How often can safely clarify? Alternative for coconut oil build up?

[Intotouch]

Hello fabulous professors of all things hairy. I have a problem that i need some help with. About a month ago a had a minor miracle. Thanks to the wonderful advice from the experts on this forum i had got rid of protein build up and hydrated my dry thin frizzy snappy sad so called hair to such an extent that it felt silky and hung beautifully and tangle free! Super! (I clarified and conditioned three times then switched to using Naked colour shampoo as it's got not SLS or proteins and Herbal Essenses Hello Hydration and a few goes of CWC followed by an ACV rinse) Then i thought, well now that the moisture's back i can start using oils on my hair. Everyone loves coconut oil and it should help to strengthen my hair so i'll give this a try first. And that was when i screwed up my newly silky hair. Completely screwed it up. And no matter how i condition it i can't seem to get it back to silky tresses that bind into curls in front. Big big mistake.

So here is my problem. Coconut oil. Now i have fluffy, tangly, sometimes even sticky ended hair again. Even when i only used it the night before as a leave in it washed out fine but my hair is fluffy and slightly tangly again afterwords with less curl definition than a few weeks ago. I've never seen it dry into such vague fluff before. I haven't changed anything else in my routine. I skipped using it but i'm still not back to silkyness. What has helped me is using rapeseed oil as it's great for detangling and adding shine to my hair but doesn't help to define the curls and my hair is not the sleek beast freshly dried that i had so recently. So i tried an SMT. Still not great. Fluffy and soft but with crunchy ends again. (What's this about?) So i know that i got my hair super silky and hydrated by clarifying and using the products that i mentioned above (which i still use) but my hair is fragile thin and curly and i don't want to abuse it and clarifying seems to be one of the toughest things that i can do to my hair. It strips it raw so i am loath to repeat it unless i really really have to.

For what it's worth i am now wondering if the oil puts a boundary that stops hair from absorbing moisture, especially if it's absorbed into the root shaft as coconut oil is supposed to be.

So dear wise hair gurus of the internet, do any of you know an alternative way to strip icky oil from hair other than clarifying? Or, alternatively, am i being too timid and is it safe to clarify now and then with my hair type? If so how often please?

[MonaLisa]

Hey, I'm in similar situation as you.
Coconut oil was really bad for me, and I was excited to try it because many people here seem to adore it.
I am ignorant about clarifying :o Think i never done it. Don't know which shampoos are clarifying, and how often to do it? Is it a one time thing? Or wash with it continuosly?

What I do know is that you don't have to give up on oils!

Wallnut oil works wonderful for me! I have dark hair and it gives it certain special glow...and makes it slightly darker maybe. Also moisture is amazing.
Olive oil was great also :)
Castor oil makes ends really dry...and Coconut oil exactly as you described.

Once someone pro gives us answer about clarifying...you should be able to try some other oil :)

[Firefox7275]

The general concensus seems to be that oils are best removed by CO-washing. You haven't mentioned that as such, just layering on more humectants and emollients. Not sure whether the Herbal Essences has cones or not?

[MonaLisa]

I can't CO-wash unfortunately, because conditioner on roots make my hair fall out :(
But yes, when you oil your lengths, put lots of conditioner to remove it and it will look/feel great...
I do try not to shampoo ends, only roots, and condition the ends. I do this every 3-4 days and every second time i pre-oil it :)
I'm still interested about clarifying. I have a feeling i should. I used a lot of stuff on my hair pre LHC and also i use cones i think ( Garnier tripple nutrition?) and used protein shampoos which made a disaster there...
Also CWC ? its conditioner before wash? on dry or wet hair?

Please forgive my ignorance...and popping my questions as a guest in this thread :o

[Intotouch]

Herbal Essenses hello hydaration doesn't have cones or proteins, i was very careful choosing it.

Firefox, I will definitely try conditioner only washing and see if that works, thanks for the suggestion. I will keep an eye on shedding though, that sounds awful.

If walnut oils darken hair i won't use it. But the rapeseed oil works well and there are plenty of other oils to try.

Monalisa,
cwc means condition, wash condition. You dampen hair, apply conditioner to the length, shampoo to the scalp, rinse out both at the same time and then condition as normal. The conditioner helps protect the length from the shampoo which cleans excess oils from the scalp but also from the hair shaft where the oils are needed.

