Oiling Asian Hair

[maunaloa]

I have become very interested in the hair oiling posts. What type of oil would you recommend for me? I have shoulder length/APL fairly straight hair with a slight wave to it. It is coarse and pretty healthy. I dyed it using a semi-permanent in August and a permanent in November. I have decided to just let the hairs turn white for now! :o Also, what websites/stores do you recommend ordering from?:confused:

[Flaxen]

Coconut oil, definitely. If you have a health food store near you, just pick up some of the virgin kind meant for eating. :grin:

Camellia oil would be good, too. You'll find a list of suppliers in the first post of the huge camellia oil thread on the Herbal Board.

[BlackfootHair]

I love coconut oil as well! :) I use Dabur Vatika Coconut oil. You can find that in your local Indian stores, if you have some. :)

[Elainehali]

My staight hair likes coconut oil somewhat; however, grapeseed oil is lighter and doesn't make my hair get as piece-y.

=D Then again I don't have corse hair, so coconut may be perfect. Try it first and if it's too heavy get grapeseed.

:D

[vindo]

Any type of rich oil with molecules that can deeply penetrate the hair shaft.
So coconut and camellia oild would be a good choice. :)

[maunaloa]

Thanks very much ladies!

[Delilah]

Coconut or camellia, or even shea butter would be good for coarse hair.
Lighter oils would do well too... with coarse hair though you are able to use the richer oils that many fine-haireds can't because it weighs down our hair too much.

[flapjack]

I have coarse and fine straight hair mixed together and coconut works well for me. Jojoba is another good one. I can use olive oil but it has to be very little, but with coconut or jojoba it takes a bit more.

[tabitie]

Emichee, your medieval costumes make me drool.

What would long hair be without the long dress fantasy, eh?

[tabitie]

How do natural oils like coconut, compare to dimethicone?

Dimethicone products are a guilty pleasure of mine, even though they are creepy and not natural. They control frizz and add blinding shine (like show sheen for horses!) Make hair slippery.

I am hoping to find natural alternatives such as amla, coconut, etc.

[vindo]

Emichee, your medieval costumes make me drool.

What would long hair be without the long dress fantasy, eh?

:D Yup, thats something that inspired me btw.


How do natural oils like coconut, compare to dimethicone?

Dimethicone products are a guilty pleasure of mine, even though they are creepy and not natural. They control frizz and add blinding shine (like show sheen for horses!) Make hair slippery.

I am hoping to find natural alternatives such as amla, coconut, etc.

I did not see any difference as far as slipperyness (is that a word?) goes but I felt like they gave me shine ( used them in 2006) and when I stopped the shine was less, but after staying away from them for years I can say the shine of healthy, cone free, well moisturized hair is so much more brilliant! It is a whole other type of shine! Just, getting there takes long, and I don't know if it will change to that for everyone :shrug:

Dimethicone does not seem to give any moisture at all, the hair is nice with it and weird without is, whereas oils just make your mane naturally more moisturized over time. :flower:

[chotee]

You may want to try coconut oil plus castor oil mixture. The castor oil has tendencies to make hair thick, dark and hair grows faster.

[SleepySin]

How do natural oils like coconut, compare to dimethicone?

Dimethicone products are a guilty pleasure of mine, even though they are creepy and not natural. They control frizz and add blinding shine (like show sheen for horses!) Make hair slippery.

I am hoping to find natural alternatives such as amla, coconut, etc.

Speaking of -cones, there was a time when I was using a silicone-based lubricant to shine up my latex dress and decided to put it on my legs too. It made them so ridiculously slippery that when I jumped up on a table, I slid across it and fell off!! :bow:

Back to the topic though..

I'm also Asian but I don't have the typical thick, coarse hair that most do. Either way, I personally use coconut oil and camellia oil and love them both.