WO & oiling your hair

[01]

I have a quick question to water only folks who oil their hair and don't wash it off with anything stronger than just water. For those who oil more than just ends (I'd like to oil my scalp and hair with coconut oil to help with my hair loss) - how much oil are you able to use in your hair? I mean, I'd like it to absorb (at least some) and not kill my pillows, etc (heh).

How much and how often?

[MusicalSpoons]

I'm not WO, but I can say for sure that everyone uses different amounts of oil - literally every thread asking 'how much oil do you use?' has a huge variety of responses! Your best course of action would be to experiment, tbh. As you're WO you might want to start with a small amount and gradually work your way up to a point where you're getting the benefits without using too much to wash out :) if you're worried about your pillows, you could put an old towel over them, but if you do start with just a small amount you shouldn't have a problem really. (How much 'a small amount' is will depend on how long your hair is and whether you already know how quickly it absorbs or not.) I hope this helps a little bit; I'm sorry I can't give you a definite answer though I don't think anyone can!

[Xu]

I'm not WO either but i think without washing it out a tablespoon of (liquid) oil on hair and scalp
would be as much as i can handle before looking unpresentable when it's down. But that amount will be different for everyone.

[LittleOgre]

Haha for me... I have no issue soaking my hair in as much oil as possible but it is unnecessary. I just love to make sure it is soaking up all the benefits. Why do you want to oil your ends anyway?

[Xu]

If i wear buns or braids i can pour in half a bottle too, it just doesn't work well with hair down. Oiled ends are nice because it seals in the moisture when the texture there is already more porous due to friction on the overall oldest part of the hair.

[LittleOgre]

That is true. Fair enough. :) Another oil alternative is silicone but that would require you to wash it out with a clarifying shampoo.

[Xu]

I use both natural oils and silicone based serum. Hardly ever find the need to clarify, i think heavy piling the hair before washing removes some of the silicone build up too. And then just use silicone free products for hair cleaning. I clarify many twice a year.

[01]

I'm not WO, but I can say for sure that everyone uses different amounts of oil - literally every thread asking 'how much oil do you use?' has a huge variety of responses! Your best course of action would be to experiment, tbh. As you're WO you might want to start with a small amount and gradually work your way up to a point where you're getting the benefits without using too much to wash out :) if you're worried about your pillows, you could put an old towel over them, but if you do start with just a small amount you shouldn't have a problem really. (How much 'a small amount' is will depend on how long your hair is and whether you already know how quickly it absorbs or not.) I hope this helps a little bit; I'm sorry I can't give you a definite answer though I don't think anyone can!

*sigh* Well... I think you do have a point. *laughs* Nobody can really tell me how much oil I should use. The problem with my hair (AND skin) is that they have hard time absorbing *anything*, it just sits on top. On my skin too. At the same time I got an impression that I need HUGE amounts for oil to work... on my skin also, I oil heavily and then I rub it all off with a towel because it won't absorb (but my skin still needs it). My hair also... I don't know how much oil to use to get any benefits at all... too much (like, more than few drops) and it will sit on top... but if I won't use enough maybe it won't work at all. So confusing.

LittleOgre, I used to oil my ends on WO with no problems when I had long hair, now I've had grown out ultra-short cut (I guess it's still slightly shorter than pixie but I'm getting there). I had, like, 1,5cm hair left (lol) and now they grown out some, so I have no ends to oil ;), I want to oil my scalp to moisturize it and help with my hair loss (I'm thinking it might be from lack of moisture or from just general neglect... I was kind of neglecting my hair).

Xu, it's interesting that you can not clarify and use silicones. I was wondering if I can CO with silicone condish (it's hard to find silicone-free conditioners here, I have one now, but it was almost impossible to find it).

[Blondie Locks]

:waving: If you don’t mind me asking...I am new here...what does WO stand for?

[cjk]

Water Only.

Many of us use nothing but water to remove contaminants while leaving our natural sebum. I do water and conditioner, haven't used a shampoo since the end of 2016.

[lapushka]

:waving: If you don’t mind me asking...I am new here...what does WO stand for?

You might want to read through this:
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=54874

AND this:
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=120052

[Deborah]

O1, if you are WO, and especially if your hair is short, I can't imagine that you need to use any oil at all on your hair. Your natural oil (sebum) should be plenty.

[Blondie Locks]

Water Only.

Many of us use nothing but water to remove contaminants while leaving our natural sebum. I do water and conditioner, haven't used a shampoo since the end of 2016.

Thank you! Someone else showed me a list of what the abbreviations mean. I’m in the know now. Haha!

[elfynity]

I totally agree with Deborah. If my hair was your length I also wouldn't need oil or even conditioner on my ends at all. Just WO and a BBB should keep your hair in perfect condition. But to answer your question, and I have really battled with oil and only just got the right amount the other day (and I am also WO, with spurts of Flour shampooing sometimes) - so what i do is I oil my face and then I rub all the remainder oil into my hands and even up my arms a bit if it still feels oily and then only after that do I rub my hands down the length of my hair (not on the roots, just from the ears down). That amount of oil absorbs into my hair and doesn't leave it greasy.

I don't oil or condition my first 4 inches of hair from my roots because my natural sebum production has that completely sorted out.

Hope that helps!

[Blondie Locks]

You might want to read through this:
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=54874

AND this:
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=120052

Hahaha...I think I thanked the wrong person. Whoops! Sorry about that. Still getting used to things around here. Thank you, lapushka. Very helpful indeed. :)

[lapushka]

Hahaha...I think I thanked the wrong person. Whoops! Sorry about that. Still getting used to things around here. Thank you, lapushka. Very helpful indeed. :)

You're welcome, and it's absolutely fine & normal that you have to find your way here. It can be a little confusing at first! :flower: Good luck, and if there's anything else, just ask! :) :thumbsup: