Washing oil out of hair

[Jiffa Jaffa]

Hello, complete LHC newbie here and have a few questions for all you long haired lovelies!:cheese: I desperately want to improve the shine and condition of my hair, so I regularly heavily oil my hair, either with coconut oil or almond oil and leave it in for a good few hours - however, I have to shampoo at least twice to make sure I have washed it all out, so i sort of feel like i am stripping away all the moisture that the oil has given me and my hair doesnt really feel that moisturised afterwards.
I must admit that I tend to use Lush liquid shampoos to wash out oil which have quite a lot of citrus ingredients in which may contribute to the dryness... i have SLS free shampoos but i dont think these wash out the oil very well at all in my experience. what do you all use to wash out your oil?I live in the UK and a lot of the haircare products i have seen menioned on here i have never heard of! Any tips or recommendations on where I am going wrong?
Thanks :)

[Pierre]

I never wash out the oil I just oiled with. If I have to clarify, I use baking soda; else I just wash with water. Then when it's slightly damp, I fingercomb a couple of squirts (maybe 0.5 ml) of oil through my hair.

[logica_divina]

The best thing to use to take the oil out (and it works much better then shampoo) is any cone-free conditioner. Put some in your hair when you get in the shower, clip it up or use a shower cap and go about the rest of your shower duties. At the end, rinse it off well.

[Melisande]

I have no real explanation for this but I find that my hair tolerates oil much better now than it did two years ago. Which means that even after a heavy oiling, conditioner and diluted shampoo are enough to get it out. Even olive oil. My hair must have gotten used to it. Besides, I don't want to get it ALL out. A tiny amount of oil left on my scalp and in my hair is good and gives shine and elasticity.

[Elphie]

I second the suggestion for cone-free conditioner. I have no problem getting the majority of the oil out using that.

[LilyMunster]

I use a good long conditioner soak and warmer water. Works fine.

[backtolonghair]

Hmm... I"m going to have to try this too, as I shampoo my hair 2-3 times after I do a hot olive oil treatment and wanted to know how to keep the oil without the greasiness.. Thanks!:)

[Jiffa Jaffa]

Thanks for the replies!Wow, would never have thought that conditioner would get it out!I will have to try this.
At the minute the only cone free conditioners I have are Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle rose (too thick I think), Lush Okra and Lush Retread. Think I will try the Okra as its quite runny. One more question, will I need to wet my hair before applying the conditioner?

[Elphie]

I wet my hair and then gently squeeze out some of the water before applying the conditioner.

[jera]

I was never able to get those nut based oils out of my hair without lots of shampoo either .;) I finally switched to jojoba, camellia, and grapeseed oil which are much lighter and rinse more easily and completely from my hair. So far the results are great. :joy:

[Xandergrammy]

At the minute the only cone free conditioners I have are Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle rose (too thick I think), Lush Okra and Lush Retread.



I used to dilute Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose with water. For me it worked just as well and made it last longer.

[Honey39]

Conditioner only washing gets all oil out - I know it sounds crazy, but it works so much better than shampoo for lifting any oil out (for me). I don't know why.

I wet my hair thoroughly in the shower, and then add loads of cheap cone-free conditioner. I massage in gobs of the stuff like shampoo, and then pin it up in a clasp while I wash. Then I take my hair down, stick it under the shower spray for a second, and really lather up and massage - the conditioner will almost lather like shampoo; you'll get conditioner suds, lol. Then rinse rinse rinse - all the oil comes out effortlessly using this technique. With shampoo, it just doesn't come out this easily, but this gets out even the heaviest oiling.

[Jiffa Jaffa]

Thanks for your help everyone, what a helpful community! I want to oil my hair now! But will have to wait until tomorrow now. Just found some JASON sea kelp conditioner at the back of my cupboard which i think is only slightly "coney", i think its the last 2 ingredients or something. Would that do too or best to stick to a completely cone free conditioner?

[bikerblue]

Hi Jiffa Jaffa

Have you tried Wilkinson's, Boot's or Asda's own brand conditioners some of the cheaper ones don't have cones in.

[Jiffa Jaffa]

Hi Jiffa Jaffa

Have you tried Wilkinson's, Boot's or Asda's own brand conditioners some of the cheaper ones don't have cones in.

