The Hair Oils Thread

[mamaherrera]

well who knows. I know that allergic reactions to the scalp can be just to the scalp and not breathing, etc. Like itchies from a shampoo, that's an allergic reaction. I hear so many people say they're thickness increased from castor oil massages. But I personally don't like to do oil on my scalp unless I"m going to wash, because then my roots get real weighed down, especially with castor oil, that's heavy. I can't see me doing that daily. But I should do massages daily,

[Theobroma]

SPINDANCE--thanks so much, thanks so very much. I thought that too, but I appreciate you clarifying that. It's just that I saw people on this thread saying that oils make them shed a lot, I guess they're saying that they have an allergic reaction then to those oils, becausethe oil itself should loosen sebum up on hairs that aren't due to shed!! thanks

If it were an allergic reaction of the skin to the oil, then that reaction should also occur on other parts of the body -- most obviously on the fingers that come into contact with the oil when applying it to the scalp.

This is not the case. I can put as much castor oil on my hands as I like -- no reaction of any kind. If I put it on my scalp, I shed handfuls. It's more complicated than that.

(Also, I'm really not understanding how the act of dissolving sebum is supposed to cause hair to come out that's ready to shed in its natural cycle. Surely a bit of sebum can't glue a waist-length or hip-length hair in place strongly enough to resist combing? )

[cmg]

If it were an allergic reaction of the skin to the oil, then that reaction should also occur on other parts of the body -- most obviously on the fingers that come into contact with the oil when applying it to the scalp.

Not neccesarily. It could, but doesnt always do so due to duration of the exposure and other factors like absorption in blood etc. The scalp is an entirely different animal than the rest of the skin and expecially hands, which have a very thick outer layer of skin more like feet than scalp. Also there are less pores than on the scalp. The skin on the hands has other functions than sweating etc, it has instead heat and cold- receptors etc. It is not so easy to penetrate. The hormones on the scalp could also theoretically react to the oil thats being applied, and therefore cause a local reaction. I have not heard of any such reaction though (only in context with sweat, not with hair sebum).

This is not the case. I can put as much castor oil on my hands as I like -- no reaction of any kind. If I put it on my scalp, I shed handfuls. It's more complicated than that.

Yes it is. Our body is phantastic though

(Also, I'm really not understanding how the act of dissolving sebum is supposed to cause hair to come out that's ready to shed in its natural cycle.

Take a look at the hair follicle. If the sebum of the scalp is thick enough, it will assist the hair not coming out of the follicle when due. Different people have sebum of different viscosity. It can aggregate with skin particles and dirt etc. This is normally transported upwards alongside the hairshaft in the follicle. But if it is too thick, then it can clump together. In addition to this, especially with curly hair (or any hair for that matter), the hair will grow in a steeper angle and thus be covered more at the bottom end. Sebum will assist hair clumping anyways, and so the hair can stay on longer. By rubbing and oiling the provocation goes to far and the hair can loosen from the follicle (normally only hair that is due for this). Also the rubbing can relax the muscles that hold each hair in position and this change can also cause the hair too loosen a bit further. All these things will cause the hair to loosen more than leaving it alone over the cause of the day. You can easily test this when you pluck your eyebrows. They will loosen much easier after you applied some fatty cream.

/ CMG

[TheHuman]

This seems to be the place to ask. I came across this article. The author states "Rele and Mohile, scientists at Marico Industries, found that while wet hair is able to absorb trace amounts of coconut oil residue into the hair fiber, coconut oil is only able to act on the surface of dried hair with no penetration into the hair fiber."

Is the last portion of that statement true? I read the cited articles and I didn't find this mentioned. It appears the pre-wash examples, which had the best results, were conducted on dry hair. Perhaps this is just a reading comprehension fail on my part. Anyone know?

I get good results with pre-wash oiling on dry hair, but I'd still like to get some oil penetration from time to time.

Effect of mineral oil, sunflower oil, and coconut oil on prevention of hair damage

Secondary ion mass spectrometric investigation of penetration of coconut and mineral oils into human hair fibers: Relevance to hair damage.

[Gogobaby]

Hi
The first article had one page only.. Any chance of uploading again?

