Amla and mineral oil questions

[elfynity]

I used Amla before, the cheap kind that you buy from a local indian shop that has mineral oil in it. I used it for about a year, and my hair finally grew beyond BSL to waist which it had never done before. My hair struggles to get past BSL, which I am sure is because it is so fine and the ends become compromised easily. I have read good stuff and bad stuff about mineral oil, but I would really like to try the Amla oil again.

I just did an Amla oiling this last week and after it washed out, my hair seemed happy with it. My hair, only has two states, super dry or super oily - there never seems to be a 'moisturized'. Does this mean I have non porous hair ? Do you think it is the mineral oil that helped my hair to get to waist length before?

It has been hard to go 2 years without any length change at all. It is growing at the roots, just not becoming longer at the ends. I know I have had damage, but my hair was also damaged before at the ends when I did the Amla oiling that time.

[lapushka]

Do you use it on your scalp, at all? Otherwise I don't see how it would be an issue at all.

If you were fine with it before, why not try it again?

Do you still trim your hair? Just the obvious question, but just thought I'd ask it anyway. You never know. :flower:

[elfynity]

Hi Lapushka, I'm still microtrimming. Do you think Amla on the scalp can pose an issue? I never had a problem with it before.

[lapushka]

Hi Lapushka, I'm still microtrimming. Do you think Amla on the scalp can pose an issue? I never had a problem with it before.

I think it's fine, personally; might be a little oily if you choose the one with MO, but that's about it.

If you're microtrimming, you can't expect growth that much. :flower:

[MusicalSpoons]

Do you wear your hair up and protected? If not, mechanical damage might account for the lack of growth. How much do you microtrim and how often?

Not that it has anything to do with the question you actually asked, sorry :lol:

[Ylva]

If you don't leave the mineral oil on your scalp for a long time, I don't see an issue. I personally don't consider it "dangerous" in any way, although some do. Especially since it has worked for you in the past, I don't see any reason not to go back to it. On eBay you might be able to find some amla-infused oils without mineral oil, for example by the brand Khadi.

[Alibran]

My hair, only has two states, super dry or super oily - there never seems to be a 'moisturized'. Does this mean I have non porous hair ?

Have you tried putting leave in moisture (oil or conditioner) into your hair when it's dripping wet? I have low porosity hair, and that's the only way I can get mine to absorb moisture. If I try to put moisture into dry hair, I just end up with dry hair with an oily coating.

(And this is another non-answer to the amla question. Sorry.)

[elfynity]

Hi everyone, thank you for all your responses.

Lapushka, I hear you - I am microtrimming because my hair wasn't getting longer. It had gained length over 3 years, about 2 inches, but not in the last year and a half.

MusicalSpoons, i have been wearing my hair up constantly in a bun now, but only for 3 months, so it could very well be mechanical damage from before. That's where I think the microtrimming is going to just be an assurance against bad ends. When I used amla before, I didn't tie it up.

I'm pretty sure my amla oil before wasn't this drenched in MO as much as my current one is - MO has quite a sour smell to it. I like the no MO amla oil solution Ylva.I am definitly going to see if I can get a bottle of that rather.

Allibran, I have just taken your advice now, I shampoo'd, rubbed avocado oil in the ends of my hair while it was sopping wet, then conditioned over that. I'm waiting for it to dry to see the outcome!
Later Edit: My hair ends were very oily.

Although my question hasn't really been answered, I think that I can definitly say that I have non-porous hair. I am going to keep oiling once a week on Thursdays, Perhaps just oiling, regardless of MO will seal my hair ends so that i can see some growth.

[RoseChantel]

Another option for you would be to infuse Amla into whatever oil would work best for your hair. It's pretty easy to infuse your own oils at home. YouTube has a lot of good tutorials. I started doing this to make my own hair oils last year. Also, I've heard that infusing curry leaves, papaya seeds and guava leaves also help with growth. Hope that helps give you some ideas.

[nycelle]

I can only think of a couple if reasons why you're not gaining length at your stage.
1. I think you said you were water only. If that's the case, and you have porous hair, which usually translates 8nto dry hair, then you need a real conditioner, maybe something with protein to stop the breakage. Oils alone will not help enough.
Or 2. A professional cut with extremely sharp scissors to get rid of the damage/splits once and for all, followed by lots of conditioning treatments to keep your porous hair hydrated.
Unless you have a medical condition, your hair should reach longer lengths than in your profile pic, even with normal environmental damage. So all I can think of is excessive breakage from techniques that aren't working for your hair.

edited to add: I know my post doesn't answer your oil question (sorry about that), but I zoned in on your last comment about not gaining length and thought.. wow.. something weird is going on here.

