Extended Oiling - What was the longest you've gone?

[Mrstran]

I've had my hair oiled for a few days now, adding a bit more everyday to my ends hoping it will help a bit with protection and what not. I'm wondering what was the longest stretch that you've (semi heavy or heavily) oiled and what were your results?

I dont leave my home much so I'm thinking about just keeping it heavy-ish oiled and up in between washes. For the protection n' such.

Added info pertaining to scalp health: Before washing I throw together my root oils (to unclog n'such) and leave them for about 30 minutes with a 10 minute massage.

Thanks! :D

[raemarthe]

Once I heavily coconut oiled my hair, intending to leave it in overnight, and wash it out the next morning. I ended up getting really really sick the next day and didn't feel up to the strenuous task of washing my hair. I think the coconut oil was in my hair something like 4 days before I felt well enough to wash it out. My hair was very soft though! But by that point I was pretty much sick of smelling coconuts! :redgrin:

[Dendra]

Do you mean you oil just the lengths or the whole head? The longest I left a whole head of coconut oil on was two days and so much hair came out when I finally washed it off. But I don't see any problem with having your lengths oiled all the time really. I often have a semi-heavy oiling on my lengths for a couple of days at a time.

[valkyrie90]

I left it over-night several times and didn't like it mostly because coconut oil turns to a horrid smell if I leave it on my hair for too long so I only leave it in like for 5 hours maximum. My hair turns out soft and shiny enough I wonder how good it might get if I leave it in for days ? @.@

[Deborah]

Those who practice WO have oil in their hair every day, which they do not remove. Some have done it for many years.

[Salwety]

Good ideaa for a thread ;)
Sometimes I really wonder what it will be like to have heavy oiling for a week or more. Like in the greenhouse effect (GHE) method. But never tried it. The most I have left my hair hair heavy oiled is 2 days, and I am a WO.
And by the washing oiled hair with warm water gets most of it off the hair.
I haven't done any deep treatment for months, but i add some oil to the length after each wash, and it sits there till next wash.
It will be fun if we start a GHE trial together.

[luxurioushair]

Thanks for the great ideas in this thread. I'm going to continue ignoring the "scientific" ladies who advise against extended oiling or conditioning. My hair likes it, and I'm looking to maximize on my hair growth until the end of the year. Oiling and conditioning do wonders for hair.

[lapushka]

I typically only oil once a week, and for the rest of the week, it keeps my moisture balance on point all while my hair is manageable an not oily. That is also why I don't add oil. It has to be manageable, presentable too. And I hate a layer of oil on top of my hair. So I guess it's not for me, extended oiling. I also have never tried because my hair is moisturized as it is and I don't see the need to disrupt that nice balance. (I sometimes do the rinse-out oil method, but I still LOC/LCO with among other things a serum).

[Alibran]

I add oil to my hair every day, then wash it off once or twice a week on wash day, and start again.

Last time I had long hair, I sometimes went up to 3 weeks between washes, but I probably won't do that now I live in Spain and the climate is better for air drying.

[Alissalocks]

Two and a half days, but I use sweet almond mixed with essential oils, so it doesn't overwhelm or go rancid. In the super dry climate I live in, it's made a tremendous difference. I usually only oil from the ears down, as it can cause me excess shedding when used on the scalp.

[sumidha]

Daaaaaays, when camping or backpacking.

No specific benefit, except that dirty oily hair is easier to manage than just dirty hair.

[ShahMat]

A couple days, and for me it doesn't work any better than keeping the oil (coconut oil usually, sometimes with a few drops of argan oil on the tips) overnight and then washing in the morning as I usually do, so not really worth it :/

[Natashap]

Overnight max ,so maybe about 7 hrs .

That's it.I never overoil .As have a very oily scalp.

[yahirwaO.o]

Im sure I have left it in for almost a week in the past (and lived in braids to disguise it). Yes my hair was super soft and some hair did come out because my scalp doesnt work that well if i dont wash it for more than3 days.

....anyways right now my shedding has decreased and as im typing this is my 2nd day with coconut and olive oil in my strands, yeah its pretty managable than regular dirty hair but I suposse if your scalp doen´t freak out you could probably get aways for as long as you want! For smell any esscential oil should do the job!

[triumphator!]

Occasionally I like to oil my hair on Friday morning and wash it out on Sunday evening. That's about as long as I'll go!

[Cherriezzzzz]

I've gone days and days... I've water "washed" with it in and it doesn't come off that way. After about 4 days or so it seemed to have mostly soaked into my hair.

It may be my hair type, but I've put in root to tip coconut oil, left in a couple days, then water washed. When it dries it looks like a got a perm! The wet look of course haha but it just looked styled and quite nice actually.

I think the longest I left it in was 6 days! It gets a bit annoying bc the oil sort of migrates to my face so I've had to wash my face a few times during the day, but using a headscarf helps enormously!

Also my hair didn't smell bad at all? I don't use "cooking" coconut oil, (lou brand I think it is) but the organic, cold pressed blah, blah, blah fancy coconut oil LOL