Coconut
Ultimate List of Coconut Derivatives

The Ultimate List of Coconut Derivatives in Skin Care

January 23, 2022 /

Do you have a coconut allergy? At first glance, most people think a coconut allergy just means that you can’t eat piña coladas and macaroons. We all know it’s much more than that. What people don’t realize is that coconut and its derivatives can be found in almost all skin care products.

Do you need to be able to read an ingredients list on a skin care product and identify coconut derivatives that could cause an allergic reaction? Then turn to this ultimate list of coconut derivatives in skin care.

The following may be derived from coconut:

  • 1,3-Butanediol
  • Alkyl Benzoate
  • Alkyl Polyglucoside
  • Ammonium Lauryl Sulphate
  • Arachidyl Alcohol
  • Benzoic Acid
  • Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2
  • Butylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate
  • C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate
  • Calamide
  • Capryl Glycol
  • Caprylhydroxamic Acid
  • Caprylic Acid
  • Caprylic Glycol
  • Caprylic/Capric
  • Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
  • Caprylyl Glycol
  • Caprylyl/capryl Glucoside
  • Centrimonium Chloride
  • Ceramide 3
  • Ceteareth-20
  • Ceteareth-30
  • Cetearyl Alcohol
  • Cetearyl Glucoside
  • Ceteth-20 Phosphate
  • Cetrimonium Chloride
  • Cetyl Alcohol
  • Cetyl Esters
  • Cetyl Ethylhexanoate
  • Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone
  • Cocamide MEA
  • Cocamide Mipa
  • Cocamidopropyl Betaine
  • Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
  • Coco Glucoside
  • Coco-Caprylate
  • Cococaprylate/Caprate
  • Cocomide DEA
  • Coconut Alkanes
  • Coconut Diethanolamide (CDFA)
  • Cocos Nucifera Oil
  • Cocoyl Amide Propyldimethyl Glycine
  • Cocoyl Diethanolamide
  • Coir
  • Decanoic Acid
  • Decyl Alcohol
  • Decyl Glucoside
  • Dicaprylyl Carbonate
  • Diisostearyl Malate
  • Disodium Cocamphodiprop
  • Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate
  • Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate
  • Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate
  • Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate
  • Dodecanol
  • Glycerin/Glycerine/Glycerol
  • Glyceryl Behenate 
  • Glyceryl Caprylate
  • Glyceryl Cocoate
  • Glyceryl Dibehenate
  • Glyceryl Glucoside
  • Glyceryl Monostearate
  • Glyceryl Ricinoleate
  • Glyceryl Stearate
  • Hexyl Laurate
  • Inulin Lauryl Carbamate
  • Isoceteth
  • Isoamyl Laurate
  • Isocetyl Stearate
  • Isodecyl Neopentanoate
  • Isopropyl Myristate
  • Kinetin
  • Lauramide DEA
  • Laureth-23
  • Laureth-3
  • Laureth-4
  • Laureth-7
  • Lauric Acid
  • Lauryl Alcohol
  • Lauryl Glucoside
  • Lauryl Sarcosine
  • Lauryl/Myristyl Polyricinoleate
  • Laurylglucoside Crosspolymer
  • Magnesium Stearate
  • Methylsulfonylmethane
  • Myristic Acid
  • Myristyl Glucoside
  • Neopentyl Glycol Dicaprylate/dicaprate
  • Ninol COMF-N
  • Nylon 12
  • Octanediol
  • Octyldodecanol
  • Olefin Sulfonate
  • Optiphen
  • PEG-100
  • PEG-100 Stearate
  • PEG-30 Glyceryl Cocoate
  • PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate
  • PEG-8 Dilaurate
  • Phenoxyethanol
  • Polyglyceryl-10 Laurate
  • Polyglyceryl-2 Sesquiisostearate
  • Polyglyceryl-2 Triisostearate
  • Polyglyceryl-4 Caprate
  • Polyglyceryl-6 Caprylate
  • Polysorbate 80
  • Polysorbate-20 
  • Potassium Cetyl Phosphate
  • Potassium Cocoate
  • Potassium Cocoyl Glycinate
  • PPG-2 Hydroxyethyl Cocamide
  • Sarkosyl
  • Sodium Cocoamphoacetate
  • Sodium Cocoate
  • Sodium Coco-Sulfate
  • Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate
  • Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate
  • Sodium Laureth Sulfate
  • Sodium Lauroamphoacetate
  • Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate
  • Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate
  • Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate
  • Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate
  • Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
  • Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate
  • Sodium PCA
  • Sodium Stearate
  • Stearalkonium Chloride
  • Stearic Acid
  • Stearyl lAcohol
  • Sucrose Cocoate
  • Sucrose Stearate
  • TEA Lauryl Sulfate
  • Tegobetaine L7
  • Tocopheryl Acetate
  • Tocotrienols
  • Tricaprylin
  • Undecylenoyl glycine
  • Zinc Stearate
Coconuts

