View Full Version : oil = curlier; why?
spidermom
February 16th, 2019, 08:49 AM
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
February 16th, 2019, 08:53 AM
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
February 16th, 2019, 08:55 AM
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
February 16th, 2019, 10:10 AM
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
February 16th, 2019, 10:17 AM
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
February 16th, 2019, 10:23 AM
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
February 16th, 2019, 10:56 AM
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
February 16th, 2019, 12:50 PM
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
February 16th, 2019, 03:02 PM
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.)
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