Clarifying strips everything from hair. Any product build up and any natural oils as well. It's like scouring you sink with hard core cleaner. My hair felt awful after it, the conditioner afterwords helped of course and after a few more conditions it felt super but it's hard going on the hair at first.

Here's a useful link for terms used here etc. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=7807

[MonaLisa]

Ok, thanks a lot!
Good luck with finding an oil! :)
And thanks for conditioner recommendation! It's bit hard to find them here...Except for those commercial brands.

Could u also tell me which clarifying shampoo you used?

[Tressie]

This is only a suggestion, but if you have put a good bit of oil and other hair coating conditoners on your hair (or cones) since you clarified, and if it's been a couple of weeks or more, I don't think you would hurt your hair if you clarified it yet again. Now, I don't mean using baking soda, but just a regular SLS containing shampoo. VO5 makes a clarifying "vanilla mint tea" (I think it is) shampoo which is cheap.

After you do your clarifying, then condition with a cone free conditioner and an ACV rinse. You can then try a few drops, very few until you see how much your hair can tolerate, of light oil to the ends. If you are like a lot of us, your canopy (topside) hairs are more dry than your under layers, so sweep your lightly oiled palm lightly over your canopy of damp hair. See if this suggestion works, or simply repeat what you did the first time you clarified with such good results. Then refrain from using a lot of products, other than maybe a very light oil (as above) or a light leave-in between regular CWC routines with non SLS poo, until you notice snarly tangly indications of build up? Just my thoughts from my own experience. (o:

[Intotouch]

Thank you Tressie, that's a good point about the extra coating making the clarifying less severe. I hadn't thought of that. I haven't used many products really on my hair since clarifying. The conditioner and shampoo and a few weeks later the coconut oil of doom. Then when it felt crappy the rapeseed oil and smt.

Would you recommend oil over damp hair? Is that to seal in moisture? A few women on hear mentioned it.

Monalisa, the clarifying shampoo that i used was also herbal essenses brand. I can't remember it's name but it said clarifying somewhere. It's fairly cheap. I got these in Boots. The other conditioner that i found with no cones, oils, proteins or SLS/sulphates was the frizz ease daily conditioner. My friend,with long thick wavy hair, uses this and loves it. I found a lot of nice looking conditioners in health food shops but every one had oils or proteins. I was avoiding oils because i wanted to get moisture back in my hair and logic dictated that oils would block this process. Anyway these products and process worked amazingly well. Two friends are going to try this to so soon i will have more feedback on this.

[Anje]

The other conditioner that i found with no cones, oils, proteins or SLS/sulphates was the frizz ease daily conditioner.
I'm still looking to find this conditioner and its ingredient list, but I thought I'd mention that in my experience, most of the Frizz-Ease products are full of silicones. Check for Dimethicone, Dimethiconol, and Cyclopentasiloxane for starters.

[Firefox7275]

I'm still looking to find this conditioner and its ingredient list, but I thought I'd mention that in my experience, most of the Frizz-Ease products are full of silicones. Check for Dimethicone, Dimethiconol, and Cyclopentasiloxane for starters.

Frizz Ease Daily leave-in (http://www.naturallycurly.com/curltalk/readers-product-reviews/20849-john-frieda-frizz-ease-daily-nourishment-leave-fortifying.html) has cones and a polyquat.

Frizz Ease Curl Around Daily (http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlproducts/view/1817/frizz-ease-frizzease-curl-around-daily-conditioner) has a -xane and a -conol.

Frizz Ease Straight Ahead Daily (http://www.naturallycurly.com/curltalk/general-discussion-about-curly-hair/10253-cyclopentasiloxane-mineral-oil-wax-etc-condishs.html) is referred to as having a -xane but I cannot find the full ingredients list.

[Tressie]

Yes, to seal in moisture, I think, and to smooth the cuticle. If I forget to do a drop or two on damp hair, I put it on dry, but be very careful not to over do it. (o:

[Intotouch]

Thank you Firefox. None of those products though are the one that i mentioned. The daily conditioner has a short enough ingredient list but things ending in cone were on my list of many things to avoid so it's ok for that.

