3a+ who are using oil shampoo

[Chibbylick]

My hair is not as curly as you girls, but I am wondering why, instead of thinking about adding leave-in conditioner to your routine, you don't add more coconut oil as a leave in?

[jessie58]

My hair is not as curly as you girls, but I am wondering why, instead of thinking about adding leave-in conditioner to your routine, you don't add more coconut oil as a leave in?

I put a ton of coconut oil in mine and had decent results but I haven't used this method for a few weeks because I am waiting for Prell. I want to give it a good thorough testing with the optimum products.
Last time I used coconut oil, I used one part shampoo and 4 parts coconut oil. My hair drinks it up. However it made my hair frizzy.

[Athena's Owl]

My hair is not as curly as you girls, but I am wondering why, instead of thinking about adding leave-in conditioner to your routine, you don't add more coconut oil as a leave in?

Because it doesnt' work.

and when I say it doesn't work, what I mean is that I haven't seen the visual results that I define as "enivable curls." this means

Clumping - good curl conformity and a well-defined shape. each lock of hair is its own curl, ideally from root to tip.

frizz-free - good curls are good curls because the hairs from each lock are lying close together, with few hairs declaring their independence and setting off on an individuality asserting journey that we generally call flyaways or frizz - the dreaded frizz!

spring- curls have good visual energy in that they are compacting. I have s-wave curls that will spiral at the ends, and I expect that my hair - which is at tailbone when wet - will "spring" up to about waist length when dry and curly.

It's soft, it feels soft. it really isn't all that tangly. the shine level is ridiculous. but the appearance of the curls isn't the same effect I get from using coating ingredients to achieve enviable curls. there are many 2's who get great results but so far the 3s are having a trickier time of it just in this one area.

I'm not using Prell, and I really think I have to do this with prell to see what kind of results you can get.

[OperaTeacherMom]

Ok, well after going from this to co-washing, I'm still not happy, so I'm going to experiment with mixing the two. My initial thought is I'll start using Prell mixed with coconut oil, and follow it with a protein conditioner (my fine hair ADORES protein), and maybe a TINY bit of gel, figuring out how little I can use and still get my curls defined. If I totally hate it, I may see what happens if I use my Aubrey Organics shampoo rather than the prell. I'll let you ladies know how it goes! I won't be trying it for a couple days, since I will be using manic panic tonight

[Speedbump]

Speedy checking in!

I have been doing this method for...gosh, has it been almost two months now? I just reached saturation the wash before last night's, so I feel like I'm just now getting to the point where I can start giving results that might mean something.

Let me issue a caveat or two, though: My hair is so long now that the curls are mostly pulled out by Day 2 no matter *what* method I'm using, so I won't be a gauge for long term, between-wash good effects on curl formation. Also, I only wash once a week (usually) so I won't be checking in more often than that.

Here is what I've been doing up to saturation:

Clarified with Neutragena Anti-Residue. I had to do it twice to get all the stuff off.

At first that is what I was using as my wash shampoo as well but it's really harsh and I hated the smell.

Now I use Prell as my shampoo, and until saturation I was using a 1:1 ratio with Tropical Traditions organic virgin coconut oil.

The most recent wash (last night): Because I had not only reached saturation but had far surpassed it, I washed early and used more shampoo than normal.

Wash mix 1: Straight Prell, about 1 tablespoon. Lathered up and got rid of the excess oil.

Wash mix 2: 1 tablespoon Prell to 1 1/2 teaspoons coconut oil.

Result: Pretty good. I had pretty solid curl formation, my hair has some shine and it's really soft. I haven't combed yet so I'm not sure about tangles, but they have been consistently less on this method. Also, my drying time was four hours, which is half of what it used to be with conditioner.

I may not be much help to those who have shorter hair they like to wear down. I just *don't* anymore except maybe twice a year for special occasions, so I'm kind of a different critter.

[jessie58]

Awesome report Speedy, thank you. I'm getting so irritated about waiting for my Prell to arrive. I feel that it will bring about the best results for this method and I don't want to use another shampoo for this purpose.

[MonaLisa65]

I'm a 3a/3b - F/M - ii/iii, and I have to say I can't TELL you how long it's been since my hair felt this good. All previous oil-shampoos are listed on my blog here.

Have any of you who are having trouble with this method, looked at the hardness of your water? My area's supply is moderately-hard, and once I started compensating for it (club soda pre-soaks to break up old deposits on my hair, distilled water rinses to prevent new buildup) my oil-shampoo results have been MUCH more consistent & satisfying.

[QueenMadge]

I am a 3a/b f/m

I use a 3 parts coconut oil to 1 part shampoo. I am using prell at the moment but will try something else later.

I did a clarifying wash with prell. I then used the blended oil/shampoo to wash from that point forward.

I started with lower concentrations of oil to shampoo but got really poofy soft fuzzy curls. Upping the oil helped with keeping the curls less frizzy and less fly away. I also used water to keep re-wetting the canopy and the ends. That gave better curl formation. I am not doing the re-wetting now though. I wash every three days or so and I use conditioner on the ends in-between. I do use a small amount of conditioner on the ends and the canopy as a leave in. My hair is much much softer now than pre oil shampooing with a lot less product in it. I am going to continue some version of this and try different shampoos as I use up the prell.

[girlcat36]

Speedy--thanks for checking in. I like to wear my hair down, so I'm really trying to get 2nd and 3rd day curls out of this method. So no conditioner at all?

MonaLisa--I'll check out your blog.

QueenMadge--still using conditioner? What kind?

[girlcat36]

My hair is not as curly as you girls, but I am wondering why, instead of thinking about adding leave-in conditioner to your routine, you don't add more coconut oil as a leave in?

This did not work well for me. I have added it to damp hair , and to oil shampooed hair that has fully dried. Neither way was a good look.