Question about oiling

[karisaf]

I am new to using oil on my hair. So far I've been using oil on damp hair after washing, and I do like that. From what I understand oil does not actually moisturize the hair, but rather seals in the moisture. Now, here is my question...I have seen that people here like to heavily oil their hair the night before they wash, or oil their hair before they put it up. I'm confused as to why this would be beneficial? Can someone explain more about oiling to me?

[Briar]

For me, heavily oiling before I wash is actually a protective coat. Instead of stripping too deep into my hair, the conditioner and shampoo just take off the oil I just put on - which leaves my actual hair's moisture pretty much alone. (Not a scientific opinion on what the oil does. :) )

[karisaf]

For me, heavily oiling before I wash is actually a protective coat. Instead of stripping too deep into my hair, the conditioner and shampoo just take off the oil I just put on - which leaves my actual hair's moisture pretty much alone. (Not a scientific opinion on what the oil does. :) )

Ah....that makes a lot of sense! Can I ask how much oil you use?

[Heavenly Locks]

It depends on the oil. Coconut oil is the only oil that I know of that actually does penetrate the hair shaft...( I don't know about others like jojoba ect.)

[LHGypsyRose]

I love using oils, and for me they give my hair some nice slip and shine.

[lynnala]

I agree with Briar about using oil as a protective coat before washing. I wash with Indian herbs, and it is traditional to pre-oil. It works great. I use coconut oil, and as to amount, it doesn't take very much. I only oil the length, and I just keep adding oil until I feel that all the hair has been saturated. I would guess I don't use more than a 1/2 teaspoon. My hair is quite thin and fine though.

[Melisande]

My completely unscientific explanation is that oil lubricates. Imagine the scales on every little hair. When they are oiled, they are more flexible and don't break off so easily. As the others have said, the heavy pre-oiling protects the hair against the chemical and mechanical stress of washing and keeps the scales flexible so they don't break off.

I noticed something weird concerning oil: my hair seems to tolerate it better over time. In the beginning, a drop was more than enough, but by now my hair seems to have "learned" what to do with oil and I can use larger amounts.

Virgin coconut oil is great for strengthening the hair as it penetrates the hair shaft and "fills" its pores. Lubricated hair is smoother, stronger and has more shine. (In my case, it has less slip - I have quite straight hair with a lot of natural slip.) But it's not necessarily better moisturized.

When I want to moisturize my hair, I use either sheabutter+oil+conditioner (Fox' sheabutter) or I use a little oil in a mister with distilled water (camelia is great for this). Then I have a combination of oil and water - the result is moisturized hair.

The same is true for my pre-wash treatment of conditioner, oil and some additional things (honey, aloe vera gel, what protein) that I mix together and put on my hair under a shower cap for some hours. That's a moisturizing treatment, as opposed to an oil-only lubricating, smoothing, strengthening and softening treatment.

But really - those are my laywoman's explanation for the fun that I have in oiling my hair ;-)

[Honey39]

What works for me is, after washing my hair I dry to damp in a turbie towel. Then I massage in jojoba oil from the ears down, damp bun and later let dry naturally. I get smooth, large curls this way, and the oil seems to smooth and nourish. I find jojoba oil light and easily absorbed. It doesn't dry greasy, just enriched and heavy. I only find jojoba oil to work well - other oils (eg coconut or evoo) can be too heavy and make my hair look greasy. I do this about twice a week at the moment.

The other way I use oil is to massage a tiny bit of evoo into my scalp at night and then smooth down onto the ends; I'm not sure how much benefit this gives my hair, but I'm mainly doing it for the scalp massage. I don't do this every night, again, a few times a week when I'm in the mood.

[karli]

I´m confused about heavy oiling as well. When I do an overnighter with coconut, my ends becomes dry and brittle after my co-wash. After heavy oiling with shea-butter, my hair becomes softer and wavier. Heavy oiling with jojoba doesn`t do much difference.

My thoughts have been that since coconut is an oil that penetrates the hairshaft and preserves/contains protein, kind of sucks out the moisture from my hair. I haven´t been able to use it succesfully in dry or wet hair since I find it easy to overdose.

Shea butter works as an emollient, which makes the strand smother, as I´ve understood. Perhaps this is why my hair that is prone to split, like it when oiled overnight. It´s too heavy for daily oiling, though.

Jojoba is the oil that works best for me as in daily oiling. Light, easy to dose, and makes my hair a bit more heavy.

I don`know if my thoughts are of any help, I´ve been thinking myself of starting a thread like this, since I don´t really get the oiling part yet.

[Briar]

I use probably three single fingertip doses of coconut oil for a heavy oiling a few hours before I wash. I know that's a really unscientific amount there, but I guess it probably works out close to 3/4 of a teaspoon. When I'm done, my hair is stringy and wet-looking. It goes up in a bun for a few hours with the ends tucked in, then gets CWC'ed.

I definitely don't use that much for everyday though. I usually put a single fingertip dab - rubbed well between my hands - of either Nightshade's Panacea Salve or the coconut oil on my length before I braid it at night. You generally can't visibly see I've oiled my hair then, and I do it mostly to keep the braid smooth and the ends from frizzing into a mini-pouf-ball while I sleep.

[Ash]

When I heavily oil at night, I always mist my hair until it is completely damp first. I use somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 cups of oil depending on which one I use. (coconut takes less and avocado and walnut take more for some reason.) I braid my hair and put it into a sock. The reason I do overnight oilings is so the oil has longer to affect the hair and half the time I have my head mostly under the blanket, so it warms up the oil as well. When I wash this out in the morning, it helps keep the shampoo away from the hair shaft more and the conditioner helps remove the oil. I cannot oil on dry hair even if it is a penetrating oil, all it does is make my hair crispy and dry.
I don't put my hair up, unless you count a braid as up, but I use one fingerful of coconut oil every morning on freshly washed hair to help smooth the braid and it also helps my hair stay shiny. It also helps smooth down the shorter annoying pieces.