Oiling and washing.

[Shanarana]

I have been sitting with coconut oil in my hair since yesterday and will be washing later on today.

I was wondering if the oil is a temporary fix, or does it really do something to my hair? If I wash with cone free shampoo will it strip all the benefits away? If I wash with cones, will that seal or lock in the moisture?

Sorry for the stupid questions, my hair is super dry and really want to try whatever I can to get moisture put in and stay in.

[Rosamaria]

I'm afraid I don't know about cones, but I used to use coconut oil when my hair was BSL, (before i stupidly cut it) in just the way that you are doing now. I wasn't too happy with the results - it didn't seem to make my hair look and feel much better.

Now I am growing my hair back out again and am using a v. small amount of jojoba oil smoothed onto the hair AFTER washing when it is just very slightly damp. I am really pleased with the results. My hair feels plumper and a bit heavier and I don't feel i am just reversing the process by washing the oil straight out - it stays in for 3 days til I next wash it!

[spidermom]

A certain percentage of that coconut oil will be absorbed into the hair; it won't all wash away. It is a temporary fix in that you will have to keep re-applying it to the ends because sebum never gets down that far (except for the WO and SO people). Essential fatty acids have to be replenished one way or the other regularly.

Try a few drops on damp ends if you haven't already.

[babywolf]

I am new here and Really have a stupid question......what are cones?

I read on here about Camomile Oil working well on hair. I plan on trying it.

I am trying to grow my hair back after having it shoulder length for years. It seemed easier at the time because my kids wouldn't get caught in it all the time...I did not use any other hair accessories besides rubber bands at that point in my life. That's all I ever used. I will only use them now when I ride my motorcycle...and am trying to find a better solution for something that fits under my helmet and dosen't tear my hair to shreds.

It was so much easier growing my hair in my 20's...probably because I wasn't trying too?

Good luck on the Coconut Oil. I have read many on here love it for their hair.

[jera]

I don't know an exact answer to your question, but as someone who's been oiling weekly for 3years, the results for me are temporary.
Oh, babywolf, cones are silicones that are added to shampoos and conditioners. They can make your hair look great for a while but then they build up and you've got some kind of fried dry hair.:eek:

[Niphredil]

Unless your messing with the inner parts of your hair (like permanent chemical colours do), everything you apply to your hair is temporary.
If you oil regularly, some say they notice an improvement to their hair (stronger, healthier, less frizz, more shine etc).
For me, pre-wash oiling does help controlling frizz. But if I apply too much to the scalp, I end up with either greasy hair or no benefits at all because I washed it all off. So, I apply mostly to the length.
Oiling pre-wash also protects the length from the harshness of shampoo and hard water.

I do get most oil benefits when I use it pre-wash. But you can also try it after washing.

Silicones are beneficial for some and damaging for others. They basicaly are synthetic oils, so I don't think it is a problem using both. The stripping is caused by the washing agents in shampoos (most contain some kind of sulphate), not the silicones. I feel that the stripping occurs before the silicones stick to the hair and that there is no specific positive effect of cone shampoo's over non-cone shampoo's in this matter.
Babywolf: For more information on silicones, search the forums (or the archived forums), a lot has already been said on the subject.

[Ursula]

Oiling provides temporary benefit - when you wash, a little is left behind, but if you wash repeatedly without more oil, it will eventually be stripped away. It may still be worthwhile for you, depending.

Silicones and oils tend to be either/or things there are fairly few people I know who use both together. (They may use both separately, clarifying in-between.) Perhaps because they both try to do the same thing, but in different ways - I'm not completely sure why they are incompatable, but it seems to frequently play out that way.

[Misso]

I used to only use EVOO on my hair when damp after washing, just a few drops on the length.

After I cam to these boards I tried other kinds of oils. They were eventually added to my routine and did not replace the EVOO used in the above-mentioned method.

I use jojoba oil on dry hair on the length. Before that I was using serums, but I found that a little of jojoba oil works just as good without making my hair look oily.

Coconunt oil, I use it for hair soaks. I apply it heavily to my hair from roots to tips and leave as long as I can mostly it ends up being about 5 to six hours. Then I wash and finish as usual.

The coconut soaks did help my hair a lot. When I started doing on regular basis every two weeks, it made a great difference. Now I don't have to do it so often.

By the way I do use cones, it has been so far impossible for me to find conditioners without cones here.

[Niphredil]

Silicones and oils tend to be either/or things there are fairly few people I know who use both together. (They may use both separately, clarifying in-between.) Perhaps because they both try to do the same thing, but in different ways - I'm not completely sure why they are incompatable, but it seems to frequently play out that way.