Perhaps you noticed some patterns. If the ingredient has the prefix capry-, cetear-, cetyl-, coco-, coca-, laur-, or stear-, there is a good chance that the ingredient was derived from coconut.

However, not all of these ingredients are always derived from coconut. Check out our article about 10 Ingredients That May Be Coconut Derivatives.

How to find skin care products that don’t contain coconut derivatives

We’ve already done the work for you! Check out these articles:

Many of us with coconut allergies find it very difficult to find products that won’t break us out even if we try to buy products that don’t obviously contain coconut. As you can see in the list above, it often sneaks into our products by means of its derivatives. Coconut has really become a main player in skin care but that doesn’t mean there aren’t options out there for those of us with coconut allergies.

For the ingredients we recommend on our site, we look over all the ingredients to ensure it doesn’t have any of these coconut derivatives. Also, in case someone has a palm allergy, we try to avoid anything derived from it as well. If something we do feature on our site does include one of these ingredients, please know that we make it a practice to contact the manufacturer to ensure the ingredient was derived from another source.

Do you have any coconut derivatives that you think should be included in this list? Let us know below and share your knowledge with the rest of us.

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39 Comments

  • Lisa

    May 22, 2022 at 7:58 pm Reply

    I suspect Sorbeth-30 Tetraoleate, also called Polyoxyethylene Sorbitol Tetraoleate, belongs on this list.

    Super helpful btw. Keep it up!

    • Annette Foss Trønnes

      November 15, 2022 at 12:46 am Reply

      I’ve struggled with coconut allergies since I was born, I’m also allergic to all kinds of citrus.. Love this list!! But I really need help, do you know any bodysoap, shampoo and conditioner without this? I can’t find anything.. Tried to look for soap base without this too, but no luck there eather! Thought I’d make my own soap, but with every soap base being made with coconut in some form or citrus I can’t use it🤷🏼‍♀️ I need a shampoo and conditioner that sooths my sensitiv, acneprone, dry, itchy scalp. And I want it to be good for growth. Bodysoap needs to be good for acneprone skin, fatty skin. My skin overall produce alot of oil and sebum, and I’m sick of it! It has to be a solution for this, some kind of soaps that I can use!!😫 Please help me if you can!

      • E. Mila

        November 15, 2022 at 5:57 pm Reply

        Hello! I’m so sorry you’ve struggled with these allergies, it makes shopping so frustrating and time consuming.
        Maybe you can use something from our skincare list: https://sensitiveskinoasis.com/all-skin-care-products-without-coconut/

        I’m currently working on a list for coconut free hair and body care. In the mean time, I have a couple of ideas.

        For a soap base, there is an olive oil one that has no added fragrance (probably where citrus normally is added in other products): Penns Hill UNSCENTED ORGANIC CASTILE OLIVE OIL LIQUID SOAP
        https://amzn.to/3UGDKLR

        Here is a bar soap: Kiss My Face Olive Oil Fragrance Free Bar Soap https://amzn.to/3AjkPhY

        A shampoo bar takes some getting used to, I find a apple cider vinegar rinse helps prevent build up. Shea Lava Clay Soapnut Shampoo Bar https://www.soapnuts.co.uk/products/shea-lava-clay-soapnut-shampoo-bar-90g

        Hair and scalp oil (oils are a good alternative to creamy coconut filled conditioners): Monday Muse THE GLOSS – Scalp & Hair Oil https://www.mondaymuseskin.com/products/the-gloss-scalp-hair-oil

        From a glance it seems they don’t contain citrus. Since I’m unsure of citrus derivatives, I recommend checking the with the manufacturers to be sure. Hope you find something that works for you!

