Doesn't washing the oil from pre-poo mix defeat the purpose of oiling your hair?

[RA0704]

I've only pre-pooed my hair a few times and each time it just doesn't seem worth it. I've only used coconut oil as a pre-poo on my coarse 3a hair.

1st time, had to wash my hair 3 times and I still had very "slick" hair
2nd time, I did some reading and I broke up the pre-poo by adding in some conditioner before the shower. "Oil attracts oil" But i still washed my hair twice and it still felt slightly coated.
3rd time, same as 2nd.

Doesn't that fact that in order for my hair to feel clean that i had to keep washing out the oil and therefore use more shampoo and therefore incur more damage defeat the purpose of pre-pooing? After all the steps should it feel a little slick?

I feel like I'm totally missing something. Any clarification would be really appreciated.

Thanks

[spidermom]

The act of shampooing opens the cuticle and helps the essential fatty acid molecules from the oil to penetrate, so no - you aren't defeating the purpose by washing after oiling. It does sound like you're over-washing, however. Your hair isn't going to feel the same after oiling as it does if you do not oil. Try just conditioning and washing once and see how you get on. It will be different, but you may come to like how your hair feels and behaves with some oil in it. I remember thinking that my hair still felt oily, but once it was dry, it didn't look oily. It looked luminous and felt silky.

[Laurab]

I've learned that for oiling, I really need less oil than I thought. A little goes a long way!
If I'm using it as a deep treatment, I use just enough so it all seems coated, focusing on my scalp. It doesn't need to be dripping with oil or anything.
Then I've been using a silicone-free conditioner to break it up, massaging it a lot, and then continue to massage a lot in the warm water, then shampoo, and condition again.

My hair doesn't end up looking greasy this way.

As far as feeling coated goes, mine was starting to feel this way a little while ago, so I used a clarifying shampoo and really cleaned everything out. But guess what? My hair tangled like crazy, almost like I hadn't used conditioner. I've learned i prefer the slightly coated feeling because it gives so much more slip. My hair doesn't look greasy any faster, so I don't mind.

Also I don't know how other people do it, but my hair doesn't need treatments every time I shampoo. I know straight hair tends to be the oiliest, so I don't need to worry too much about dryness, but you can personalize how often you use it for sure.

[lapushka]

The idea is not to overoil in so far that you need to wash multiple times. The idea is to leave a tiny bit of oil in the hair (teaspoon, about that much, for a natural oil). This way you won't need to wash 3 times. One time will be enough and there will still be remnants of the oil in there to "soften" the hair.

[SpottedBackson]

I've heard that coconut oil doesn't agree with everybody's hair so you could try changing the oil you use. In my own experience, when I pre-pooed with coconut oil, I couldn't wash it all out in one go so I just left my hair a bit greasy to the next wash a week later and after that second wash it became angelically soft and shiny. So, no, I don't think the purpose is entirely defeated but maybe you haven't found the right routine and ingredients for your hair yet.

[Siv]

Personally I drench my hair in oil, then wash with a sulfate-free but not super gentle shampoo, and condition twice. No residue afterwards. Leaving your conditioner on for a good while helps remove the oil from the hair.

The oil protects the hair from the detergents in shampoo, so even if you don't feel much oil in your hair after washing, it's still done its purpose.

[MusicalSpoons]

How long did you leave the oil in before washing? I do a very heavy oiling (but still not 'dripping') because I can get away with it by leaving it in at least 24hrs, often longer over two nights. If you're leaving it in for just a few hours, you probably need less oil.

Definitely use lots of conditioner to get it out, let that sit for as long as possible as well (for me it's an hour *minimum*) - and yes, you might find you do better with another oil as well. Babassu oil for me seems like 'coconut oil lite', with a low melting point and none of the crunchiness that coconut oil brings, though it can be hard to find and expensive. You can just as well try pretty much any other plant oil you might have instead :)

Depending on how my scalp is feeling, I don't always oil up to my roots, and when I do go all the way up it's nowhere near as heavy as on the rest of my hair, because my roots generally have enough oil of their own :lol: (As a curly your experience may be very different, but I thought I'd note this in case any straighties or fellow oily-heads are debating whether to try.)

For me, even though my hair is only slightly wavy, the oiling makes a huge difference in how my hair feels. I went for a few weeks of skipping one step or another in my wash routine and I really felt it when I didn't oil before washing. So yes, it is worth it, once you've found the right oil/amount/length of time/method to wash it out :)

Edit to add: despite this, I still also need to use a reasonable amount of oil for ROO (rinse-out oil) when I wash :rollin: link to that method is in lapushka's signature if you're curious. I tried without it in case it was overkill after the pre-poo oiling, but nope, still needed it!

[lapushka]

Edit to add: despite this, I still also need to use a reasonable amount of oil for ROO (rinse-out oil) when I wash :rollin: link to that method is in lapushka's signature if you're curious. I tried without it in case it was overkill after the pre-poo oiling, but nope, still needed it!

Yep, I've learned that what you put in your hair before a wash has nothing to do with what you do after a wash. I recently detangled with a conditioner and some water (misted into the hair). It wasn't a success at all, I think I even failed to put it in my blog (forgot). But I still needed conditioner after! :)

[Groovy Granny]

Ok...now that 'pre-poo oil' makes sense :thumbsup:

I bought Matrix Oil Wonder Rose and thought it curious they had the oil as a pre-poo vs ROO.

TBH I can't recall how the first try went before I did a ROO with it :hmm:

I will pay better attention next time ;)

Thanks for the 'double condition idea' if too much oil is used!