For many years, I’ve struggled with a coconut-free existence without really being aware coconut itself was the issue. Over the years, I’ve felt sad for people who’ve had to live both gluten-free and corn-free, as that’s quite difficult. However, it may actually be more difficult to avoid coconut in our modern age.
Part of that’s the fault of people like my first husband, so funny story down at the end.
Coconut’s in:
- Almost all shampoos, face washes (especially the foaming ones), body washes, and toothpastes;
- Many conditioners;
- Many deodorants and anti-perspirants;
- Some cough syrups;
- Many makeup products; and
- Some dishwashing detergents (and probably laundry detergents, though they’re cagier about actual identification of ingredients).
Now, I’ve eliminated all the coconut ingredients that I knew bothered me over the years. However, coconut’s in so many, many things that I had no idea for sure if I wasn’t generally feeling worse because of additive exposure. I have a friend who was miserable for two years and got so sick she consulted a cardiologist before it was figured out she was allergic to wheat. I don’t want to be that person because I was being silly.
The Great September Experiment (and the Red Washi Tape of Doom)
I decided, naturally after I’d just ordered some items with coconut (grin), that September was a great time for me to run an experiment: no coconut internally or externally. If I feel better, then I have to eliminate all coconut. I’ve kept track of how I’ve felt during August. If I consider September insufficiently conclusive, then my plan is to extend the experiment through October. At that point, I’ll know whether I can start re-introducing coconut ingredients or not.
If I can, then my plan is to introduce one specific coconut ingredient at a time. Like: Stearic Acid for two weeks (that will probably actually be first because I love Wintergreen Life Savers and they have Stearic Acid in them, as do many hard candies).
I know how I get when I’m tired: I forget things, and make some stupid mistakes. I’m often showering or washing my face at the beginning or ending of my day when I’m at my worst. So, I thought, a simple trip to Staples and less than five bucks should help solve this problem.
To mark the no-coconut things, I got small holographic stars. To mark the coconut things, I got red washi tape. (Not all things in the pic below have been marked yet, and not everything’s turned so you can see the star or tape.)
A Korean and Japanese Skin Care Routine That’s Coconut-Free
Here are the ones I’ve used (except where otherwise noted):
- Oil cleanser. Many oil cleansers are coconut-free (probably about a third of the ones at your nearest Sephora, for example).
Kosé Softymo Deep Cleansing Oil (gold, not the pink Speedy, which is not coconut-free) runs around $11 for 230ml.I missed a coconut ingredient. 🙁 Please hold. -
Second cleanser. So far, I’ve only found one, and I stopped looking when I found it: Innisfree Jeju Bija Anti-Trouble Cleansing Gel. This is more like a pool cleanser, so it can be both a first and a second cleanser. More about pool cleansers in this piece on fanserviced-b.
You can basically assume that anything foaming is not coconut free, which will save you a ton of label disappointment and time. I’ll create a list after a while, but this category’s lower priority than some others.
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Exfoliater. Cure Natural Aqua Gel, the most commonly-used exfoliator in Japan, is coconut-free, but many products in this category may be. (Note: I’ve not used any products in this category.)
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Toner. I use a toner every 2-3 nights, and use CosRX’s AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner. For a hydrating toner, I still have a bottle of Elemis’s Apricot toner (Elemis is a British brand and quite pricey, but I’ve got a mostly full bottle, so it’s a sunk cost).
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Serum, Emulsion, Ampoule. I use CosRX’s Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence alternated with CosRX’s Propolis Light Ampule. I hadn’t intended to be all animal product at this stage, nor is that a given. It’s just the way it happened.
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Sheet Masks. Many much-loved sheet masks aren’t coconut free. Here are some I’ve happened upon that are.
- Some Skinfood “Beauty in a Food Mask”: Strawberry, Jeju Tangerine, and Ginseng for sure.
- Some Skinfood Everyday: Olive, Lentil, Beauty Berry, and Green Tea definitely are.
- Whamisa Organic Seeds & Rice Fermented Hydrogel Mask with Lactobacillus, so thankfully one company gifted two with an order because I hadn’t thought to buy one. I haven’t tried it yet.
- Benton Snail Bee High Content Mask Pack, also a gift. I haven’t tried it yet.
- Some Sexylook masks, which thankfully have their ingredients printed in English on the back. The (purple) Intensive Firming Duo 3D Lifting Facial Mask has a first ingredient of rose water. The (pink) Super Hydrating Duo 3D Lifting Facial Mask has a first ingredient of rhodochrosite extract.
- Dr. Jart+ hydrogels like the Water-full Hydrogel Mask and Wrinkless Solution, are coconut free and available at Sephora for mind-boggling prices.
- Some Dermal masks, including Q10 Collagen Essence Mask and Acerola Collagen Essence Mask.
- Eye Creams. I haven’t found any yet. This is my next project.