[cmg]

This seems to be the place to ask. I came across this article. The author states "Rele and Mohile, scientists at Marico Industries, found that while wet hair is able to absorb trace amounts of coconut oil residue into the hair fiber, coconut oil is only able to act on the surface of dried hair with no penetration into the hair fiber."

I am not sure what your angle is here. I read this statement like this:
1. It can penetrate the hair and does so easier when the hair is wet
2. In addition to that it can act as other oils do, it stays on top as a sealant.
Both these claims are supported by practical usage and scientific tests.

But there are other things about the article that should be mentioned. I think the article misinterprets some things to far. Example: "Coconut oil benefits black hair in two important ways. First, coconut oil's hydrophobic oil characteristics allow it to inhibit the penetration of water from the surrounding air and environment."

This statement contains two problems: 1. This is nothing special for black hair or hair from any specific race, secondly its not the oil itself that sits somewhere and in some chemical way inhibits water penetrating the hair. The oil staying inside the hair shaft makes the inner part of the hair swell and this makes the cuticle stay tighter to the hair surface, inhibiting water from entering thru "cracks inbetween" - this in turn keeps the glue of the hair intact and there is less likely any protein loss to occur. Also the cuticles themselves will not chip off thru handling and wear and tare, when they lie flat and dont stick out, also this means less protein loss.

Then she also states: "Second, coconut oil is able to bind to the natural protein structure of the hair. This helps the hair retain its natural moisture content and reinforces the hair fiber, making it stronger." I dont really know what she is referring to here. There is no need for extra moisture=water inside the hair and coconut oil does not repair anything in that.

The articles cited below will clarify some of this. Cant you read the whole article Gogobaby?It should have 18 pages. I have both of them on my computer, I could email it too you.

/ CMG

[Sabriel]

I've been using coconut oil all the time for over a year, but I'm changing up my wash routine and it's making me want to experiment Right now I have a ton of olive oil and a decent amount of coconut oil in my hair. I always totally coat my hair in oil for the last 2-3 days before a wash but i accidentally overdid it this time. Whooooops. My hair feels wonderfully soft though I'm excited to see how it is when I wash it out.

More relevant to my new wash routine is jojoba oil. I've stretched my washes to every 5-7 days and it has been amazing for my hair, but not always for my scalp. Now that I've started exercising way more regularly (yay!) and therefore sweating a lot, I can't leave my scalp alone for that long or it will be super irritated and itchy. So I'm trying (with success so far!) light scalp massages and cold water rinses in between. I put a ton of oil in my length to protect it, but since coconut and olive oil are penetrating oils a decent amount gets washed off (I might be wrong about this, please correct me if I am). Last summer I used jojoba to protect my hair from chlorine a couple times and if I remember correctly less oil washed out. Plus jojoba should be more protective when it comes to water because it's a sealant? So I'm thinking of putting some jojoba over the coconut and/or olive oil.

Thoughts?

ETA: I always have EVOO in my pantry - I can't believe I never put it in my hair before!!

[mamaherrera]

I do want to try keeping oil off my scalp to see if it helps with the shed, but I would like to try oiling the ends to see if I can lower the breakage. I get lots of broken hairs, but like I said, they come with the root, so I don't understand why I get so much breakage that far up. I can only think it's the washing techniques, I don't understand. But anyways. if you oil ends, let's say I wash every other day or every third day. Would I oil on dry ends those days in between and if it's to protect ends, would I use a penetrating oil or not?? ANd how far up would I go then, just the very ends/tips of midlength?? My biggest thing is I don't want my hair weighed down, since I dont have that much density to begin with. I could use some help with getting a routine down to help with breakage. But I want to try. And if i use it two consecutive days without a wash, do you all think I will get breakage?

[TheHuman]

I am not sure what your angle is here.

My angle? The article states the oil can only penetrate wet hair and claims that information is in the study. I read the studies and did not see that statement, or even a hint of it, made anywhere in either one. There is a chance I overlooked it, or perhaps misinterpreted something reported in the studies. So my angle was to ask if the idea that coconut oil can only penetrate dry hair was true or false.

[TheHuman]

Hi
The first article had one page only.. Any chance of uploading again?

The Effect of mineral oil... study? You can try this link. It links to the full PDF. If that doesn't work, PM me and I e-mail it to you.