Thirsty hair?

[longishhair]

Hi,

I just discovered that my hair loves oil! It soaked up 1/2 cup of 4:1 castor oil/grapeseed oil mix in the past couple of hours and my lengths feel silky even though I only used the oil on my scalp. So I guess the oil kind of got "pulled through" the length of my hair?

My goal with this treatment is to moisturize and de-frizz my normally dry and frizzy hair and increase growth. My hair normally is way less shiny than it has been this past week. I started oiling a week ago, applying 1/4 cup of evoo for the first treatment. I had the hardest time washing it out (even with conditioner!) and my hair was a major greaseball. So I decided to switch to castor/grapeseed.


Current routine:

Wash hair every 2 days after overnight pre-oiling
CO twice a week, sulfate free shampoo and conditioner once a week
Pre-oiling oil: grapeseed/castor oil (ratio 1:4)
I chucked my plastic-mini-bulb-at-bristle-ends-brush and switched it out with a wide tooth comb and a BBB
use the WTC to detangle and the BBB to distribute oils


Do you think adding another bit of castor/grapeseed oil (1-2 tsp) now would be beneficial, since I plan to wash my hair in about 10 hours and don't have to go anywhere (I'd like to see if my hair wants more oil or not)? Thanks!

[MeowScat]

A half cup of oil was sucked up that fast? Awesome! If I use a few drops, it just sits there, never sinking in. Ugh. I wish oil treatments worked for me.

Since you have no where to go, now is the time to experiment. But, maybe go a little easy this time. You don't want to have to wash several times if it's too much.

Don't forget to wash your comb and especially your BBB frequently.

[meteor]

Great that you found new successful additions to your routine.
I agree that EVOO can be super-hard to wash off if too much is applied. So far, it's the only oil that I managed to really overdo.


Do you think adding another bit of castor/grapeseed oil (1-2 tsp) now would be beneficial, since I plan to wash my hair in about 10 hours and don't have to go anywhere (I'd like to see if my hair wants more oil or not)? Thanks!
I wouldn't do it, unless your hair doesn't even look oily after half a cup of castor + grapeseed. It should look like very greasy hair after a good amount of pre-poo, but it shouldn't be soaking wet.
I would follow up with a good scalp massage before the oil sinks in. And since you use BBB, now is the good time, to make sure you distribute the oil very thoroughly.

[longishhair]

A half cup of oil was sucked up that fast? Awesome! If I use a few drops, it just sits there, never sinking in. Ugh. I wish oil treatments worked for me.

Since you have no where to go, now is the time to experiment. But, maybe go a little easy this time. You don't want to have to wash several times if it's too much.

Don't forget to wash your comb and especially your BBB frequently.


Great that you found new successful additions to your routine.
I agree that EVOO can be super-hard to wash off if too much is applied. So far, it's the only oil that I managed to really overdo.

I wouldn't do it, unless your hair doesn't even look oily after half a cup of castor + grapeseed. It should look like very greasy hair after a good amount of pre-poo, but it shouldn't be soaking wet.
I would follow up with a good scalp massage before the oil sinks in. And since you use BBB, now is the good time, to make sure you distribute the oil very thoroughly.

Thanks for the advice! I decided to not put any more oil in even though my hair doesn't look/feel greasy. I've used the BBB several times.

To clean the BBB, would you recommend soaking it in soapy water for an hour or so before thoroughly rinsing it? I don't want a dirty brush but I don't want it to start rotting either...

[Madora]

Longishair, if you subject your bbb to sitting in soapy water for an hour, you'll start losing bristles. Better to soak the brush in mildly warm water for no more than 10 minutes (since you're trying to get the oil out of the brush). Rinse well with cold water. Shake off the water (fan the bristles with your fingers several times, then wipe off all wooden parts you can reach. Set it bristles side down on a lint free cloth, out of direct sunlight.

My grandmother, who used a bbb all her life, warned me about letting the bbb stay immersed too long. She said the glue holding the bristles could become weakened, thus causing the bristles to fall out.

