Coconut oil mask making hair oily all of a sudden?

[oceanlove]

I started making my own coconut oil mask when I got a haircut and went back to my brown hair color about 2 months ago. The mask consists of a few spoonfulls of organic virgin cold pressed coconut oil, warm water to melt it down, and a few drops of jojoba oil. It worked amazingly up until about a week ago. I would put this mask on for about 2-3 hours before washing my hair (I wash my hair 2-3 times a week and would do the mask pretty much every time before). I would then wash off the mask, wash with my shampoo and then do a conditioner or mask. I never had problems with my hair being oily or greasy, and then all of a sudden...last week I did this usual routine (did not change ANY products) and after my hair air dried I realized how greasy, oily, and weighed down it was!! This has never happened before, and I don't understand why all of a sudden it happened. I had to wash my hair again the next day (something I don't like doing). Has anyone had this happened? Any advice?

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I just might be that your hair doesn't need so much oil any more. Try not using it for a while, or, at least, try using much less and see if your hair is ok with that. Sometimes it can just get overloaded and build up on your hair, you know? You may need to try clarifying, too, if you haven't been doing it already.

[MsPharaohMoan]

Clarify, deep condition, reassess. Products build up and you'll need to strip away the build up every once and a while. Adding oils to your routine means putting more layers than usual thus having more build up than what you're used to dealing with. Clarifying shampoos are made to get rid of build up (I wish I could give you a more scientific response as to how this actually works). You may find your hair to be dry feeling after which is why I suggest a deep condition afterwards to give your hair a layer of moisture attracting and retaining ingredients.

edit: SCIENCE http://ktanihairsense.blogspot.ca/2011/12/when-to-clarify-hair-and-with-what.html :flower: amazing blog

[LadyLongLocks]

Sounds like a lot of oil, especially 3 times a week. Maybe do it that heavy once every 2 weeks and just a very light coating before each shampoo. I often cut the oil with conditioner and water mixture for something a bit lighter and leave it in an hour. I only do it every couple weeks though and wash my hair much less than you (weekly)

[oceanlove]

Thank you everyone for the advice! I think I am overdoing it with the oil. I am going to go without it for a few weeks and see how my hair does. Perhaps, my hair just has too much build up in it and no I have not used a clarifying shampoo, but I suppose I should. I think the last time I used one was 5-6 years ago and it left my hair very dry :( I used a cheap drugstore kind, can't remember the name now. Can anyone recommend one that has worked well for them? Would greatly appreciate it, and thank you again!!

[renia22]

Thank you everyone for the advice! I think I am overdoing it with the oil. I am going to go without it for a few weeks and see how my hair does. Perhaps, my hair just has too much build up in it and no I have not used a clarifying shampoo, but I suppose I should. I think the last time I used one was 5-6 years ago and it left my hair very dry :( I used a cheap drugstore kind, can't remember the name now. Can anyone recommend one that has worked well for them? Would greatly appreciate it, and thank you again!!

Suave Daily Clarifying, Pantene Clarifying (for some reason not a lot of stores carry it, but Target has it), Neutrogena Anti-Residue, Prell shampoo, Paul Mitchell Shampoo 2 (you can get a 16 ounce bottle for a good price at Ulta if you have a coupon) are all good..

[LadyLongLocks]

I would go slow on the clarifying and dilute it. Caution with the Neutrogena Anti-Residue shampoo. It's the harshest I ever used! I dilute some Suave or just use the old Herbal Essences with sulfates, diluted with water. Maybe some deep conditioning would be good for you. Nexxus in the jar is good, but has cones. Good luck.

[lapushka]

Suave Daily Clarifying, Pantene Clarifying (for some reason not a lot of stores carry it, but Target has it), Neutrogena Anti-Residue, Prell shampoo, Paul Mitchell Shampoo 2 (you can get a 16 ounce bottle for a good price at Ulta if you have a coupon) are all good..