      • Jen

        January 4, 2024 at 1:48 pm Reply

        So the most help I have received in finding products has been from coconut free communities like this Facebook group. I get my soap for my body from chagrin valley soap and salve. I get my shampoo and conditioner and the saop I grind up for my laundry detergents pectolite.net. I also use a shampoo from Amazon Nature Sustained Organic Shampoo it’s a nut Probiotics, Hypoallergenic Natural & Sulfate Free shampoo that is coconut free and it’s cheaper but conditioner is not nearly as good as pectolite.net and you should always be cautious about anything you get from Amazon not being correct for the ingredients label. I hope this helps, chagrin valley soap and salve and pectolite.net have a lot of coconut free products too, I use their facial lotions, body lotion, chopstick, their stuff is great and the community on Facebook is great.

    • Debbie Cooper

      March 7, 2025 at 10:21 pm Reply

      I have been looking for info on coconut for years. I’m constantly itchy – keeps me up at night, get rashes that prickle all over. I’m constantly reading labels for food, beauty products and laundry soap & softener. I can’t find a clothes softener that I’m not allergic to. When I enter a search for clothes softener it keeps being me to regular detergent or softeners that actually contain coconut. Until I found you. I would like to find a non-coconut laundry product list or something natural I can use – I need soft clothes for my crazy skin. Ideas?

      • Laura P-M

        April 25, 2025 at 12:08 am Reply

        There should be a link in the product section here to Molly Suds from Amazon, one of their laundry soaps does not have coconut, but only one. For fabric softener I use distilled vinegar, it does work and the odor dissipates when it dries.
        Hope this helps! Now if I could just find coconut free dish soap that doesn’t leave a white residue…

    • E. Mila

      September 30, 2022 at 11:21 pm Reply

      d-alpha tocopherol can be derived from a few sources. It may be prudent to contact the manufacturer of the vitamins and ask them directly. Hope you find the information you need!

  • Jaimie

    October 1, 2022 at 1:54 am Reply

    I cannot find answers. It is exhausting, quite frankly irritating that the US REFUSES to properly label ingredients!!! Time is finite in life, calling manufacturers sounds like high BP for me lol. If I take a supplement I shouldn’t have to wonder “is this tocopherol coconut ???” Even the organic baby oats have “tocopherol,” can’t take vitamins/minerals, find oils to make my own soap easily without questioning everything. The food this about all this is I now have to be very mindful about home cooking, try to make my own beauty products 🙂

    Pediatrician, allergist, most people can’t wrap their head around it.

    Sorry. That was a tangent, rant done.

    • Annette Foss Trønnes

      November 15, 2022 at 12:56 am Reply

      I know! It’s not just all kinds of soaps and lotions, it’s in food aswell.. I can’t even buy bread without checking the ingredients! I’m norwegian and live in Norway, and I really don’t know what has happend. Everything seems to contain coconut now a days.. I can’t find shampoo, conditioner, bodysoap, handsoap, lotion, face cleanser without it.. And as I said, alot of food contain it too! I have to take allergie meds everyday, and everytime I eat something, that’s insane.. Wish the marked made soap ++ and foods for us with allergies for coconut, citrus or at least made soapbase without it so we can make our own soap.. Food should NOT include coconut or citrus, as so many people have allergies for it..

  • Connie

    March 6, 2023 at 5:33 am Reply

    Trying to find hydrating and toning shampoos and conditioners for natural gray hair that are coconut free, and so far haven’t been able to find any. Do you know of any?

  • Jules

    January 14, 2024 at 11:03 pm Reply

    I just want to say thank you so much for creating this website and all the effort you’ve put into these lists. It has been so incredibly helpful.

  • Cara

    January 31, 2024 at 8:17 pm Reply

    I appreciate this list and the products you’ve shared here and in other posts. It’s mind blowing how pervasive coconut is in our everyday lives (it’s in everything from food to laundry to household cleaning products to cosmetics, etc!) and how little information there is about coconut allergies. Sadly, many of the coconut free products out there contain sunflower which my daughter is also allergic to. Thanks for helping us navigate this!

  • Pamela Grant

    April 19, 2024 at 10:05 am Reply

    This is an outstanding list! I’ve one on my phone and this is amazing! Sooo struggling with my skin after 11 years got it under control – allergic to Cocamidopropyl Betaine and any variation on this! People watch out for vegetable oil in restaurants/going out! Some companies don’t put what’s in their oil and I got caught out with one as I was having oat cream…I’m off dairy at the moment…and my friend looked at the ingredients and said no there’s no coconut in this…in the smallest writingbthe veg oil had rapeseed and coconut! 🤦‍♀️

    I’ve added Cetyl betaine to my list as it could be derived from coconut! Cetyl resin wax is a natural wax produced by coconut.