The evils of polyquats, -xane or -conols is new to me guys. If it's not too much trouble will you please let me know why these are bad for hair?

I think i will dampen hair before applying oils. I'll see how it goes anyway.

I wish i could stick with just using baking soda. All these chemical lists annoy me. But the baking soda got many bad reviews and i don't want to dry out my hair and it was like fluffy candyfloss when i used it. One of these days i'll have to make my own shampoo and conditioner, but do it properly.

[Misti]

So here is my problem. Coconut oil. Now i have fluffy, tangly, sometimes even sticky ended hair again.

My sympathies. I, too, have very fine hair that doesn't like coconut oil much. I used it all winter to protect my length from the cold. Since I always wear my hair up, I hadn't realized how bad it looked down until this spring when I wanted to take another length shot ... ick

I had to clarify to make my hair go back to behaving, but instead of a clarifying shampoo, I used a VO5 clarifying conditioner with a bit of baking soda. I let it sit while I finished my shower, then I rinsed and conditioned again, then I used a ACV rinse. My hair looked wonderful again -- better than it did before i started the coconut treatments! (So I plan to do it again next winter -- it grew a LOT while I kept it coated and now I can't find any splits.)

I think as long as you carefully moisturize it after you clarify it should be OK.

[Intotouch]

Thank you Misty. That sounds like a good option. I will try it if the co wash doesn't work. Tomorrow we will see.

[RebeccaG]

Hello fabulous professors of all things hairy. I have a problem that i need some help with. About a month ago a had a minor miracle. Thanks to the wonderful advice from the experts on this forum i had got rid of protein build up and hydrated my dry thin frizzy snappy sad so called hair to such an extent that it felt silky and hung beautifully and tangle free! Super! (I clarified and conditioned three times then switched to using Naked colour shampoo as it's got not SLS or proteins and Herbal Essenses Hello Hydration and a few goes of CWC followed by an ACV rinse) Then i thought, well now that the moisture's back i can start using oils on my hair. Everyone loves coconut oil and it should help to strengthen my hair so i'll give this a try first. And that was when i screwed up my newly silky hair. Completely screwed it up. And no matter how i condition it i can't seem to get it back to silky tresses that bind into curls in front. Big big mistake.

So here is my problem. Coconut oil. Now i have fluffy, tangly, sometimes even sticky ended hair again. Even when i only used it the night before as a leave in it washed out fine but my hair is fluffy and slightly tangly again afterwords with less curl definition than a few weeks ago. I've never seen it dry into such vague fluff before. I haven't changed anything else in my routine. I skipped using it but i'm still not back to silkyness. What has helped me is using rapeseed oil as it's great for detangling and adding shine to my hair but doesn't help to define the curls and my hair is not the sleek beast freshly dried that i had so recently. So i tried an SMT. Still not great. Fluffy and soft but with crunchy ends again. (What's this about?) So i know that i got my hair super silky and hydrated by clarifying and using the products that i mentioned above (which i still use) but my hair is fragile thin and curly and i don't want to abuse it and clarifying seems to be one of the toughest things that i can do to my hair. It strips it raw so i am loath to repeat it unless i really really have to.

For what it's worth i am now wondering if the oil puts a boundary that stops hair from absorbing moisture, especially if it's absorbed into the root shaft as coconut oil is supposed to be.

So dear wise hair gurus of the internet, do any of you know an alternative way to strip icky oil from hair other than clarifying? Or, alternatively, am i being too timid and is it safe to clarify now and then with my hair type? If so how often please?


I had a similar problem with coconut oil and switched to argan oil which did the trick. It's a very light oil which seems to work well with fine curly hair and it defines curls brilliantly, there's a really good how to video on youtube, just type in argan oil + curly hair and it should come up. I am sulphate and cone free now, I'm pretty sure oiling wouldn't work well for me with hello hydration because it contains cones which coat the hair and stop the oil being absorbed?

As for clarifying my hair isn't quite as curly as yours but ACV works really well for me so maybe shampoo then rinse with ACV then a light condtioner followed by argan oil as a styling aid. I am finding that I need to use less and less argan oil as time goes on, in fact since following the LHC path the less is more approach is revealing itself as the answer for my hair- hmm maybe I should try that one in life too ;)!!

