hydrogenated coconut oil + fragrance?

[freckles]

Normally I use normal, cheap refined coconut oil on my hair, but I left my tub at my dad's house when I returned to Uni, so I didn't use it for a couple of weeks and made a mental note to get some more when I got a chance (I won't be going back to my dad's for several weeks).

When I was shopping the other day I came across some coconut oil that wasn't for cooking, specifically marketed for skin & hair. It was relatively cheap, and I don't know when I'll next be able to get some of the cooking type, so I bought it.

The ingredients are "hydrogenated coconut oil, parfum, coumarin". Obviously this is ALMOST plain coconut oil. Are the fragrances in large enough amounts to worry about whether they will affect my hair? I use fragranced shampoo and conditioner so I'm guessing a little bit of fragrance in my oil is not a concern, but I thought I'd check with LHC. Also -- hydrogenated oil? My refined coconut oil says just that in the ingredients, "refined". Is that the same thing, in this case, as hydrogenated? If not -- is one better than the other?

It seems to not melt as readily as other coconut oil I've used, and because of that it makes my hair a bit sticky, but otherwise seemed fine the one time I used it so far. I like the smell -- it smells "fake coconut", like conditioner or a bounty bar! :lol:

(I was totally torn on whether this goes in "conventional products", "herbal hair care", or "the mane forum" -- I searched, and many oil questions seem to be in this forum, so I took a guess)

[Anje]

Hydrogenated ≠ refined.

Hydrogenation is the process of adding extra hydrogens to fatty acids, effectively making them more saturated. I'm not sure why you'd hydrogenate coconut oil, because it's mostly saturated fat already. Hydrogenation raises the melting temperature of a given fat, so that explains why this stuff doesn't melt as readily. The same process turns liquid soybean oil into solid Crisco/shortening.

I'm not sure exactly what goes into the process of refining oil, but I suspect its largely filtering (probably including a carbon filter to reduce odors and flavors.

Both should work just fine on your hair. I don't think one would be better than another on principle, but given how much hair varies in what it likes, you may prefer one over the other.

[freckles]

Hydrogenated ≠ refined.

Hydrogenation is the process of adding extra hydrogens to fatty acids, effectively making them more saturated. I'm not sure why you'd hydrogenate coconut oil, because it's mostly saturated fat already. Hydrogenation raises the melting temperature of a given fat, so that explains why this stuff doesn't melt as readily. The same process turns liquid soybean oil into solid Crisco/shortening.

I'm not sure exactly what goes into the process of refining oil, but I suspect its largely filtering (probably including a carbon filter to reduce odors and flavors.

Both should work just fine on your hair. I don't think one would be better than another on principle, but given how much hair varies in what it likes, you may prefer one over the other.

Thanks for this. I guess I'll keep using it unless I notice a reason I shouldn't :)