QuoteReplyTopic: Can someone plz explain hair oiling to me? Posted: August 17 2007 at 4:50am
Do you apply the oil to wet or dry hair? and what kind of oil do you use? Does it make your hair look really lank and greasy? i used to do olive oil treatments but i dont think it did anything that fab to my hair, had to wash it too much to get rid of the oily residue!!
You can oil hair damp or dry (let it dry until its still damp, but not soaking wet). Some people claim oiling it dry makes their hair feel crunchy, and that damp works for them. Mine seems to feel crunchy whether I do it dry or damp. I mix my oils with butters such as mango butter or shea butter, and this concoction does not make my ends feel crunchy. Crunchy is not that bad mind you, just don't let crunchy ends trick you into thinking you need a trim, always wash and skip oiling before getting a trim, or you wind up cutting off more than is necessary. Oiling, despite any crunchiness, is still good for hair, it prevents tangles and protects it.
You don't use much oil. For shoulderlength hair, one drop is enough. The longer your hair gets the more you will use, but it should look shiny and clean after you oil, not lank, not greasy...if it does you used to much and you'll have to stick it in a bun to hide it and try again after your next wash. It will look heavier and less frizzy, so if limp hair is a problem for you, you may not like oiling. Those with hair that frizzes (like mine) tend to like it a lot for the weighing down it can do. You never oil above the ears (to avoid your scalp looking greasy...some people do oil their scalps for moisturizing, but that's typically not to wear out of the house. I do not oil my scalp.
Olive oil is not the best oil to use (though I know many people use it, so its obviously not too bad either), that may be why you didn't like it so much. Jojoba and coconut are better, (especially if blended with the butters I mentioned above). Jojoba is supposed to be the one closer to your scalps natural oil, and coconut is a nice heavy oil.
Edited to add: I was curious about the reason olive oil is considered not so good, so I was just looking into it. It is because it can go rancid when exposed to air and light (and copper / or metals) and turns into peroxides. I am not sure how fast this happens, apparently it happens fast once the process starts, but I don't know if that would be as short as a few minutes or a few days (or if it would even happen over the course of a week (if one were to oil and only washed their hair once a week). http://www.waitrose.com/food/celebritiesandarticles/foodissues/0406020.aspx
Don't let that article scare you though, it can't be a lot of peroxide that it turns into either, since you can cook with olive oil at a high temperature, break it down, then still eat it and not have any bad health effects (I don't think you could drink peroxide without having at least some bad health effects, so there can't be that much...I don't know, but I would probably not choose to use olive now that I know that).
That makes me wonder, has anyone used olive oil for a long time, and if so, did it damage your hair or was it fine?
Edited by Susan W - August 17 2007 at 9:08am
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I've never used olive oil for "daily oiling". It's a pretty heavy oil and you usually want a light one so as not to make your hair greasy. I sometimes use olive oil for a deep conditioning treatment. I dampen my hair and smear in like 1/4 cup of it all through (I do it in sections so it gets all over evenly). I leave it for several hours and then wash it out. My hair is extremely soft and shiny afterwards. I love it. I don't know why I don't do it more often. Ok, yeah I do... finding time for it. lol
Most people who talk about oiling their hair only apply it to the bottom few inches where the natural oils from the scalp can't reach.
I use oil at least three times a week. I will do an over night oiling, with my hair in a braid, or use it as a leave in after I wash. When I use it as a leave in, I only put it on the bottom lengths, about the last few inches, and then sporadically here and there the next coupe inches up. If I use to much it will get greasy.This has taken trial and error to figure out.
I had been using jojoba oil, but with the heat I was having to use way to much to keep up. So I am now using avacado and shea oils.There was a whole thread where I talked about the different oisl I have tried recently. It is called "heavier oil"
This past week I actually have not oiled very much because I have doing co only washes, and the two together just seem to be to much, well at least for using the oil as a leave in after doing a co only wash. As a pre-wash treatment, it is alright, but still makes my hair heavier than I would like.I normally only use oils as a treatment ( like overnight ) when I am only using co.
Oil does wonders for some people, but for others, such as myself, oiling becomes overrated and doesn't make a difference in hair quality. I experimented with more than a dozen different oils and butters over the past few years. It doesn't give me noticeably lesser split ends or damage.
But does leave my hair feeling smoother if I have braid or bun waves. Then again, everything feels smoother if your hands are moisturized. And when you oil your hair, you are also oiling your hands.
Oil is kind of a tossup for people. It doesn't do much for me, but other people just love it.
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