I have experience with the Pantene one (the one with a navy cap and that's in a clear bottle). It's quite okay. But my Pantene Aqua Light does a fine job as well. I weekly clarify (only wash once a week) and it needs it. I would agree - too much oil, way too much of a good thing can make things turn bad. I would oil lightly once a week from now on after clarifying, and see how that goes.

[renia22]

I would go slow on the clarifying and dilute it. Caution with the Neutrogena Anti-Residue shampoo. It's the harshest I ever used! I dilute some Suave or just use the old Herbal Essences with sulfates, diluted with water. Maybe some deep conditioning would be good for you. Nexxus in the jar is good, but has cones. Good luck.




I have experience with the Pantene one (the one with a navy cap and that's in a clear bottle). It's quite okay. But my Pantene Aqua Light does a fine job as well. I weekly clarify (only wash once a week) and it needs it. I would agree - too much oil, way too much of a good thing can make things turn bad. I would oil lightly once a week from now on after clarifying, and see how that goes.

I love Aqua Light, it's one of my favorites. The only thing I would say about using regular shampoos with the intention of "clarifying", is they often contain polyquats to help hair from feeling dry, and those can build up on some people as badly as some silicones or other ingredients with high build up potential. So if you really need to clarify, especially if it hasn't been done in a really long time and you have some heavy duty build up from something like coconut oil, I'd go for a properly formulated clarifying shampoo intended for that purpose. I've used all of the ones I've mentioned and have not had issues with dry hair with any of them (hair felt "clarified" like it was supposed to, and conditioner is needed afterwards, but that's to be expected), and they get overall decent reviews online so it's not just me, so as long as they are used for the intended purpose and not as a regular, frequent use shampoo, why not go for it and clarify.

[oceanlove]

Wow, thanks again everyone for the great advice. I did a little but of research, and it seems that Suave Daily Clarifying Shampoo is a popular and inexpensive choice as far as clarifying shampoos go. In my research, I remembered the one I used 5-6 years ago and it was a V05 one, I believe it was green? Anyway, I am going to pick up the Suave after work today and try it out tomorrow with a nice deep conditioner after!

[lapushka]

Hope it works, don't do a pre-poo! And do a nice conditioner after to combat the dryness, but if your hair is quite oily, it should alleviate that problem by itself.

[meteor]

Yes, I'd clarify, but I'd also go much lighter on oil in the future. :)

It's pretty normal to have hair take in lots and lots of oil at first, if the hair was damaged or dry, but reach some saturation point over time. I certainly don't use even close to the amount of oil I did in the past, just because my hair doesn't seem to need it as much when I keep it properly conditioned at all times. (I still need to oil more heavily in extremely dry winter time though.) Finding the right amount of oil is very individual and, if anything, it's a good sign if your hair consistently needs less rather than more. ;)

[oceanlove]

Just a quick update, with a bit of confusion :confused:
I ended up using the Suave Clarifying shampoo, ONCE. It worked really well and my hair felt light and fabulous on the day I used it and even the day after! This was a few weeks ago.
I have not been using coconut oil at all on my hair since then. NOW, for the past week or so, I have noticed that my ends are SUPER DUPER dry and frazzled. Should I go back to using the coconut oil but just on the ends?
Seems like I just can't win with my hair...either too oily or too dry :(

[meteor]

Just a quick update, with a bit of confusion :confused:
I ended up using the Suave Clarifying shampoo, ONCE. It worked really well and my hair felt light and fabulous on the day I used it and even the day after! This was a few weeks ago.
I have not been using coconut oil at all on my hair since then. NOW, for the past week or so, I have noticed that my ends are SUPER DUPER dry and frazzled. Should I go back to using the coconut oil but just on the ends?
Seems like I just can't win with my hair...either too oily or too dry :(

That's fine and not unusual. :) I'd recommend trying to seal moisture with a couple drops of oil (or oil + leave-in conditioner) right after shower or oil the braid tassel periodically right before bed and only when it looks/feels dry. This way you are controlling the amount of oil you give your hair more precisely. Start with a drop and build up from there (if you need more). ;)
And maybe you could experiment with another type of oil if coconut is not giving you predictable results. :)