While I've had no experience with using a bbb on hair that has been oiled, perhaps if you first shampoo the brush with diluted conditioner, rinse it off, then let it soak in the warm soapy water for 10 minutes. I mention the conditioner aspect because several members here have mentioned that using conditioner helped with their greasy issues. Personally, I wouldn't let my precious bbb anywhere near hair that had been oiled but not rinsed out. You don't want the bristles to become coated with any residue than what your hair naturally produces (sebum).

[MeowScat]

I agree, don't soak your brush for an hour. I know that some people use shampoo to wash their brushes, but I'm not sure if they use sulfates or not. The conditioner idea is much gentler.

Madora, how often do you wash your BBB? I know you use it everyday, but you don't have an oily scalp (lucky girl).

[Firefox7275]

Oil doesn't moisturise (add or increase water), penetrating oils like coconut and olive do the reverse - they reduce porosity reducing the amount if water hair holds. That's not a bad thing if you have overly porous hair. Neither castor nor grapeseed is particularly penetrating to hair given the fatty acid composition.

Do you know your hair properties (porosity, elasticity, coarseness) and are you working with them when choosing ingredients and products? Are you using enough leave in conditioner?

Quarter of a cup would require a ton of emulsifier rich conditioner to cleanse out (if I blend warmed in a dish my Inecto takes oil at 2-1 but not at 1-1). If you are using a conditioner containing humectants or oils/ butters it would have an even tougher job since the emulsifiers will be 'busy'.

[ErinLeigh]

If you are using a conditioner containing humectants or oils/ butters it would have an even tougher job since the emulsifiers will be 'busy'.

What does that mean firefox? Can you explain to me? Are the humectants blocking conditioning or cleansing? Are they helpful or harmful in this case?

[longishhair]

Thanks for all the info!

[sarahthegemini]

Your hair soaked up half a cup of oil?! I'm in awe. One drop makes my hair greasy :( Grapeseed oil is a sealing oil (it does not penetrate) so for a deep treatment, I wouldn't opt for grapeseed. Possibly avocado instead?

[bunzfan]

Mine does the same I can pile the oil on at it soaks it all up within a few hours, interesting what you say Firefox7275 I tried smt ' recently and my hair is much more moisturised.

[Firefox7275]

If you are using a conditioner containing humectants or oils/ butters it would have an even tougher job since the emulsifiers will be 'busy'.

What does that mean firefox? Can you explain to me? Are the humectants blocking conditioning or cleansing? Are they helpful or harmful in this case?

Humectants are not directly helpful or harmful, more of a *potential* hindrance. If propylene glycol and/ or glycerin (say) are on the top five ingredients that can often mean there is a smaller percentage of fatty alcohols and/ or cationic surfactants (the emulsifiers, mix oil and water). A good cleansing conditioner is loaded with emulsifiers.

If you only do fairly light oilings you likely won't have difficulty co-washing away any excess, with very heavy oilings or sebum build up you may well struggle to get clean hair: there just isn't enough emulsifier to deal with the lipids. Of course amount of conditioner applied is relevant, I use piles (way more than any YouTube tutorial) so shift heavy oilings easily.

Over on NC a fair number of co-wash 'fails' are down to people choosing products that are effective conditioners rather than good cleansers/ emulsifiers.

[meteor]

Your hair soaked up half a cup of oil?! I'm in awe. One drop makes my hair greasy :( Grapeseed oil is a sealing oil (it does not penetrate) so for a deep treatment, I wouldn't opt for grapeseed. Possibly avocado instead?
Good point: avocado is usually a better pre-poo option, and not only because it's probably penetrating. I'd recommend analyzing the drying capacity of oils before choosing how to use them on hair. Drying oils, like grapeseed, polymerize over time, they form a hard film that is very hard to wash out with soft shampoo. I had to stop using grapeseed on hair (it's lovely on skin though) after a few failed pre-poo applications, but your mileage may vary, of course. I think grapeseed oil is fine applied in tiny amounts, like a shine serum, but heavy soaks can be problematic.

http://ktanihairsense.blogspot.ca/2011/12/understanding-drying-capacity-of-oils.html
Check out iodine value for your oils here: http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/OilList.asp
An oil with iodine value of at least 130-190 and higher is considered drying.