Your hair sounds a lot like mine be great to hear how you solve the problem. x

[rags]

I can third or fourth the CO washing. However, I did want to point out that to my knowledge, and looking at my daughter's bottle, Hello Hydration does contain cones. If you are not using an SLS shampoo, then you could have cone buildup also. I'm not sure where you are located and if the formulation is the same. Here is the ingredient list for my Hello Hydration:


Water, Stearyl Alcohol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Dimethicone, Vanilla (Vanilla Planifolia) Extract, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Milk (Coconut), Fragrance (Parfum), Glutamic Acid, Benzyl Alcohol, EDTA (Ethylenediamine-Tetra-Acetic Acid), Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Citric Acid, Blue 1 (CI 42090)

[Anje]

Frizz Ease Daily leave-in (http://www.naturallycurly.com/curltalk/readers-product-reviews/20849-john-frieda-frizz-ease-daily-nourishment-leave-fortifying.html) has cones and a polyquat.

Frizz Ease Curl Around Daily (http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlproducts/view/1817/frizz-ease-frizzease-curl-around-daily-conditioner) has a -xane and a -conol.

Frizz Ease Straight Ahead Daily (http://www.naturallycurly.com/curltalk/general-discussion-about-curly-hair/10253-cyclopentasiloxane-mineral-oil-wax-etc-condishs.html) is referred to as having a -xane but I cannot find the full ingredients list.
Thanks, I appreciate your digging, but I actually found those, just not the specific one she listed (assuming that was the full name). Just for your reference, there's an ingredients list here for the Straight Ahead (http://www.amazon.com/John-Frieda-Frizz-Ease-Style-Starting-Conditioner/dp/B00123MF84). We've got cyclopentasiloxane, dimethiconol, AND polyquaternium-7 in there. Guess it takes a lot of sealant to keep hair that wants to not be straight from sproinging.

Also, the OP doesn't list her country, but mentions Boots, so I suspect she's in the UK. The ingredients lists I'm digging up might be US-only, since these things occasionally vary. The VO5 lines tend to be silicone-free on this side of the pond but not on your side, strangely.

[HintOfMint]

I looked up Herbal Essences Hello Hydration conditioner ingredients and I saw that there was dimethicone in it, which is a silicone. Did they change the formula recently?

[GRU]

Every Hello Hydration I've ever picked up has had cones in it.

As stated above, "xane" is a cone -- not every cone says "cone" at the end!

If it's the same as this product (http://www.drugstore.com/herbal-essences-hello-hydration-moisturizing-conditioner/qxp159823), you're dealing with the following ingredients:

Water, Stearyl Alcohol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Dimethicone, Vanilla (Vanilla Planifolia) Extract, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Milk (Coconut), Fragrance (Parfum), Glutamic Acid, Benzyl Alcohol, EDTA (Ethylenediamine-Tetra-Acetic Acid), Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Citric Acid, Blue 1 (CI 42090)

The bold and underlined items are cones, and they're both listed in the first half of the ingredient list, so this product is VERY heavy on the cones.

(And for anyone curious, Methylchloroisothiazolinone and Methylisothiazolinone kind of look like cones, but they're not -- notice they end in "none" instead of "cone"... they are just preservatives, which is why they are at the end of the ingredient list most of the time; they are only there in small amounts.)

[Mirsha]

The evils of polyquats, -xane or -conols is new to me guys. If it's not too much trouble will you please let me know why these are bad for hair?

I think i will dampen hair before applying oils. I'll see how it goes anyway.

I wouldn't go as far as saying they're evil, if I recall correctly they're there to replace oils as sealant.
Extending shelf-life of products immensely (doesn't spoil), cheaper as opposed to natural ingredients. (There's a lot to be said about grown vs mineral oil derived in a food vs fuel debate)

The reason I think many people dislike silicones is that they: hide damage, build up quickly because they're not water soluble (they're not supposed to be), are not natural and basically need SLS or related to wash out.

In haircare a sealant is used to prevent moisture from seeping out the hair. If the sealant is particularly strong it also prevents moisture to enter the hair, possibly leading to dry hair.

