Just learned how wonderful Coconut Oil is! =D Everything but the smell. Help?

[C_Bookworm]

I believe that Monoi oil is a scented coconut oil.

[Auburngirl]

Hello! I'm new to the forum, and I'm just popping up with a couple of questions. Can I just ask what is the difference between coconut oil, coconut butter and coconut milk? Is coconut butter and oil the same thing? And which one is the best? The oil, butter or the milk?

Thanks!

[meteor]

Hello! I'm new to the forum, and I'm just popping up with a couple of questions. Can I just ask what is the difference between coconut oil, coconut butter and coconut milk? Is coconut butter and oil the same thing? And which one is the best? The oil, butter or the milk?

Thanks!

Coconut oil is just the oil (100% fat) that is extracted from coconut meat (which naturally contains a lot of oil). Coconut butter is the whole meat of the coconut pureed into a creamy butter.

The problem I see with that is that it has quite a bit of fiber and that could stick to hair, possibly making it feel coated.
Coconut milk is the liquid squeezed from grated coconut meat. Coconut cream is similar to coconut milk, but contains less water, so easier to apply.
Coconut milk, cream and butter all have some protein, but I doubt it's small enough to penetrate hair and do any good. Protein generally needs to be hydrolyzed (broken up) to a certain size to penetrate hair and even adsorb to hair effectively.
Coconut milk, cream and butter also contain sugars, which might be helpful as humectants. But you can probably replicate that effect by just mixing coconut oil with honey/syrup.

I think coconut milk and coconut cream can be useful if you want to do things like all-natural hair masks or henna glosses and different concoctions, if you want to avoid using conditioner as your base. Other than that, I wouldn't sweat it and I'd just use coconut oil straight or mixed into other stuff, because it's the oil content that provides the hair-friendly benefits anyway.

[endlessly]

As long as the essential oils aren't mixed with alcohol as a filler - always check first because some companies aren't necessarily 100% truthful! - they're perfectly fine to mix with coconut oil. If you're purchasing virgin cold-pressed, it should come in a solid form, so if you place it in a small bowl and let the bowl sit in hot water to melt the oil, then mix in some essential oils, it should mix quite a bit better.

You can also mix in your favorite spices/fruit juices/etc. this way too - like what little_cherry recommended.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of coconut oil anymore because as much as I wanted to love it, my hair and scalp hate it. I actually think I might have a slight allergy to it, unfortunately! But, I know what you mean with it not quite smelling like coconut - the one I had smelled more like butter with just a hint of coconut, it was very strange!

[Auburngirl]

Ok, thank you very much, meteor. I was thinking of just pouring some coconut milk on my hair, since it's what I can easily find in almost every market around here, and is not too expensive for my pocket. I wish I could find the coconut cream/butter, but if that's too complicated, I'd rather go for an olive oil treatment, of which I always have plenty. But I'm going to try the coconut milk, anyway, since I already have some in handy. Even if it's only gonna make a small difference, that would be great.

I'm thinking of just pouring it over my hair, leaning over the bath tub, and keeping a basin underneath,to catch whatever flows out of it, massage it into my scalp and hair well, then pour the rest from the basin again over my hair, and massage some more. Then I'm thinking of twisting my hair and pinning it up into a bun, wrapping with saran wrap and/or a towel, and waiting for 30 min - 1 hour, then rinsing. But how will I was the residue out of my hair? Do I need to use shampoo? Conditioner? Plain water and bear the oiliness for a while? I'm afraid of oiliness.
Any suggestions?

[meteor]

^ Auburngirl, I like your idea. I'd just use coconut milk as an intensive moisturizing mask under a plastic shower cap for an hour or longer as a pre-poo treatment.
You can mix it with conditioner (for ease of application and rinsing) and add whatever you like, honey or aloe, for example. Just be prepared that you might get overly oily or coated hair - some people report it - or that it may be pretty hard to wash out. I'd use shampoo and conditioner (or maybe even just shampoo?) after. A lot depends on your hair type. Some people love coconut milk, others don't.