hair things I don't understand

[emmadilemma]

I know this sounds weird but theres a couple things I just cant wrap my head around? One of them is, you know those products that people say "grow hair", meaning they get new hairs to grow so your hair gets thicker? Correct me if I'm wrong but I think theres a set number of hairs on a persons head, and in my mind any products that claim to produce new hair follicles are completely fake, am I right? Also the idea of putting oil on hair before clarifying, especially if you use silicones. I know some people overnight oil before they clarify, but why? your hair is covered in silicones which seal the hair, making putting on oil pointless as it cant penetrate the silicone and then the hair follicles, right?
I know this is weird I just don't get it. Am I missing something guys???

[lithostoic]

1. I have new growth on my head and a lot of it.
2. Oil soaks into hair overnight.

[Decoy24601]

Products that say they can grow hair are a gimmick. There are a few options.

1: If you're vitamin deficient or protein deficient, fixing that deficiency would allow any stunted growth to regrow.
2: If you have any DHT related hairloss, minoxidil can help grow thicker hair (but not reopen closed follicles).
3: Caffeine has been shown to reopen closed follicles in men with male-pattern (DHT) related hair loss.

Certain oils, mostly coconut oil, have the ability to penetrate the hair shaft. Water can expand the hair shaft enough to cause damage, so if it's soaked with oil it doesn't have the chance to expand as much.

Here's a big misconception about silicones: They don't seal your hair. Silicones are oils. While they do a better job of preventing the transfer of moisture than coconut oil, they can't "suffocate" your hair. Your hair can get buildup over time like any other oil, sure, but it can't completely seal the hair. So, yes, natural oils can penetrate past silicones on your hair.

Oiling hair overnight doesn't have anything to do with hair follicles or hair growth, since you oil the length of your hair (scalp oiling is another thing, I do it because I tend to get eczema but I use oils that are better for skin than penetrating hair) to prevent damage during washing.

[spidermom]

I use silicones after washing and coconut oil before washing. I don't know about other people, but when I apply silicones, I don't use a lot and make sure every single hair is completely coated. I give the top side one or two modest sprays, with one or two modest sprays to the underside. So even if the presence of silicone on a hair prevents it from absorbing coconut oil, there are plenty of other hairs that don't have more than a droplet or five of silicone and thus are fully able to absorb coconut oil.

[Llama]

Silicones dont create an impenetrable barrier. Your hair wouldnt be able to get wet if that were the case. You would step out of the shower with bone dry hair.

[Mirabele]

Some hair folicles may be inactive? The idea of oils and massages and hair grow products may be to "awaken" these? Some
Folicles may produce extremely slow hair grow, and oils+massage may contribute to enhance?
I do agree that we have genetically programmed amount of hair on our heads but for an average person this amount in real life isn't 100% but less, due to different reasons. So all oils, good hair care can help to reach that amount to maximum for each person.

You dont normally have silicones on your scalp. Silicones are in conditioners and most people put conditioner from ears down but not on scalp. Some shampoos may contain silicones but not all, i believe.

[CarrotTop]

I occasionally like to oil my hair before washing, even though I use silicones. Sometimes I leave oils long enough for them to soak in well, but sometimes I just slap them on 20 minutes before washing, to help my shampoo be less harsh on the ends of my hair.

[Adiro]

i really don't understand oiling, but i do it anyway.... it's not about the oil not entering the hair shaft, it's about the effort to wash it ALL off... i mean, after i oil overnight, when i wash i wash twice, to make sure that my hair is not oily after... so i just removed all the benefit, right? how does oiling help, if i clean it off, anyway?

[Adiro]

about follicles and hair thickening, it's just like thinning.... i think it's about some products helping to reach your full potential ( or more of it...) i do have new growth after using a certain product ( gerovital) based on petroleum/gasoline, i had hair thining on the sides of my forehead, amd now i have lots of fuzy new growth, after about two months.... i am pretty sure that new growth hapened all over my head, but here at the forhead line is very obvious...

[Khristopher]

i really don't understand oiling, but i do it anyway.... it's not about the oil not entering the hair shaft, it's about the effort to wash it ALL off... i mean, after i oil overnight, when i wash i wash twice, to make sure that my hair is not oily after... so i just removed all the benefit, right? how does oiling help, if i clean it off, anyway?

Do you really need to wash twice? I do heavy overnight oilings with EVOO and I only use very diluted shampoo to get everything off. Even if I had missed something the conditioner gets rid of it. The oil is suposed to stop the drying effect of shampoo on lenght and ends. It really makes a difference on how the hair feels.

[Decoy24601]

Do you really need to wash twice? I do heavy overnight oilings with EVOO and I only use very diluted shampoo to get everything off. Even if I had missed something the conditioner gets rid of it. The oil is suposed to stop the drying effect of shampoo on lenght and ends. It really makes a difference on how the hair feels.