[The-Young-Maid]

Wouldn't oiling before conditioning lock out all the moisture? At least that what happens to my hair.

[maborosi]

Another option for you would be to infuse Amla into whatever oil would work best for your hair. It's pretty easy to infuse your own oils at home. YouTube has a lot of good tutorials. I started doing this to make my own hair oils last year. Also, I've heard that infusing curry leaves, papaya seeds and guava leaves also help with growth. Hope that helps give you some ideas.

This! If you find an oil that's more suitable for you, this can definitely be a good option!
I personally use straight MO and have found it's one of the best oils for my hair. My hair also likes grapeseed oil, too.

It can take a while for hair to feel soft and moisturized. It's a lot of experimentation to figure out a good routine that works for you. I personally have found the LOC method works well for me (Leave-in, oil, cream). I actually do this morning and night, especially now that my hair is drier in the coming colder months.

- I mist my hair with water until it's slightly damp
- Follow with my leave-in conditioner (I use Nightblooming's Selkie for this)
- After that is mostly dry, apply mineral oil
- After that is mostly dry, apply cream- I use Nightblooming's Freya, or Fekkai glossing creme

I'm also going to second what nycelle said- you definitely should be seeing growth, and you know your hair is growing, but you're not seeing it at the ends... Is your hair extremely curly? What sorts of styles do you put your hair into? Do you use heat, hairspray, chemical dye, etc? Or have you used it in the past couple of years since you started growing out?

[nycelle]

duplicate post.

[SallySue]

Wouldn't oiling before conditioning lock out all the moisture? At least that what happens to my hair.

I posed the same question recently in the Rinse-Out-Oil thread which was followed by an interesting discussion with some links to articles on why not, if you care to read that.

But to the OP about having low porosity: soak the hair with warm (not hot) water with the oil/conditioner to get maximum absorption. Oil can also help seal weak spots and prevent breakage even where there is existing damage.

I just thought of something else. Are you doing anything to protect against sun damage? I noticed you live in South Africa and that your hair looks a few shades lighter on the ends, which could indicate sun bleaching.

[elfynity]

I can only think of a couple if reasons why you're not gaining length at your stage.
1. I think you said you were water only. If that's the case, and you have porous hair, which usually translates 8nto dry hair, then you need a real conditioner, maybe something with protein to stop the breakage. Oils alone will not help enough.
Or 2. A professional cut with extremely sharp scissors to get rid of the damage/splits once and for all, followed by lots of conditioning treatments to keep your porous hair hydrated.
Unless you have a medical condition, your hair should reach longer lengths than in your profile pic, even with normal environmental damage. So all I can think of is excessive breakage from techniques that aren't working for your hair.

edited to add: I know my post doesn't answer your oil question (sorry about that), but I zoned in on your last comment about not gaining length and thought.. wow.. something weird is going on here.

Hi Nycelle, thanks for this. These are exactly the questions that are the basis of my entire hair growth struggle. I am going to totally use your advice and get onto keeping up with lots of conditioner. Also oil once a week now before my wash, and microtrim. It probably makes no difference about the MO I guess, I think you are right that the WO just didn't give me enough moisture or protein for my ends.

You commented about porous hair - if hair is porous, that means it would dry out quickly?

[elfynity]

Wouldn't oiling before conditioning lock out all the moisture? At least that what happens to my hair.

It probably would, but i was just willing to try anything else! I wont do it again as my hair was so oily afterward.

[elfynity]

I'm also going to second what nycelle said- you definitely should be seeing growth, and you know your hair is growing, but you're not seeing it at the ends... Is your hair extremely curly? What sorts of styles do you put your hair into? Do you use heat, hairspray, chemical dye, etc? Or have you used it in the past couple of years since you started growing out?

Thank you for posting your method, my hair doesn't allow me to leave any oil in at all, it becomes too oily even with a drop.

My hair is really curly, actually lots of spirals. But it is very very fine. I used alot of heat and sulphates before January this year and it caused weakening and damage. When i stopped, my hair stopped falling out and tons of it started growing in all over.

[elfynity]

I posed the same question recently in the Rinse-Out-Oil thread which was followed by an interesting discussion with some links to articles on why not, if you care to read that.

