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Ephemia
April 25th, 2015, 10:32 AM
Hi, I'm new here. :)

I'm currently experimenting with coconut oil, which my hair loves. When I started using it back at the beginning of February, I was just having a monthly leave-in treatment done by my mum, and she gave me a little pot of it to keep in my room and use as I pleased. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I looked for inspiration on here and the rest of the internet, and for a while was using it on my skin only. Then I started putting a bit on prior to a wash, but I don't think I was doing it right back then.

Then, since my last one about a month ago, I got the idea of putting a bit on my ends twice a day to give them a bit of protection, and it's helped loads with combing. I'm still putting some on before I wash it, but I think I've got the hang of it now and it's working better, though I've only done it my new way twice. I then decided to oil most of it, like I do pre-wash, twice a day, and I've been doing that for a week or two. Again, it's great for combing, but possibly makes it look greasier sooner, so I might alter that a bit. I've also just started putting the tiniest amount on the very tips of my longest ends, because right now I'm not S and D-ing those unless I find an actual split in one, and I want to prevent that. I don't want to suddenly realise I've been slowly losing length and volume from my already fairly pitiful ends because I've been trimming the same ends.

But I'm kind of wondering whether this is all too much oil, and whether it could harm my hair? I'm due another leave-in tomorrow or perhaps next Sunday, and I want to know whether that on top of all the oiling I've been doing since the last one could be detrimental. I'm thinking of oiling my higher length a little less often, perhaps just in the mornings or maybe every other day. It probably won't need as much after a leave-in anyway. I might even oil my ends just once a day, I'm not sure. Any advice?

Nique1202
April 25th, 2015, 11:55 AM
Oiling generally doesn't hurt hair. Coconut oil can cause protein problems for some manes making them feel crunchy and possibly more prone to breakage, but if your ends feel better with all that oil then that's not a problem you're likely to face unless you change the rest of your products.

The only other way oil leads to damage at all is if you feel your hair looks greasy and you wash it more often, if you wash it roughly (like, piling it on your head and sudsing the whole length isn't very safe).

If you don't like your ends being greasy, you could consider a serum with silicones in it. Especially if you're only using it on the bottom couple of inches, and if you use a sulfate shampoo or clarify every few washes, silicones can do some of the same things oil does for detangling the ends without the same greasy look and feel.

meteor
April 25th, 2015, 12:32 PM
Ephemia, let your hair guide you there. Some people's hair is just "thirstier" than others'. And at knee length, it's possible that your ends need more oiling (because sebum can't travel so far down fast enough to coat and "moisturize" them).
The only way I can see over-oiling being problematic is that oil attracts lint/dust/grime and you might need to wash more often or the hair can become coated and tangly with too much oil, but then it's easy to fix it with washing hair and oiling hair more conservatively next time. Also, I'd be careful with oils next to scalp and leaving oils on scalp for long. Oils rich in oleic acid (e.g. olive, almond, etc) can feed Malassezia fungus, which is directly linked with seborrheic dermatitis, so I would be careful with oils like that close to scalp.

Ephemia
April 25th, 2015, 03:40 PM
Thanks guys. I think I'll go ahead and have my leave-in tomorrow and then see how my hair responds to less oil over the next few weeks. I think a little more experimentation is in order here. My hair probably is quite thirsty, my ends certainly seem to soak up the twice daily oilings quite well. The greasiness doesn't really bother me; my hair gets like that anyway approaching wash days and so I don't really mind it looking slightly more greasy in return for an easier time combing it and less breakage. It gets washed just twice a week no matter how depressingly horrendous it's looking! :)

Thanks for the heads up (no pun intended) about the fungus. The only time my scalp and the nearby hair get much oil is during the leave-ins, but I didn't know about that risk and seborrhoeic dermatitis is something I really don't want.

lapushka
April 25th, 2015, 04:02 PM
Thanks for the heads up (no pun intended) about the fungus. The only time my scalp and the nearby hair get much oil is during the leave-ins, but I didn't know about that risk and seborrhoeic dermatitis is something I really don't want.

If you're not prone to getting SD, you're safe, and you can use oil anywhere you want. It's just that us folks with SD have to be careful. :)

Ephemia
April 26th, 2015, 07:18 AM
Sitting here in my onesie with my hair piled under a shower cap, which I actually managed to get on in one go! I'm Skyping my sister later. I can't wait to see her face when she sees my unusual attire! :D

We'll see how this goes. It was easy to comb this morning, and I didn't bother oiling it last night.