I haven't, I had always assumed that it was the "natural" brand shampoos like Lush etc that avoided silicones, I didn't realise that cheaper own brands could be silicone free- I should check the labels more thoroughly, I take it i should be lookin for ingredients that end in "cone"? Thanks for pointing that out :D

[bikerblue]

You could also try shampooing once but letting the shampoo sit on your hair for a minute before rinsing. This works quite well for me.

[lynnala]

I've noticed that the oil left over soaks into my hair on the second day after washing. I just put it in a braid for the first day, then on the second day, it's perfect. Before LHC, I needed to have my hair squeaky clean (read 'stripped of all oil') every moment and I washed everyday. Yikes! Lately, I don't even use soap on my hair anymore, just Indian herbs, I do a light oiling before washing, and I allow the oil to soak in naturally afterwards. Keep experimenting with different routines and products, you'll find something that works for you!

[baobhan sith]

I'm using CO atm, but i never feel that it's getting my hair clean, it just feels kinda lank and greasy, but i know that some people think that if you put oil in your hair, that dissolves the grease (basis of OCM for skin). If CO with non-coney conditioner works for getting oil out, does anyone think it would get my hair cleaner to oil it and then wash it with conditioner?

ETA: ooh, I just remembered, I think Ursula had a variation on a SMT which was basically oil your hair 1st, and called it cleansing, so maybe it would work!

[Darkhorse1]

I use a clarifying shampoo--Herbal Essence Degunkify to wash out just plain old olive oil. I found coconut oil dried my ends badly. I would think each person can use a different oil, so perhaps you need to experiement with different oils? Good luck! :)

[spidermom]

I heavily coconut oil my hair before washing, then I wash mostly the scalp area with diluted shampoo, and the suds running through my hair during the rinse removes enough of the oil that my hair rarely looks oily after it has dried. Sometimes it still feels oily while it's wet, but by the time it has dried, most to all of the oil has been absorbed.

Try using very little oil at first - 1 or 2 drops to bottom few inches only. Don't worry about washing out every trace. As long as you aren't using mineral oil or petrolatum, the oil most probably will be absorbed completely by the time your hair is dry.

[Honey39]

I haven't, I had always assumed that it was the "natural" brand shampoos like Lush etc that avoided silicones, I didn't realise that cheaper own brands could be silicone free- I should check the labels more thoroughly, I take it i should be lookin for ingredients that end in "cone"? Thanks for pointing that out :D

No, that's the best thing - it's the cheapo brands that are perfect! Boots are great, as is Tesco tea tree conditioner - it's amazing, my hair is so soft and bouncy using that. I use ultra cheap cone-free conditioners, and then I do use a pretty expensive cone-free leave-in conditioner (for some reason, in the UK leave-in conditioners all have cones in at the cheaper end).

[speakyword]

I haven't, I had always assumed that it was the "natural" brand shampoos like Lush etc that avoided silicones, I didn't realise that cheaper own brands could be silicone free- I should check the labels more thoroughly, I take it i should be lookin for ingredients that end in "cone"? Thanks for pointing that out :D

also, there are lots of natural brand shampoos that have silicones in them. I was lazy a while ago in bargain bin green store and found an awesome deal on a huge pumper of aubry organics conditioner and snapped it up only to realize when I got home it's got cones.

[MandaMom2Three]

Are cones really an issue in shampoo? Wouldn't the shampoo just wash them right out? Why are they even there, it seems self defeating :confused:

[chloeishere]

Are cones really an issue in shampoo? Wouldn't the shampoo just wash them right out? Why are they even there, it seems self defeating :confused:

Cones are in shampoo to make your hair feel sleeker and less stripped after you wash it, so you don't realize how harsh your shampoo is.

That's pretty unforgiving wording, but that's the basic idea.

[danacc]

Usually, 'cones in a shampoo are encapsulated so that they are released when you're rinsing. I don't understand the chemistry behind it, but basically, the shampoo cleans your hair, and then when rinsing, the 'cones are deposited on the hair.

[bikerblue]

Honey39

What leave in do you use? I'm always on the look out for a good leave in conditioner

[MandaMom2Three]

Hmmmmm, interesting. Good to know!!