I was so excited to do my first coconut milk soak today, but something went wrong. Here's exactly what I did:

1. I clarified, which I usually do before any kind of treatment.
2. I soaked my damp hair in the coconut milk and while it was still really drippy i tied it in a baggy and hung my head off the side of my bed for about an hour (watching tv upside down isn't easy :o)
3. I rinsed my hair well and toweled off excess water, then I CO'd with some no-cone condish for another hour.
4. I rinsed my hair well again.
5. I used some no-cone shampoo, only on my scalp. Rinsed again.
6. Let my hair air-dry down, instead of in a braid like usual (to see results.)

My hair was a frazzled mess! I had to run an errand, so It dried while I was out and it literally felt like an extremely itchy sweater rubbing against my neck. What could have possibly gone wrong? It's crunchy and looks more damaged than it ever has.

After this I jumped in the shower, applied a tiny bit of cone conditioner, combed through like I usually do with conditioner on my head, rinsed out. Then when it was just damp and did my first leave-in oiling with jojoba, a little bit from the ears down and more on my ends, and braided. It seems to be doing WAY better, but i'm still curious what I did wrong.
Any help?

Maybe this just isn't for me. :(

Where did you get the coconut milk. I hope its not the tinned ones with God knows what in it.

Here's how I do a coconut milk soak:

I either shampoo with Avalon Organics Biotin Complex shampoo or CO with VO5 Kiwi Lime condish (clarifies nicely for me). Then I squeeze out the excess moisture and saturate my hair with the warmed coconut milk. I wrap it in plastic (I use a bag), then put a plastic shower cap over that and keep a towel handy to wipe away drips. I soak for as long as I feel - sometimes 20 minutes, sometimes and hour. When done I rinse well, then I CO with a non-cone condish. Sometimes I'll finish it off at this point with a heavy cone condish to seal in moisture - or not. It's up to you. My hair turns out really soft and smells great.

Where did you get the coconut milk. I hope its not the tinned ones with God knows what in it.

Cans of coconut milk are just fine to use. I use Whole Foods Organic brand with full fat. It works and smells great. Your hair may not want the protein??

I was so excited to do my first coconut milk soak today, but something went wrong. Here's exactly what I did:

1. I clarified, which I usually do before any kind of treatment.
2. I soaked my damp hair in the coconut milk and while it was still really drippy i tied it in a baggy and hung my head off the side of my bed for about an hour (watching tv upside down isn't easy :o)
3. I rinsed my hair well and toweled off excess water, then I CO'd with some no-cone condish for another hour.
4. I rinsed my hair well again.
5. I used some no-cone shampoo, only on my scalp. Rinsed again.
6. Let my hair air-dry down, instead of in a braid like usual (to see results.)

My hair was a frazzled mess! I had to run an errand, so It dried while I was out and it literally felt like an extremely itchy sweater rubbing against my neck. What could have possibly gone wrong? It's crunchy and looks more damaged than it ever has.

After this I jumped in the shower, applied a tiny bit of cone conditioner, combed through like I usually do with conditioner on my head, rinsed out. Then when it was just damp and did my first leave-in oiling with jojoba, a little bit from the ears down and more on my ends, and braided. It seems to be doing WAY better, but i'm still curious what I did wrong.
Any help?

Maybe this just isn't for me. :(


I had the exact same thing happen to me. I know my hair doesn't like protein at all (not even in shampoos unless it's really low amounts)so I figured that might be why.

I bought the right stuff and did the right thing but what it did to my hair was beyond scary. I had to just plaster tons and tons of thick conditioner on and left it for an hour . It was ok after a couple of washes.

fwiw dabur amla oil, and eggs do the same thing to me as the coconut milk. just so as you know (and to a lesser extent extra virgin olive oil and biosilk shampoos and conditioners.)

My hair hated the coconut milk soak when i tried it....and i tried a few times. Though i've been considering trying it again now that most of the chemically treated stuff has grown out.

I personally wouldn't have shampoo'd, but i'm doubting that's the reason your hair reacted like it did. Maybe your hair just doesn't like it? I remember a few people have said their hair reacted badly to it.

Sorry it didn't turn out like you hoped.....good job you treated yourself to that jojoba oil innit ;)

I had better luck with coconut oil. When I used coconut milk, my hair felt dry afterward. When I used coconut oil, it felt nice and soft.

I´ve found out that Thai coco nut milk is much thicker and gives me ichiness and dandruff(!).
So I only use chinese or Indian, which are runnier and works fine for doing soaks. That´s my experience.

Many people prefer low fat coconut milk.

I use the low fat one and CO to get it out.

buttons I'm so glad you posted this. I was thinking of trying it but my hair got over protiened when I used coconut oil on it while damp ( it's fine as long as my hair is dry:shrug: ) My hair has been snapping with no stretch and feels like straw. I finally got a non-protien conditioner and it feels a little better. I have a feeling that the same thing might happen with coconut milk so I will pass for now.
Thanks

I had the exact same thing happen to me. I know my hair doesn't like protein at all (not even in shampoos unless it's really low amounts)so I figured that might be why.

I bought the right stuff and did the right thing but what it did to my hair was beyond scary. I had to just plaster tons and tons of thick conditioner on and left it for an hour . It was ok after a couple of washes.

fwiw dabur amla oil, and eggs do the same thing to me as the coconut milk. just so as you know (and to a lesser extent extra virgin olive oil and biosilk shampoos and conditioners.)

This is funny...so I guess my hair is protein sensitive (or at least sensitive to certain proteins) too. I just posted about how I did an olive oil treatment a couple of years ago and my hair came out hard as rock. I guess olive oil has protein in it? My hair also felt pretty stiff and dry when I used a protein conditioner last weekend. I'll have to start paying closer attention to how my hair reacts to certain products.

My hair didn't react well to "just" cocount milk, either. What I found works well is to use it either: (1) as a bath soak (pour coconut milk into your bath and soak for as long as you want) or (2) in my deep conditioning mix:

1 part honey
1 part coconut milk/cream
1 part evoo
1/2 part cinnamon
3 parts conditioner

Same thing happened to me when I tried coconut milk - My hair was a frazzled mess - I tried it once last year and never again:(. My hair must be protein sensitive too.

I do find that coconut oil works well for my hair as long as I don't overdo it - evoo not so much, even a little bit of evoo causes problems, so I stay with high moisture conditioners and very lite weight oils, such a jojoba or sweet almond or coconut oil in moderation - my hair does much better when I do:shrug:.

Maybe between the clarify and the shampoo at the end it was simply to drying for your hair.

How does scalp react to coconut milk?
Is it better to keep away from scalp or does scalp benefit in any way from it?

My scalp loves it it leaves roots strong and reduces hair fall for me.My hair drinks it up and is silky afterwards,but everyones' hair is different.:shrug: