For those that use mineral oil...

[arr]

I'm interested in knowing why you started using mineral oil, how much you use, do you still incorporate other oils in your routine, do you also use conditioner, and anything else you feel is relevant to the topic. I especially would like to know how much other people use. I use 3 drops after washing my almost waist length hair, but i also use silicone free conditioner and i use a little of that as a leave in with 3 drops coconut/olive oil before smoothing on the mineral oil. I also do prewash oiling. I feel mineral oil as a last step leaves my hair very silky and prevents tangles, whereas other oils left my hair feeling sticky and coated and attracted lint.

[sunflowersmiles]

I was my hair with sulfate and silicone free sampoo/conditioner. I use coconut oil as a prewash oil when it needs it. I usually put a couple drops on my fingers and use it as a detangler. My hair is much softer since I began this routine.

[Madora]

I started using mineral oil last year in place of conditioner (which I'd used for years to help with detangling). I use 4 drops, which are applied to my hands first, then I run my palms down my almost knee length (damp) hair until all the oil has disappeared from my palms.

I switched over to MO from conditioner because you don't need to wash it out, which was a big plus for me since I have fallen arches and standing in the shower hurts like hell.

I do not use any other oils as my hair receives enough natural sebum from daily brushing and I hate the idea of putting anything on my hair that will attract all the stuff flying around.

[MeowScat]

I started using it about a year ago because of Ktani's article on it. I rarely use it now because I keep forgetting. But when I do, I only use 2 drops on my almost Classic Length, damp hair. My hair is Fine and not really porous at all so it just sits on top of my hair, never sinking in. I have stopped using other oils for now for the same reason...they just coat my hair, never sinking in, so it makes it look greasy and yucky. My conditioner is cone-free.

A few weeks ago I had a knot, not a tangle, a knot that was bigger than a golf ball. I used about 20 drops of Mineral Oil on that sucker and used a Tangle Teezer and my fingers and it got the knot out. Yaaaay!!!

:applause

[Sharysa]

I still use conditioner even though I use almond oil after a shower--the oil helps seal in the moisture, because my hair used to look like a frizzy mess a couple of days after my shower. Once I started using almond oil after a shower, my hair dried out a LOT less. Plus it makes my hair soft and keeps it from getting brittle.

[biogirl87]

I started using mineral oil this summer after reading ktani's articles on it and after reading Madora's posts about it. Initially I started using it to help with the frizz I get in the summer (I usually let the frizz go since nothing seems to help it except maybe CO washing which leads to 84 hairs coming out in the shower after three days of not washing my hair, which is 1.5 times the number I normally get) but then started using it to help detangle my hair. Then I stopped using mineral oil for a while in the fall months, but started using it again about a week ago. Now, when I use it, I do not use conditioner. I tip the bottle of mineral oil on top of a cotton ball and then rub the mineral oil that is on the cotton ball on my palms to transfer the mineral oil to my hands and then run my hands through the length of my hair it is damp. I do not use any other oils since even mineral oil is enough to weight down my hair when I run my hands through my hair more than needed and I do not use a lot of mineral oil to begin with.

[Marika]

Sorry to hijack but do you use 100% mineral oil? I'm asking because I have some samples of baby oil and the ingredients are: Paraffinum Liquidum, Isopropyl Palmitate. Is this ok?

[biogirl87]

Marika, I think the isopropyl palmitate is an additive you do not want in your mineral oil. The bottle of mineral oil I have is Equate baby oil that I found in the travel section of Walmart, so you should be to find it easily. It only cost a dollar and the only ingredients in it are mineral oil and fragrance. From what I have read, fragrance is fine but other additives are not.

[Elenna]

I try to use organic products and recycle the containers. I use baby oil as a last addition to cut back on tangles particularly in the form of single strand knots. Knots are a big problem with long, fine hair. I don't have a problem with baby oil since I use so little of it.

[arr]

For those wondering, i use johnson and johnson baby oil, the plain original one in the pink bottle. Im enjoying reading everyones responses.

[door72067]

I also use the J&J baby oil, mainly because I have always loved the scent of it, otherwise I'd probably just get a plain mineral oil

I started using it after reading about it here

when I started, I had MBL curly hair that was about 1/2 old dyed hair (and previous mistreated with blow drying on top of coloring, I was red, so I colored about every 3 weeks) and 1/2 virgin (my virgin hair has rarely seen a hair dryer, I gave that up after joining here, but I confess to occasionally using it, for maybe 5 minutes at time on a cool setting, just not nearly daily on *hot* for 10+ minutes like before) and it really made a difference in how my mis-treated hair felt, not to mention what it's done for my grown-out virgin hair

how much I use depends on what I am trying to accomplish with it

I rub a few drops into my hands and then through damp hair when I wash for protection(I feel like it helps protect my ends, I have no clue if it actually does)/friz control

I will use more right before washing for a deeper treatment

I also use some on dry hair if I straightened my hair (I use an InStyler once in a while) or if it's very humid and my curls are out of control-frizzy

last month I cut off nearly all of the old dyed hair and am nearly virgin (all LHC cared for hair, really) and it feels so much healthier and different than my hair had in years and years and imho, a lot of that has to do with the baby oil (and stretching washes, not using heat ~too~ often, using paraben-free products)

[lapushka]

Silicone free harsh sulfate shampoo
Silicone conditioners (2 times)
Silicone leave-in
Silicone free gel / sometimes silicone gel
Silicone serum or mineral oil (2 drops)

That sums up my routine.

[Beborani]

I noticed a few curly hair products in the market contain mineral oil as first or second ingredient so I got curious and bought a bottle of baby oil and tried it on my hair after using my other leave-ins, I found it held frizz free wearable curls for longer time (upto 3 days) even in highly humid climate. I also cowash almost exclusively and use other oils prewash (can be coconut, sesame, grapeseed, olive--mostly dependent on ease and availability). I did not quite like the effect on damp hair straight after wash as the only product--for that I prefer silicone serums. My hairtype is wavy/curly.

[meteor]

Mineral oil is probably my favourite sealing oil.
I notice I really like cone-free conditioners with mineral oil as one of the top ingredients: these conditioners tend to provide almost coney slip.
I also like the fact that mineral oil doesn't go rancid, so no need to worry if the seller lied about the expiry dates. I use lots of natural oils, and some of them are pretty fragile and go bad fast.

[meteor]

I noticed a few curly hair products in the market contain mineral oil as first or second ingredient

Yes, I find that too. And whenever I want a product rich in mineral oil, I go for the aisles targeting curly hair or African-American hair. It seems like a very traditional and popular ingredient. I think due to the all-natural, organic trend, newer products often use some exotic-sounding oils in place of good old MO but most of those natural ingredients have no research to support their use. Compared to most oils, MO is pretty well-researched actually.

[lapushka]

I think due to the all-natural, organic trend, newer products often use some exotic-sounding oils in place of good old MO but most of those natural ingredients have no research to support their use. Compared to most oils, MO is pretty well-researched actually.

I was on the natural bandwagon for a while there. I used to use Nivea (blue tin) cold cream as my face moisturizer, as I have dry skin. It did what it's supposed to very well! Now, recently more natural cold creams came on the market and I started trying those. Nothing, but I mean *nothing* moisturizes my skin as well as the mineral oil containing Nivea does. It's hands down *the* best moisturizer around. So no, I'm not adverse to things containing mineral oil - at all. And of course I fell off that bandwagon. ;)

[jacqueline101]

I started the winter I joined here my hair was breaking off at the ends. I had the advice gave to me when I posted a thread about my dilemma. I think Madora is the one that mentioned it in my thread.