These articles explain it better than I can:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=13
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=151
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=185
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=194

[Intotouch]

You're right damn it. I missed out on the cone ingredient when i was shopping. I may switch to something better. Any advice? Is there an ultimate cone/weird build up free conditioner in the world? I live in Ireland.

I switched to shampoo and conditioner again about two months ago after a stint of baking soda and ACV washing so that may be why i haven't suffered from the cone build up signs yet.

However today i co washed with the now disgraced hello hydration followed by a heavier ACV rinse (1 to 5) and there is a marked improvement. Defined curls. There's a bit of fluff at the ends and in the back layers but this was definitely a big help so i will do this every second wash for a while and see how i go. And leave the coconut oil for good.

I will recheck the list of ingredients on the frizz ease daily conditioner and may switch to that. I left the baking soda experiment because i read that it dried hair and opened up the hair shaft. My search for the perfect routine continues.

What does cone build up do exactly? Why is disguising damage a bad thing?

[Anje]

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with silicones, if your hair likes them. The main drawback to them with CO washing is that they tend to build up more than non-silicone conditioners. (Not that those are completely without buildup either.) Depending on your hair, you'll probably need to shampoo eventually no matter what you use, so use what works for you.

Disguising damage isn't necessarily a bad thing, except that it makes it difficult to assess the health of hair. However, silicones can build up to the point where they block hair from getting the moisture it needs, causing it to dry out. For some folks like me, there's something about the silicones themselves that also dries hair, but not everyone experiences this.

Off-hand, I can tell you that amodimethicone is a silicone that doesn't build up in layers. You'll get a coating of it, but it doesn't adhere to itself, just to hair. So you might not find you get the buildup you get with, say, dimethicone. I can't say whether it'll coat hair sufficiently to prevent moisture from reaching it -- you'd have to read up on that yourself.

[KatiSasha]

Here's a link to the article explaining some of the -cones. The most helpful part is that is mentions the water soluble ones, that you can wash out with CO-wash (PEG-modified dimethicone and dimethicone copolyol)

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/whats-the-scoop-on-silicones

Also, here's the link to a styling gel that has dimethicone copolyol and amodimethicone (mentioned as safe above) for curly hair. Hope it helps!

http://www.thehealthier.com/products/Styling-Gel-5-oz,-Shikai.html

[Intotouch]

Thank you so much for that advice! I will definitely investigate it.

It's amazing to me that different people can have such opposite experiences when it comes to cones/oils. Still that's what i keep the hair journal for.

Some of you here seem like you could lecture in hair care and chemistry. Have you tried making your own products from scratch?

[Annalouise]

Hello fabulous professors of all things hairy. I have a problem that i need some help with. About a month ago a had a minor miracle. Thanks to the wonderful advice from the experts on this forum i had got rid of protein build up and hydrated my dry thin frizzy snappy sad so called hair to such an extent that it felt silky and hung beautifully and tangle free! Super! (I clarified and conditioned three times then switched to using Naked colour shampoo as it's got not SLS or proteins and Herbal Essenses Hello Hydration and a few goes of CWC followed by an ACV rinse) Then i thought, well now that the moisture's back i can start using oils on my hair. Everyone loves coconut oil and it should help to strengthen my hair so i'll give this a try first. And that was when i screwed up my newly silky hair. Completely screwed it up. And no matter how i condition it i can't seem to get it back to silky tresses that bind into curls in front. Big big mistake.

So here is my problem. Coconut oil. Now i have fluffy, tangly, sometimes even sticky ended hair again. Even when i only used it the night before as a leave in it washed out fine but my hair is fluffy and slightly tangly again afterwords with less curl definition than a few weeks ago. I've never seen it dry into such vague fluff before. I haven't changed anything else in my routine. I skipped using it but i'm still not back to silkyness. What has helped me is using rapeseed oil as it's great for detangling and adding shine to my hair but doesn't help to define the curls and my hair is not the sleek beast freshly dried that i had so recently. So i tried an SMT. Still not great. Fluffy and soft but with crunchy ends again. (What's this about?) So i know that i got my hair super silky and hydrated by clarifying and using the products that i mentioned above (which i still use) but my hair is fragile thin and curly and i don't want to abuse it and clarifying seems to be one of the toughest things that i can do to my hair. It strips it raw so i am loath to repeat it unless i really really have to.