To be fair, that's very YMMV. I can't slather my hair in oil or else I won't be able to get it out... even with multiple applications of harsh shampoo and conditioner. Some people's hair gets buildup much easier than others.

[neko_kawaii]

Oil is super easy to wash out if you treat the wash out process as a deep conditioner treatment. Apply diluted conditioner directly to oiled dry hair, let it sit for 20 min (or more) and rinse out.

[Decoy24601]

Oil is super easy to wash out if you treat the wash out process as a deep conditioner treatment. Apply diluted conditioner directly to oiled dry hair, let it sit for 20 min (or more) and rinse out.

Yeah, that doesn't work for my hair :). I've tried all sorts of things to get heavy oil out of my hair.

[Cg]

Yeah, that doesn't work for my hair :). I've tried all sorts of things to get heavy oil out of my hair.

Here too. I need at least two washes with Dawn dishwashing liquid to de-oil. Nope, no oil for me.

[lapushka]

To be fair, that's very YMMV. I can't slather my hair in oil or else I won't be able to get it out... even with multiple applications of harsh shampoo and conditioner. Some people's hair gets buildup much easier than others.

Same for me. At the end of the week (I weekly wash), I have enough "oil" on my head that it needs a good old harsh shampooing (half rinsing it, then sudsing it up a second time). I don't need additional oils or I'd have to wash more; what's the use in that?

[lapushka]

I know this sounds weird but theres a couple things I just cant wrap my head around? One of them is, you know those products that people say "grow hair", meaning they get new hairs to grow so your hair gets thicker? Correct me if I'm wrong but I think theres a set number of hairs on a persons head, and in my mind any products that claim to produce new hair follicles are completely fake, am I right? Also the idea of putting oil on hair before clarifying, especially if you use silicones. I know some people overnight oil before they clarify, but why? your hair is covered in silicones which seal the hair, making putting on oil pointless as it cant penetrate the silicone and then the hair follicles, right?
I know this is weird I just don't get it. Am I missing something guys???

True. You can't grow thicker hair than you have follicles on your head. The only way it is going to thicken up is if you had deficiencies to begin with. You can't produce new hair follicles (wouldn't that be awesome to balding men and women).

Silicones aren't harmful to the hair, and things can still penetrate. It's the same myth with mineral oil / baby oil that is used to "seal in" moisture. If you wash it out with water and a little soap, it's going to be all gone. And some silicones are even water soluble so there goes that.

[Adiro]

Oil is super easy to wash out if you treat the wash out process as a deep conditioner treatment. Apply diluted conditioner directly to oiled dry hair, let it sit for 20 min (or more) and rinse out.


Neko, that's a great tip, I have not tried this yet...

and to answer the other poster's question, yes, honestly I washed twice... When my hair gets oiled, I probably overdo it.... t's wet dripping with oil... it's not easy to wash that well, especially because most of my shampoos are the gentle sulphate free kind. and yes I do clarify?chelate with a swimmer's shampoo about once a month... heavy water here full of salts and I do use coney conditioners too...

[Entangled]

i really don't understand oiling, but i do it anyway.... it's not about the oil not entering the hair shaft, it's about the effort to wash it ALL off... i mean, after i oil overnight, when i wash i wash twice, to make sure that my hair is not oily after... so i just removed all the benefit, right? how does oiling help, if i clean it off, anyway?

Don't oil if you don't notice a difference. If you're having to do two harsh shampoos and aren't noticing a difference, then you are probably negating the benefits. I don't have to do that; just regular conditioner is enough to get my oil out. I also use coconut oil, which has been proven to stop some of the swelling that occurs as water enters the hair shaft, but really I do it because when I pre-poo oil, my hair is soft after. I use enough to make my hair look stringy, but definitely not enough to make it look like it's dripping. I haven't noticed any benefits of oiling my hair to make it look nice, so I only do it before a wash.

[triumphator!]

Lots of silicones are water-soluble or dissolve in oil - plus they degrade over time and wear off the hair shaft.

[Kimberly]

Lots of silicones are water-soluble or dissolve in oil - plus they degrade over time and wear off the hair shaft.

Do you figure dimethicone would dissolve in oil? Got some in my hair accidentally (it was in sunblock I was trying) and I can't use sulfates to remove it because of sulfate allergies.

[spidermom]

Conditioner gets oils out for me. When I've generously oiled, I apply conditioner over the oil then twist my hair and clip it up while I enjoy a good sudsy body scrub-down. Then I rinse out the conditioner and oil while combing with my shower comb, shampoo the scalp area with diluted shampoo, rinse, condition again, rinse. I can't get conditioner on my scalp, otherwise my scalp will itch and get oily again very fast.