Preparing for henna... is a little coconut oil on the hair OK?

[tooqute2nv]

Anocdote time! I've been experimenting with using more oils in my (fine) hair lately, because I work in a VERY dry environment, but my hair started to seem ALWAYS dirty, or rather, oily, even though I shampoo everyday (atm w/ Biolage).
But after I henna-ed this time, it has taken out all the excess oil that had been lingering in my hair, and made it seem clean and fresh again! I usually henna/henndigo at night, so it'll have been 12+hrs since I'll have washed (and conditioned) my hair, and I have never felt that the henna was hindered at all in its uptake, due to either oily and/or dirty hair.
I have also never experienced any of the dryness people sometimes complain about after henna. Even though I use amla, which is so said to be drying...I DO use a small can of coconut milk in my mix every time though... So, I personally think that as long as your hair isn't literally drenched in oil, the henna will absorb a lot of it (being a mud-like substance that it is), and let the dye soak into the hair....Not so sure about the indigo though....

[ktani]

Someone else tried coconut oil before henna and also reported no dye uptake problems (see page 3 on my profile page comments).

Coconut oil, even heavy a one has not been reported to hinder dye uptake in the peroxide thread, (see the link in my siggie).

Other oils may do so because they do not penetrate hair well. Both coconut and argan oils have not been reported to cause any problems in that area.

P&G attributes better dye uptake to chelating copper, for their synthesized copper chelant, when it is used with a peroxide containing conventional dye. Both coconut and more so argan oil, chelate copper as well as iron.

Iron and copper are found in hair. They are absorbed by hair from water (copper pipes) in particular or just the water itself and also from cosmetics (many conditioners contain iron and copper for cosmetic purposes.

[tooqute2nv]

Wow, ktani, you just entirely made me realize how the hard water here affects, in maybe both positive, and negative ways, my henna/henndigo...Never really thought about the copper and iron before...

[ktani]

Wow, ktani, you just entirely made me realize how the hard water here affects, in maybe both positive, and negative ways, my henna/henndigo...Never really thought about the copper and iron before...

It can. In the Honey thread some people found that their tap water was just fine for honey lightening but that is rare. Water quality varies from place to place.

With the P&G research it was about copper in particular, reacting with hydrogen peroxide to create damaging free radicals. Using a copper chelant minimized damage. One of the other major benefits was better dye uptake. That was also reported in the peroxide thread, with heavy coconut oilings in particular minimizing damage and dyness (no damage was reported in the overwhelming majority of reports) and better dye uptake, even on grey hair. Argan oil added to a coconut oiling was reported to reduce pre-treatment time and still yield great dye uptake, no damage and minimize dryness and frizz.