Mineral oil and herb extracts/essential oils?

[ChloeDharma]

I've always been quite against mineral oil in the past mainly because what I want from an oil is one that nourishes the hair ie coconut or helps the scalp like jojoba, of course there are many others too. However I have a hair oil that has many ingredients that I really like, here are the ingredient listings

Ingredients: Sesamum Indicum (Til) Oil, Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Oil, Eclipta Prostrate (Maka, Bhrigaraj) Extract, Extract Of: Adiantum Capillus Veneris (Hansraj); Abrus Precatorius (Gunja); Trichosanthes Cucumerina (Patola); Murraya Koenigii (Curry Leaf); Plyllanthus Emblica (Amla); Terminalia Bellerica (Behda); Centella Asiatica (Brahmi); Vetiveria Zizanioides (Cuscusgrass); Terminalia Chebula (Harde); Citrullus Colocynthis (Indrayan); Curcuma Zedoaria (Kachura); Ocimum Basilicum (Murwo); Cyperus Rotundus (Nagarmotha); Rosa Damascene (Rose); Trigonella Foenum-Graecum (Methi); Psoralea Corylifolia (Bawachi); Nardostachys Jatamansi (Jatamansi), Hedychium Spicatum (Kapurkachri), Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Ocimum Basilicum (Sweet Basil) Oil, Chamomilla Recutita (German Chamomile) Oil; Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (Mct), Ethylhexyl (Octyl) Methoxycinnamate, BHT, Cl 47000, Cl 61565, Cl 26100.

I love that it has sesame, coconut and castor plus many herbs I find good like bhringraj, fenugreek, amla etc. My question is this though, will having mineral oil as the second ingredient reduce the absorption of the herb extracts and the beneficial effects of the castor and coconut oils?
If I want an oil to just protect the length then mineral oil seems a good idea but I want much more than that and from this oil I mainly want the scalp benefits particularly as I have dry sebum and find I need to oil my scalp to soften my sebum making it easier to wash off.

Anyway I'd very much appreciate any information on this and whether or not I'm wasting my time in terms of the herb extracts penetrating the scalp particularly.

[lapushka]

I have no clue. I just want to say that there are plenty of people here who use MO just plain on the hair, sometimes even as a conditioner. And it works. No doubt about it.

[ExpectoPatronum]

I would like to add my two cents.

My hair is softest when I use MO versus any other oils that are supposed to do something for the hair. I imagine my hair would feel very soft using that product.

[meteor]

You know, dermatologists are very positive on MO - it's an excellent emollient and occlusive - great for dry skin/hair. Also, unlike many natural plant oils, it doesn't feed malassezia fungus (strongly linked to SD), it's not a common allergen and is a lot less likely to cause a reaction - so I actually feel pretty safe using mineral oil. Sure, it doesn't have any vitamins and other beneficial stuff, unlike, say, rosehip oil, neem oil, avocado oil, etc... but you get those from all the numerous extracts in that product anyway. I think it looks like a great product! :D

[gustavonut]

What is the product called?

[Nadine <3]

Well, I used mineral oil once and my hair hated it with a passion. I had limp stringy tangled hair and I only used a pea sized amount. My hair really prefers coconut, olive, grapeseed, or a combination so I personally wouldn't expect a whole lot from it. However: I know many many people here have really good luck with mineral oil, so why not give it a go?

[slynr]

I love mineral oil. The key for me is the amount I use. To make sire I don't over do it I put a decent amount in my hands and rub it into my legs after showering. What is left on my hands I rub down the length of my hair. So you can see it is a really, really small amount. When I tried it before I didn't like it but now I know I was using too much. It takes a very small amount.

I've tried everything else pretty much. Coconut, argan, grape seed, jojoba, camellia, plus all kinds of blends. Now all I use is mineral oil. Leaves my hair so, so soft and doesn't weigh it down. That is saying a lot for fine hair.

[ChloeDharma]

Well I've tried the oil and while it does feel nice I have developed a spot on my scalp. This might be a coincidence though so I won't blame the oil for that yet.

I should clarify though that my concern was not that the mineral oil would somehow damage my hair or scalp, it was that because it creates a barrier it might prevent the herb extracts being absorbed into the scalp. Having used it I can't really tell for sure but I did notice I fell asleep very easily after using it which is something bhringraj is known to do but I was also tired so it might be a coincidence.

I will continue using this oil a couple more times but will probably look out for an oil with bhringraj in that does not contain mineral oil because I can't shake that nagging feeling that it does not contribute any qualities that I'm looking for scalp wise. However as it's turning cold and nasty weather wise I might use a little on my length on cold windy days because the mineral oil would give good protection against that I think.

I should have put a link to the product, sorry about that
http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acatalog/Hesh-Bhringraj-Hair-Oil.html#SID=3544

The oil does have so many great ingredients in it and I expect I will keep wondering whether the herb extracts can still be absorbed into the scalp but I do wish the MO was left out. The same company make a Heenara oil that I have used before so I might pick up a bottle of that to use whenever I next get around to going to the Indian grocers.

If anyone else has used this oil I'd be very interested to hear your experiences though, my main interest is hair growth though as opposed to conditioning the length.

Thank you to everybody that replied :)

[lapushka]

I wouldn't use MO on the scalp, or oil that contains it, it's hard to get off the roots (in the sense that it takes multiple washes), not so much the length.

[ChloeDharma]

I wouldn't use MO on the scalp, or oil that contains it, it's hard to get off the roots (in the sense that it takes multiple washes), not so much the length.

Thank you Lapushka that does help me decide. I was wondering how washing it off would go as I use a sulphate free shampoo that only contains Reetha, Shikakai and Soapwort as cleansing agents. I will stick to vegetable based oils ie coconut, sesame etc in future when it comes o my scalp.