I'm using shampoo and conditioner with silicones these days, and also like to oil pre-wash but so far I didn't notice any ill effects.. Maybe there could be an interfering issue with silicone-based leave-ins and oiling post-wash ?

[Ursula]

I'm using shampoo and conditioner with silicones these days, and also like to oil pre-wash but so far I didn't notice any ill effects.. Maybe there could be an interfering issue with silicone-based leave-ins and oiling post-wash ?

I'm really not sure - I haven't looked at the issue too closely, since I stick to oil and skip the 'cones. It's just a trend I've anecdotally noticed - people tend to do well with one at a time. It's been an issue often enough that I consider it reasonable to start out doing one or the other, and clarify in-between. If you have really funky issues, you might try both, but odds are in your favor if you pick one.

If you're doing a full wash with a sulfate shampoo every time you wash, it may be less of an issue than if you're using a less clarifying method, and get buildup of layers of cone/oil/cone/oil over time.

[heidi w.]

Others have already offered some reliable input; my input is intended to round out the discussion.

As already posited, I would argue that most applications to hair falls under the category of 'temporary'. If you think about it, hair washing is temporary; conditioning is temporary -- and thus, oiling is also temporary. Even chemical treatments (perms!) and color is temporary.

Hair is essentially dead, once it's on the outside of our head. The alive part of hair is inside our skin, under the scalp skin, at the hair follicles where these follicles are nourished by blood and thus hair grows (in its cycle of shedding, resting and replacing/re-growing).

This is another reason, hair being essentially dead, that applications to hair have to be regularly done (washing, conditioning). Sebum, a waxy ester, is the 'oil' on scalp skin and closely related hair (to scalp's skin). This sebum goes down around maybe 6 inches on hair length if allowed to build (which I don't recommend allowing hair to be unwashed for more than 3 days in a row).

CONES
-cones, usually silicone but there can be others (usually ends in -cone, hence the use of the hyphen), are an ingredient in many hair products, from shampoo to conditioner and definitely in various types of leave-ins that produce very shiny hair that feels smoother and silkier. It also serves to weight the hair so it will appear shinier by becoming flatter. Such a product once a year shouldn't overly harm the hair, but used constantly, it will hide damage. And it certainly builds up if used a lot. For example, those who flat iron, the gel they apply has a lot of cone in it so it weighs the hair down and makes it appear really shiny and smooth.....but wash that stuff off, and it's white dot city (permanent damage more from the heat of flat ironing, but the silicone ingredient doesn't help either!).

OILING
I use shampoo, conditioner and coconut oil. That's it. I have done the coconut oil pre-hair wash, but I hardly ever do this these days. It has a minimal beneficial effect for my hair. The only time I have done it more recently is when my hair was unusually dry, and that's only been around 3 times in the past 4 years.

These days I oil my hair rarely since my conditioner is so great for my hair type. But I have certainly benefitted from oiling my hair, and in my instance, I use Coconut Oil by Spectrum Naturals, the CO that's specifically for use on hair and skin. Whole Foods carries it, and you can order it online. It's hard to find, but it's there. You can also order through your grocer or whole/organic food store source.

When I do oil, it's after a full hair wash, once the hair is dry. I oil and work the oil in the hair strands (so each strand gets some) with a boar bristle brush. A BBB is not for detangling; it is for polishing.

Those who have curlier hair fare better, typically, with oiling while hair is damp (not sopping wet) after a fresh hair wash, and generally to length (from about earlobes on down, or ends....just not the scalp skin and that hair as sebum will do its job just fine in that zone).

Oiling pre-hair wash method will be beneficial, but it won't be as much as you might be expecting, and it certainly isn't permanent. Shampoo is intended to break up any surface tension created via sebum, dirt, grime and then be removed with the agent. This includes applied products, which of course, then, includes oil. Unless you're clarifying though, it probably won't entirely come off. And no, conditioning after shampooing will not 'trap' the moisture. Oil, which is intended to mimic sebum in its way, is a surface application and doesn't generally penetrate the hair wholly. It might a little. Oiling is for keeping hair supple, to help with frizz, dryness, provide some weight, and a very small bit of help with tangling, and help with shine and bring out one's hues in hair color. AND no, more is NOT better. A little bit of oil goes a long way. (Note, many curly hair types like shea butter better than oil, it seems.)

However, with this methodology you want to shampoo, and condition per usual. You can still oil afterwards, too.

heidi w.

[girlcat36]

This is a good question and I have wondered the same thing. If I do a heavy oiling it will need to be shampooed out of my hair, yet my hair hates shampoo. But from what I understand SOME of the oil stays in the hair?
I did a warm oil treatment on wet hair with a coconut/olive oil blend, but my hair needed a lot of shampooing to get to 'normal' looking. Am I losing the benefits of oiling with the shampoo?