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Moisturizer. After loving a non-coconut-free Hada Labo product, I went to a local Japanese grocery (Mitsuwa in San Jose) and picked up Hada Labo 3D Anti-Aging Perfect Gel which Mentholatum imports. Mentholatum’s parent company, Rohto, makes Hada Labo. Nature Republic’s Aqua Super Aqua Max Combination Watery Cream is another. Most Asian beauty moisturizers aren’t coconut free, but it was fairly easy to find one.
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Sunscreen. I’m going to recommend this, but it may be a mistake, so let me know if it doesn’t work for you. Laur- often translates to coconut or palm origin because they lead to production of long carbon chains. The Biore UV AQUA Rich Watery Essence SPF 50+ PA++++ contains Lauryl Methacrylate/Sodium Methacrylate crosspolymer. Yet, I see nothing in that linked document that indicates specific origin, let alone coconut. In this case, the further removed from the nut, the better as far as I’m concerned. Also available on Amazon as an import.
If you need alcohol free and that’s a bigger problem for you than coconut is, Mentholatum Sunplay Super Block Sunscreen SPF 50+ PA++++ is the only thing I’ve found so far. This is a Japanese import. It has two laur- ingredients that are not listed on other coconut lists (lauryl PEG-9 polydimethylsiloxyethyl dimethicone and vinyl dimethicone/lauryl dimethicone crosspolymer). Amazon link. Currently $9.48 for 30g (a hair over an ounce).
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Sleeping Pack. I really love the Too Cool For School Pumpkin Sleeping Pack. Here are some others I haven’t tried:
- Etude House Collagen Moistfull Sleeping Pack
- Etude House Play Therapy SLEEPING PACK #Moist Up
- Imselene Birds Nest Aqua Sleeping Mask Pack
- Innisfree Aloe Revital Sleeping Pack
- Innisfree Green Tea Sleeping Pack
- Lioele Bee My Honey Sleeping Pack
- Lioele Waterdrop Sleeping Pack (I’d incorrectly marked a sample of this with red washi tape in the photo above, which I’ve since corrected)
- Nature Republic Super Aqua Max Deep Moist Sleeping Pack
- Shara Shara The Veiled Beauty Sleeping Mask
- SNP Diamond Water Moisturizing Sleeping Pack
Other Things
Toothpaste
Most commercial toothpastes have sodium laurel/eth sulfate, which is coconut derived. Even if you’re not avoiding coconut, if you get canker sores, these are correlated with SLS, so you might want to try some SLS-free toothpaste.
I know of two without coconut ingredients that have fluoride: Closys (shown above) and Tom’s of Maine Clean & Easy Gentle Care.
Deodorant/Anti-Perspirant
Many of these have some coconut ingredients. I’ve been using the Mennen stick ones for years, and the non-gel ones all have coconut where the gel ones don’t. However, when I happened to be in a small pharmacy in Oregon, they didn’t have the gel ones, so I picked up an Old Spice stick instead.
Shampoo
Shampoo is the problem child. I’m convinced that shampoo uses higher amounts of (coconut-derived) surfactants, but I haven’t performed the experiment yet.
The only shampoo I know of that’s shampoo like and coconut-free is from Gabriel Cosmetics:
I just got a bottle and it’s nice. Not super lathery, but that’s to be expected. The detangler and hand soap are also coconut free, as is the bath foam. Gabriel Cosmetics is carried by most health food stores that stock personal care, and Whole Foods. If they don’t stock it, as my local store doesn’t, they can probably order it for you.
A number of lines designed for the anti-shampoo movement (no-poo, low-poo, or co-washing) are coconut free. Four of the five shampoos from Morocco Method are coconut free (the exception being the Earth Essence). I’ve only tried a sample of the Heavenly Essence. The Floating Lotus Conditioner and Pearl Essence Creme Rinse are also coconut-free.
A Funny Story and a Book Coming Out
I mentioned in my How I Discovered My Coconut Allergy post, my first husband, Richard Savino, was a soap chemist for Lever Bros (which was what the US division of Unilever was still called until the 90s).
So when I got the shampoo, I obviously couldn’t talk to my late husband about it, so I wrote his ex-wife, Beth Kanell, who also was a chemist and is now a mystery writer. She pointed out that Unilever really got its start with importing palm and coconut oils from afar, investing heavily in overseas plantations. In 1930, British soapmaker Lever Brothers merged with Dutch margarine maker Margarine Unie to form Unilever. The merger made sense because importing palm oil was easier on a larger scale.
So one of my questions had been how coconut became so entrentched in detergents and personal care products, and there I was married to a chemist who’d previously been making that future a reality.
Beth also mentioned that coming out soon—coincidentally on the day my experiment was planned to start—is James R. Benn’s novel The White Ghost, a historical mystery involving the Pacific theatre of WWII and Unilever machinations.
The Solomon Islands, where the book is set, currently produces in excess of 600 million coconuts a year. Just typing that sentence made me itch all over.
