Issue with oiling my hair

[lokiveil]

Okay ladies, I have kind of a weird problem. I have switched to CO only after a bad stint with BS/ACV, after having switched from SLS shampoo and conditioner. My hair is damaged, years of dyeing, bleaching, and blow drying damaged, sigh.

So I hennaed my hair, it took the color fantastically which means I must have some keratin left in there somewhere. My hair does great with the CO washing using Suave coconut conditioner, but I wanted to try oiling to give my hair some extra moisture.

I have Vatika coconut oil, and have attempted to use it once..... and I had to shampoo my hair to get it out of my length. My 1 inch of virgin until hennaed roots were just fine, but my length was super greasy.

What can I do? I don't want to shampoo my hair, maybe I need to clarify it first? Or is it too damaged to even absorb the oil?

Any input is very much appreciated.

[Yozhik]

I don't have that much knowledge about henna, but I wanted to put it out there that I remember reading that oil can strip color from your hair, so you might want to watch out for that if you're adding it into your regime. :flower:

[Marjolein]

Howe much coconut oil did you use? If it was more than a fingernail scraping then you probably overdid it. A tiny little bit of oil goes a looooong way.

BTW: oil is easier to remove with conditioner than with shampoo. Just apply the conditioner to your dry hair, wait about 15 minutes before you hop in the shower and do your normal routine.

[lokiveil]

Howe much coconut oil did you use? If it was more than a fingernail scraping then you probably overdid it. A tiny little bit of oil goes a looooong way.

BTW: oil is easier to remove with conditioner than with shampoo. Just apply the conditioner to your dry hair, wait about 15 minutes before you hop in the shower and do your normal routine.

I didn't use very much, but it was already in liquid form before I applied it, so maybe I did over do it. I will try using less next time.

Thanks!

[lokiveil]

I don't have that much knowledge about henna, but I wanted to put it out there that I remember reading that oil can strip color from your hair, so you might want to watch out for that if you're adding it into your regime. :flower:

I am not so worried about this as I plan to henna at least once a month with a full head application (going for max saturation and then for conditioning), so even a little color loss shouldn't show up at all.

Thanks for the warning!

[GRU]

My observations:

1. People with 1a and fine-to-medium hair seem to have the most trouble with oiling -- even one drop on your hands, with your hands rubbed together, may be too much. (I, on the other hand, can apply a tablespoon (15ml) to my 3b medium/coarse hair without it looking greasy.) I'm assuming that super straight hair doesn't have all the "nooks and crannies" for the oil to soak into, and hair that is smaller in size has less surface area overall compared to coarser hair.

2. Coconut oil hasn't made my henna budge one bit.... henna is *permanent* stuff.

[RadiantNeedle]

I know less about the henna side of things, as I'm not a hennahead (yet). Buuuut! It seems many people have the best luck removing oil from their hair by soaking it in conditioner for a while, then rinsing. It's my understanding that the fatty alcohols in the conditioner bond with the oil and then they're able to be washed away. Someone please correct me if I have gotten that wrong!

Coconut oil is fantastic to use as a pre-wash treatment, because the oil penetrates the shaft and prevents protein loss. A heavy oiling is great to do before you wash and some people leave it on overnight, or even days before they wash it out.

You might need to soak with conditioner to get it out gently, and after that, try only using the tiniest drop of the stuff and rub it over your palms before applying it. That's all most type 1 folk really seem to need, unless their hair is ii/iii - iii. Applying it while your hair is still a bit damp is great because the oil seals in the moisture, leading to soft, wonderful hair!

Experiment and you should figure out how much your hair needs to get extra softness without being too oily.

[jojo]

I think I am the exception to the rule, I have fine hair and my hair loves EVOO which I do as a heavy oil the day before washing. I find applying conditioner to dry hair and leaving for a good 5 minutes or longer helps stop your hair go greasy, you dont need shampoo to get the oil out. I also henna and my colour is still there.

[ChloeDharma]

I also find CO washing the best way to remove oil. For a prewash oiling then loading it up is great....i make sure my hair looks wet with the stuff then sleep on it. I do leave conditioner on for at least 20 minutes though before rinsing.

You may find you need to give a routine of henna and oiling a bit of time to start showing improvements. When i was growing out chemical damage it took a while for the length to start to look different. Nothing can actually repair it though, bear that in mind. You might want to look into the conditioning benefits of natural yogurt, that worked wonders on my fried hair when i used it.

[littlenvy]

I have the same problem. My virgin hair is quite ok with coconut oil but my bleached/dyed hair does not care for it one bit. I get the "barbie' synthetic hair feel with coconut oil.
Have you tried EVOO??
ALL of my hair just loves that. :) Soft and moist all over.

[spidermom]

When my hair was most damaged, it did not respond well to oiling. It went from feeling like straw to feeling like oily straw. Now that the damage is gone, I love the effects of a pre-wash generous oiling.

Maybe damage is your problem, too. In that case, a coney serum used occasionally might give better results.

[curlytm]

When my hair was most damaged, it did not respond well to oiling. It went from feeling like straw to feeling like oily straw. Now that the damage is gone, I love the effects of a pre-wash generous oiling.

Maybe damage is your problem, too. In that case, a coney serum used occasionally might give better results.

I had the exact same effect with coconut oil on damaged hair. I would use coconut oil on my scalp area and EVOO on my ends. It ended up really nicely for me.

I also remember hearing that fine hair people do well with shea butter, but I'm not sure.

As someone with curly and ALMOST coarse (but still M) hair, I apply oil on wash day until it basically looks soaked with it. So the amount of oil definitely seems to vary for various textures.

[Paranda Belle]

In my opinion, the vatika stuff is great but it is oilier that other coconut only oils, particularly the refined ones. I have no idea why that is. If I use the vatika I need to use less that the normal cocnut oil which doesnt have any herbs added.

[Intransigentia]

Hi, it looks like we're almost hair twins! I haven't used Vatika coconut oil (I just use the same stuff I cook with), but here's what I find works:
- absolutely agree with the advice you got that conditioner works best to remove oil
- it's easiest to get the very small amount of oil you need, evenly distributed, if you put it on warm, wet hair. When I do put oil in my hair, I like to do it immediately after I turn off the shower, so my hair is soaking wet with warm water. That way I can get just a tiny bit of oil to melt and spread easily through my whole hair. As you saw, it's really important not to use too much. The amount you would use of lipgloss, if your lipgloss came in a jar rather than a stick, would be plenty unless your hair is very long or there's a whole lot of it.