oil = curlier; why?

[spidermom]

I'm sure this is only for us marginal types who ride the line between wavy and curly. Last night I tried a new deep moisture treatment that left a lot of oil in my hair after I rinsed it out. My hair dried with a lot of nearly corkscrew curls instead of the usual loose spirals. I slept on them and my hair is all wonky today plus needs another wash because of all the oil so I don't have a picture.

I've noticed before that if I've oiled my hair in preparation for washing it, then get caught in the rain, my hair will curl up a lot more than when it gets wet without the oil. Does anybody know the science of this?

[GrowlingCupcake]

While I do not know the science behind it, I would speculate that it has something to do with saturation. Without oil, the water would saturate your hair. With oil as a barrier, it cannot, which leads to... maybe less 'limp' (for lack of a better word) hair/spirals?

[-Fern]

Ahhh, and my theory is the opposite... The oil helps seal moisture into the hair shaft while also creating a barrier against humidity, so hair is moisturized and less porous = stronger curls.

Equivalent to the LOC method (leave-in, oil, cream) for curlies.

[lapushka]

Ahhh, and my theory is the opposite... The oil helps seal moisture into the hair shaft while also creating a barrier against humidity, so hair is moisturized and less porous = stronger curls.

Equivalent to the LOC method (leave-in, oil, cream) for curlies.

Yeah, that sound about right, to me at least!

[Groovy Granny]

Ahhh, and my theory is the opposite... The oil helps seal moisture into the hair shaft while also creating a barrier against humidity, so hair is moisturized and less porous = stronger curls.

Equivalent to the LOC method (leave-in, oil, cream) for curlies.

That's my guess too because I do ROO and LOC and both really helps my curl definition.

[Rowdy]

I have found oil provides almost like a 'grip' that helps with clumping and in turn clumping helps encourage the spiraling. At least that's how I interpret it. I saw this happen most prominently with the 1 clump of stubborn 2B that I have (before keratin applications of course). I'm sure moisture balance plays a roll too but as my hair naturally grows in, in an over-moisturized state I have focused more on grip/slip for clumping and defining.

However, my hair is very coarse and from my time at LHC I have seen that F and C hair are extremely different creatures so this might not be the case for you.



eta: The curlier hair in the rain thing is also how I came to my routine which is oiling dry hair before getting it wet (I do not shampoo the lengths so the oil stays in my hair)

[milosmomma]

I don't think I really have anything science-y to add but I do believe it has to do with your hair having more moisture, and I just wanted to say oiling and roo has helped bring out my definition as well as ds1 wurlies so it's nice to see this is a common occurance. It can be useful for someone in the wavy/curly spectrum looking for more definition to bring out as much as possible.

[lapushka]

Well I like ROO and also the LOC/LCO method and it for sure enhances the little wave I got going on. It makes it look more defined and less of a mess like in my signature (which is slept on as well).

[MusicalSpoons]

Whenever I oil my hair dry, I get insane frizz which curls at the ends :confused: I have wondered why, because it's always done it right from the first time I oiled, when I was just using S&C and my hair was not particularly moisturised. (I get that kind of frizz post-wash before it settles, but slightly less insane than when I oil.)