In Closing
Coconut allergies (and contact dermatitis) are pretty rare. Unless you know you’re reacting to something that’s a coconut ingredient, there’s no specific reason to avoid coconut. However, if you’re one of the unlucky few, I hope this post helps.
For those of you who suspect a coconut allergy, the last time I checked, there were no specific antigens that allergists had where they could actually test for a coconut allergy. Here is a partial list of coconut ingredients.
I have the misfortune of being allergic to everything… or so my husband says… I have both respiratory allergies to pollens, danders, and dust and skin allergies to ingredients and common airborne items. I sometimes say it’s easier to list what I’m not allergic too. I was literally told by my doctors that I couldn’t eliminate all of my allergens as I would likely starve to death if I did. Just a “highlight list” of them: grass, trees, ragweed, dust mites, cat & dog dander, peas & beans, apples, corn & corn by-products, milk & milk by-products, pork & pork additives, blue dye, green dye, latex paint, and the list just goes on. I actually envy people like you who are only allergic to one or two things and able to mostly, if not totally eliminate them. I can’t do that.
Welł, I actually am allergic to more things, and being celiac’s not an allergy. Immunologic, yes, but nastier and more insidious if your symptoms show up 24-72 hours later.
I’m also allergic to dust mites and cats (but not dogs).
Still, I don’t envy anyone with corn as an allergy, nor dairy. I think those two eliminate about as much as gluten + coconut do, though coconut still is the biggest single allergen annoyance for personal care items; gluten, corn, and dairy are only moderately common in those products.
The others, though…sorry, that’s hard. All blues and greens? Is it a copper contact dermatitis thing? (Blues and greens are most frequently copper ions.)
It’s almost impossible to eliminate corn and corn related items from your diet as corn is used as a sweeter or filler in so many things. High fructose corn syrup seems to be everywhere.
All blue and greens, the occasional red, but they’ve never been able to determine exactly what it was. I’ve just learned to live without it. I haven’t worn makeup in almost 30 years because of the dye allergies. shrug I keep hoping for something to ease some of them off but having had the problems since I was two, I just keep living with it.
They can do far more specific testing now than they used to. And I do know about corn (have a celiac friend with a corn allergy), but that really only screws up prepared foods.
Where with personal care stuff, most people don’t have the skill or knowledge for formulations, and there aren’t really alternatives that are easy to find.
Do these kinds of allergies abate at all with age? I’m aware that hay fever seems to lessen for some people in their fifties and above. I wondered if that could be a hidden advantage to getting older for people with other allergies too.
As your immune system slows down, hyperactive parts (like allergies) can lessen. However, I think if you’re re-irritating it constantly, it’s less likely to lessen.
You know who doesn’t suffer from most allergies? People with tapeworms. A nice parasite infestation keeps your immune system too busy to sweat the small stuff. 🙂 NOT a great solution, but interesting.
As far as I know, I’m allergic/sensitive to only one food ingredient: raw walnuts. Cooked ones do not bother me so it probably is an allergy to some protein that gets denatured by cooking. Pecans will also set me off if I eat too many raw ones at one time.
Most of my allergies are to pollen and other hayfever triggers. Living on a desert mountain and keeping my distance from cats has done a lot to relieve those symptoms. Too bad, I like cats.
I have a semi-hypoallergenic poodle who has a fantastic array of allergies herself. Corn, wheat, soy, beef, dairy and chicken are all suspect. She was a rescue dog and for months I fed her nothing but sweet potatoes and salmon home-made dogfood. Slowly I added things back in, like white potatoes, mackerel, rice, green beans, black pepper, peas, cinnamon, carrots, duck, rabbit, broccoli (she’s not allergic but broccoli for dogs is not a good idea, gives them gas), almonds, pork, bison, venison, peanuts, turkey. Lately, she is getting a little chicken and seems to tolerate it but I’m not sure.
She won’t touch shellfish, bananas or cashews. I use cashews to persuade her that she is done begging at the table since if I hold one down for her to sniff, she will leave the room. 🙂
Remember Patsy? She’s that same invisible after dark matte black color Patsy was. She’s so friendly and I have to warn people not to give her treats since one milk-bone will cause her to itch for 3 to 6 weeks. I suspect the wheat content in milk-bone.
Allergies are nature’s way of telling you that you have life too easy. 🙂 Cuddles developed all of her allergies living with people who fed her too much of the worst kind of food for dogs: people food. Oh, she’s allergic to most shampoos, too. 🙂
Hugs,
Joyce
Hah, sorry that your puppy has so many allergies, but it’s great that you’ve figured them out. I’m sensitive to walnuts: they make the roof of my mouth itch, which is how I can tell pecans and walnuts apart. I try not to eat too many in case it decides to go postal on me.
I still miss Patsy every once in a while. She was a super smart poodle.
Tell me your dog’s not a half-Orc. 🙂
We have a silly scaredy cat named Tanner. We got her from a local no-kill shelter. Tanner abandoned my mom after mom’s long hospital stay and has now become something of Rick’s cat.