    Anything with “Lauro” means coconut.

    A ‘glazing agent’ as an ingrediant it should say what ingrediant exactly they use to polish or coat the product in brackets, if not double check as its normally carnauba wax or coconut oil.

    Brita water filters use coconut husks to make their activated charcoal. This caused a reaction for me.😞

    The other one I have written down is: Sorbitan Stearate

    People watch for the docs or dermatology giving you creams too…I got 2: Hydromol which had isopropyl myristate, glyceryl tribehenate, sorbitan laurate and polyoxyethylene which all derived from coconut…no wonder I was so itchy and stingy!

    Protopic main ingredient tacrolimus monohydrate is derived from propylene glycol and all-rac-a-tocopherol, all derived from coconut! I was even told (after using it a week and skin getting worse) to put up with it! I tried but the skin got redder and I was more itchy so came off that and I was better with Euovate and hydrocortisone.

    Goid luck every with a coconut allergy!

  • LaSonda Carrizales

    May 23, 2024 at 10:07 pm Reply

    Thank you for this list. I started a nut-free company in 2020 and didn’t know about the coconut derivatives until I came across this last year. This has really help to maintain my nut free business. One thing I need help with is finding a solubilizer that is nut free to add to my shampoo. Do you have a list for that?

  • Olivia

    June 20, 2024 at 8:11 pm Reply

    So I’m allergic to coconut but for some reason? I have a lipgloss and it contains some coconut derivatives but my lips are fine and some skincare products contain coconut. Can someone just explain why I didn’t get a reaction?

    • E. Mila

      June 21, 2024 at 1:27 am Reply

      That’s an interesting situation. Some ideas pop into mind.
      1. It is possible to outgrow allergies
      2. You may have an allergy to something when it is consumed but it may not cause an allergy on the skin (and vice versa)
      3. Perhaps the ingredients are made from something else (see 10 Ingredients That May Be Coconut Derivatives)
      4. The ingredient is made from coconut but it is so processed that it no longer causes an allergic reaction. See this article about a similar situation with other allergies Will I have an allergic reaction to peanut oil if I have a peanut allergy?

      • Ivy

        February 23, 2025 at 4:10 pm Reply

        I *might* be able to.

        Of course, any of you who have tested positive for a true coconut allergy are exempted from this observation, but for others it may be that the allergy/sensitivty is to MOLD. Mold spores are in what’s estimated to be about 40 percent of coconuts, so those of us who are allergic to mold have to avoid coconut as well.

        Which coconut products have mold in them and which don’t and do we just get lucky sometimes? No one knows for sure, but if it’s inconsistent reactions one is seeing, maybe the problem is sensitivity to mold and not to the coconut itself.

        Grateful for this entire website! Thank you!

  • Mary Beth Williams

    August 3, 2024 at 6:47 am Reply

    Hello, Just found your site and I am so grateful! My daughter has a coconut allergy (along with peanuts, tree nuts and sesame seeds and seasonal allergies). I have been having trouble finding her a coconut and aluminum free deoderant and antiperspirant that is unscented. Do you have any recommendations.

    Thank you

  • Khaitlin

    August 20, 2024 at 8:28 pm Reply

    I have done tons of research about products that are suitable for my skin type as well as certain conditions of my skin. I have acne prone sensitive combination skin that is dehydrated.
    I cannot use a ton of products as it either dries out my skin or breaks me out.
    I cannot use products that contains coconut derivative ingredients (I have searched can individuals with a coconut allergy use products that are derived from coconut, which sources says yes. However, I want to avoid it all.)
    I cannot use shea butter, cocoa butter, hemp seed oil, olive oil, including castor oil even if the comedogenic rating is 0. It is too heavy for my skin. Vitamin E and C breaks me out.
    Almost everything contains niacinamide, witch hazel, and niacinamide which I cannot use on an everyday basis. I need a simple non-foaming cleanser that isn’t an oil cleanser nor does it contain harsh or drying ingredients. There is always one or two ingredients that I try to avoid but is present in almost every product. The same goes for body wash and lotion. I have to spritz my face with water, that is the only time I feel and look hydrated. I am trying my best to watch my diet. I stay away from eggs, dairy, wheat, and nuts. It is super frustrating and a dermatologist is a no go at this point because even they recommend products that are not functioning well with my skin type and irritation levels. This list is not helping by the way.

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