (again see post on glycerin for more information on this. The soap we produce is purposely palm oil free as it’s not great for skin and it’s also disastrous for our environment.