Coconut oil and climate

[HotRag]

To you who use or have used coconut oil on your hair:
1. What kind of climate do you live in? (Warm or cold, dry or not dry.)
2. Did it work well or not with coconut oil?

I ask because I wonder it cold climate would make it less good to use. It does have a rather high melting point.

I started using coconut oil summer of 2008, so I have not tried very long. But I thought it was rather good when I started (warmest part of the year), but not so good now (coldest part of the year).
I will see if it gets better to use when summer comes again.

[gallows_gallery]

I live in Perth, Australia.

In winter (2-14 degrees celcius) coconut oil makes my hair stiff and icky.

In summer (28-40 degrees celcius) it works well, and is very light and flexible in small quantities.

I do find that regardless of season it makes my hair stiff if I leave too much in for over 24 hours.

[Debra83]

I live in B.C. (half point) and we get -35 c sometimes, and I've been using coconut oil since October and my hair loves it. I usually put it on damp hair unless I'm deep conditioning, and if it dries a little stiff, I use a wide tooth comb and voila - really nice and soft.

[Copasetic]

1. I live in southern Ontario, where it ranges from very cold to very hot, but it is mostly cold.
2. Coconut oil has helped my hair tremendously. It is much softer and shinier since I have been using it.

[neon-dream]

It works extremely well for me, and i live in a temperate climate on the north east coast of england :)
i love the stuff!

[Tornerose]

I haven't gotten into a routine of using it yet, but I know it melts at approximately 24 degrees Celsius. So it will probably get stiff and bad for hair at lower temperatures. If you keep your indoor temperature at around the same it will probably not cause you any problems.

[evilminded]

i live in poland, it's very cold here now, but it doesnt matter, coconut oil still helps me :D

[Coriander]

I live in San Diego, California, USA and although our weather is all over the place lately, I haven't had any problems with my coconut oil. I do vary the amounts I use, though, based on how dry or windy it is outside.

HTH :)

[RancheroTheBee]

I live in Alberta. The temperature average is pretty low here, but it can get scorching, and it's famous for being incredibly dry here. So, I'm thankful that coconut oil is available because I need oil on my hair and scalp all the time, or the itchiness is unbearable.

[Finoriel]

I tend to use solid oils like coconut in summer only.
My bathroom is too cold and it get´s rock hard and difficult to apply. It also seems to make my hair feel more stiff and coated than being sucked into the hair. In cold winters it´s just not that great.
In winter I prefer to mist my hair with an oil/water mixture to fight the low humidity and it´s easy to apply evenly.. even at the arctic low temperatures in my bathroom. I like olive oil and since recently avocado oil (from ICA :D) for this purpose.

[rose_in_bloom]

I live in a very hot, dry area (SoCal). It melts occasionally, but it never causes any problems. I just stick it in the fridge until it hardens up.

[HotRag]

Thank you for your answers. It seams like some has experiences om coconut oil working not as good when it is cold, but others don't have problems.

I have also "arctic" temperatur in my bathroom during winters.
The ends and the lengths of my hair has definately a temperature below 24 degrees Celcius.

It will be interesting (for me) to find out if coconut will be better for my hair in the summer.

[HotRag]

In winter I prefer to mist my hair with an oil/water mixture to fight the low humidity and it´s easy to apply evenly.. even at the arctic low temperatures in my bathroom. I like olive oil and since recently avocado oil (from ICA :D) for this purpose.
Hm, a bit OT though, but I wonder how you succeed mist it on. When I shake water + oil, it seperates quick as #¤%&.
Are there big differences in this problem, with different oils?
I would like to try misting.

And, how much oil to how much water do you use?

[Finoriel]

*Rofl* My arctic bathroom temperatures are definitely below 24°C ... more like 16° this morning. Heating differ widely. And when you read that some folks can use it equally good in winter, then it´s good to look where they live. Not all winters as cold as the Swedish ones and not all folks spend much time outside either. I´m about 5 hours outside daily, that and the -17°C make coconut oil very very very! solid on hair, even if I had the luck to apply it. Outside temperatures below freezing I prefer other oils. In summer coconut is still great.

Hmm I guess the problem with the fast separation of oil and water in a mister is not that big. It´s best to not fill the mister completely so that there is some air in it, then it mixes better because shaking is more effective. I have a very low oil ratio (my hair generally does not need much oil because of gentle cleansing routine) it´s about 1/4 teaspoon on a 250ml bottle which is only filled with ca. 50ml water (also to prevent the mixture going off). I shake and then pump two times, shake again pump 2x , etc. There are also misters which work better than others, the worst I had was a regular flower-mister it´s just not made for oil. My favourite ones are these pump-spray sun-screen or body-lotion containers, like the ones from Nivea. When the sun-screen is empty I clean it and use it as a mister until the next bottle is empty, then I change for a new one. Bacteria/mold growth in a mister should not be undervalued imo, better safe than sorry :wink: don´t need another allergy. Sometimes the amount oil which comes out of the mister is fine spread and low enough that you don´t notice that it´s more than water which comes out of the nozzle, you can check that with spraying on a piece of paper. When it works like it should than there remains an oily residue after the water has dried off.
The oils do not differ much in how quick they separate, jojoba oil has a tiny emulsifying ability if I recall that correctly, but my hair likes olive or avocado better.

[HotRag]

Thanks for the oil misting explanation!

I hade 12 degrees Celsius in all of my house this morning, beat that ;) (Maybe you can since you live in northern of Sweden if I remember correct.) But it is a extra cold day hear today.
But my nice DH was up, light the fires and now it is 16-20 degrees depending on where in the house I am. (We heat house with "cast iron stove" [gjutjärnsspis] and hmm... *kakelugn*.)

Coconut oil was hard inside the house all year but some days in july and august. Outdoors it may have been for some longer. I live near Gothenburg, so it isn't the coldest place in Sweden.

[Tressie]

Hi Friend Hotrag,

It sounds like you and Finoriel have got this figured out! I live in the southern US, and I thought we had had one of the coldest winters in a long time this year as it has gotten down to 10 degrees F., already. LOL!! I was thinking of suggesting olive oil too as it seems heavier than coconut oil. Good luck with the mister and STAY WARM you two!!! (o:

[Tornerose]

I have also "arctic" temperatur in my bathroom during winters.
The ends and the lengths of my hair has definately a temperature below 24 degrees Celcius.


I live just south of Oslo, and our indoor climate in winter is around 24 C. We heat our house with kerosine thugh, that might have something to do with it. When I'm at my friends houses, who use electrisity of wood for heating, they always have to get me a blanket because I'm FREEZING there.
But I had to store my coconut oil in the fridge, because when it was outside it halfmelted and looked like thiis half stiff half floating goo.

I'm curious as to how my hair will be affected by this now. I'm so anxious to try it.

[Finoriel]

No, can´t beat the 12°C inside :wink: 13°C in a room we don´t use in winter. We also use wood to warm up our house, but the fire warms up two big tanks with water which are connected to central heating. We´re just cheap and don´t heat all rooms :p I insist on 16° in the bathroom though. I don´t live that far north, still middle Sweden - växtzon VI though.

[-Lisa-]

Up to now I don't habe any problems with coconut oil and climate. Sometimes it's very difficult to get the oil out of the "cup", but that's not a big problem.