But to the OP about having low porosity: soak the hair with warm (not hot) water with the oil/conditioner to get maximum absorption. Oil can also help seal weak spots and prevent breakage even where there is existing damage.

I just thought of something else. Are you doing anything to protect against sun damage? I noticed you live in South Africa and that your hair looks a few shades lighter on the ends, which could indicate sun bleaching.

Hi Sally sue,

I love your suggestion of soaking my hair in warm water for the oiling - I am going to try that.

My hair is definitly lighter at the ends from sun bleaching, it gets much blonder as summer comes along. I will be avoiding sun this summer though, as much as I can. It is a bit difficult to. And last year, to add to what you are saying, we literally snorkelled every weekend for 6 months and no protection for my hair. And we did that the year before that, and the year before that!! I didn't think of how much damage that could have actually caused. I thought it was just the bad dye job in 2016.

[nycelle]

Hi Nycelle, thanks for this. These are exactly the questions that are the basis of my entire hair growth struggle. I am going to totally use your advice and get onto keeping up with lots of conditioner. Also oil once a week now before my wash, and microtrim. It probably makes no difference about the MO I guess, I think you are right that the WO just didn't give me enough moisture or protein for my ends.

You commented about porous hair - if hair is porous, that means it would dry out quickly?

Hi,
Yes it would dry out quicker since porous hair loses moisture faster. But it's also easy to get it in (unlike low porosity hair), just need to have it constantly conditioned.

If you look at my signature pic, my hair is also lighter towards the ends from the sun. What I do these days is, I leave some conditioner on the bottom few inches of my hair (but it should be protein free if you're going to leave it in). I use the Squish to Condish method for wavies/curlies and it keeps my ends nice and soft until my next wash. You can google squish to condish to see how it's done.

Or, try the LOC method and/or the ROO method that's in Lapushkas signature. I've tried them all and found STC just happens to work best for my hair.

[maborosi]

Thank you for posting your method, my hair doesn't allow me to leave any oil in at all, it becomes too oily even with a drop.

My hair is really curly, actually lots of spirals. But it is very very fine. I used alot of heat and sulphates before January this year and it caused weakening and damage. When i stopped, my hair stopped falling out and tons of it started growing in all over.

Ah, okay. So that can totally happen- your hair might take a while to...for lack of a better word "heal" from the damage. When I grew my hair out to WL years ago, I stopped heat styling around APL.
But my hair was really messed up by the time I hit WL, and it was a frizzy, tangly, dry mess no matter what I did. Sometimes damage won't show up on hair until a while after. I was less knowledgeable about good haircare practices, but still...
I ended up cutting, but trimming gradually should help.

Have you tried protein + moisture? I do a clarifying shampoo, then follow with a good protein treatment, then a deep conditioner. I do this about once a week generally, since I have hair that's kind of fine and prone to damage. (It's more F/M, but lots of those F strands need attention and lots of care) I generally follow a protein treatment with moisture or else my hair gets pretty dry. It really does help the condition of my hair, I feel.

[SallySue]

Hi Sally sue,

I love your suggestion of soaking my hair in warm water for the oiling - I am going to try that.

My hair is definitly lighter at the ends from sun bleaching, it gets much blonder as summer comes along. I will be avoiding sun this summer though, as much as I can. It is a bit difficult to. And last year, to add to what you are saying, we literally snorkelled every weekend for 6 months and no protection for my hair. And we did that the year before that, and the year before that!! I didn't think of how much damage that could have actually caused. I thought it was just the bad dye job in 2016.

Aha, that is probably a big contributor to your breakage, then! Hot temps + salt water + UV rays = hair that is blonder, finer, and weaker. You don't have to quit snorkeling, though. (Honestly I am jealous and would rather have all those fun experiences than a couple more inches of hair!) But next time you go out, maybe try some added protective measures. I'm thinking wearing an oiled bun in the water would probably be good.

[elfynity]

I just spent a bit of time reading back on this thread I created and am so happy about all the amazing advice everyone gave here. For anyone out there who didn't know, my hair has started to gain in length finally! And the ends are healthy now.

I just wanted to follow up though on the MO thingy, I see Ktani (a member from the past) really swore by it and even recommended putting baby oil into your lengths.

I am just wondering now if anyone is actually using MO, in what form and why.

[Pacific]

I alternate oils and let them sit a few hours before washing. One of them is Dabur Vatika Amla Oil with MO. I find it for my hair heavy and I only use a small amount. For ROO I can only handle 2 drops as a leave in it's to oily for me.