For what it's worth i am now wondering if the oil puts a boundary that stops hair from absorbing moisture, especially if it's absorbed into the root shaft as coconut oil is supposed to be.

So dear wise hair gurus of the internet, do any of you know an alternative way to strip icky oil from hair other than clarifying? Or, alternatively, am i being too timid and is it safe to clarify now and then with my hair type? If so how often please?

Hi:) I didn't read the whole thread because I just wanted to give you my answer based on instinct and I'll get biased if I read other people's responses.
I also have F and i hair but less curly than yours and my experience with oils has all been negative. I truly believe that they lock OUT moisture. They build up on my hair leading to the problems you described. I think that people with F i hair should walk away from the oils.:D Just walk away.

In my experience oils do not "moisturize" or "hydrate" the hair at all. And they build up and are hard to remove. I can't speak for other hairtypes but I can speak for "F" "i" hair.

The problem is you need so much shampoo/clarifying to remove the buildup then what is the point? Some people/studies say that coconut oil penetrates the hair shaft but these studies have not been done on fine hair that has no medulla. We hardly have any hair to penetrate! Our strands are so thin.

I think you should walk away from the oil.:) I have and I haven't been any worse off for it.

[TheBluffs]

If your using vinegar, I'd say once a week would be okay. That stuff it peaty acidic.

[Intotouch]

The Bluffs,
Thank you for your reply but i'm not sure what you mean exactly. Do you mean that i can clarify once a week or that i should only use ACV once a week. What is the problem with too much ACV? I haven't come across negative comments about this before.

Annalouise, that's a good point about fine hair not being part of the studies on coconut oil. I hadn't thought of that. I have found rapeseed oil to be great though. And my hair seems to absorb it so it doesn't get greasy looking. It's fantastic help with detangling, which is when i use it on day 2 or 3. It definitely washes out easily too. But if your hair isn't curly or frizzy then there's no need for oil.

[jojo]

You're right damn it. I missed out on the cone ingredient when i was shopping. I may switch to something better. Any advice? Is there an ultimate cone/weird build up free conditioner in the world? I live in Ireland.

I switched to shampoo and conditioner again about two months ago after a stint of baking soda and ACV washing so that may be why i haven't suffered from the cone build up signs yet.

However today i co washed with the now disgraced hello hydration followed by a heavier ACV rinse (1 to 5) and there is a marked improvement. Defined curls. There's a bit of fluff at the ends and in the back layers but this was definitely a big help so i will do this every second wash for a while and see how i go. And leave the coconut oil for good.

I will recheck the list of ingredients on the frizz ease daily conditioner and may switch to that. I left the baking soda experiment because i read that it dried hair and opened up the hair shaft. My search for the perfect routine continues.

What does cone build up do exactly? Why is disguising damage a bad thing?

asda's own brand apple conditioner is coneless and really good and very cheap!

[Intotouch]

Brilliant thanks! There's no ASDA in Dublin though.

[jojo]

damn thats no good! well for coneless go for the cheapest make like tescos own or superdrugs own. They are always the coneless ones the cheapos!

[Intotouch]

Great, thanks! I bought a naked conditioner, the hydration one. It looks great so far (no icky chemicals that i can identify) and feels very soft after the first wash. But i will definitely try to find the ones you suggested. Cheaper the better!

[Lianna]

I have the same problem with coconut oil. I don't see why people don't recommend olive oil more often, since the most reported problem is "too heavy/greasy", which is less troublesome than all you described..such as the tangles, dry feeling, etc. Too many people recommend coconut oil.

Olive oil penetrates the hair too and it's easier to find. If you need to be more exotic, avocado oil penetrates too.

[Intotouch]

I tried olive oil first and i agree it's way better on hair than coconut oil! As a deep conditioner it's super and leaves hair so soft! Rapeseed oil is the best for me so far though. It absorbs well, is great for detangling and less heavy than olive oil. (Although still heavy) I tried almond oil and i'm not sure what to think of it yet. It was very light and added gloss but didn't help with tangles but did add definition to curl when i applied it to damp hair and left it to dry. I will try avocado oil when my budget allows but i will keep my coconut oil as a make up remover i think.