Question about benefits of oiling

[Dr. Girlfriend]

I've added castor oil to my hair regimen in hopes of increasing growth rate and attempting to ward off damage to the ends. I'm afraid to try Monistat because I already suffer from headaches. They are under control now with medication, but I do not want to do anything that might cause them to flare back up.

I've been oiling the last 3" at night for quite a while which causes no problems, but I never attempted a really deep oil scalp soak.

So I cut my castor oil with some sweet almond oil in a 75/25 mix to thin it a bit and make it easier to apply to my scalp. I massaged it in and got everything all oiled up, popped on a shower cap and went about my business for a few hours. When it came time to wash it out, I CWCd lathering twice, and went to bed. This morning when I woke up my hair was so oily there was no hiding it. I had to jump back in and SC to get it all out.

So, I guess my question is will having to lather up 4 times in all and then SCing instead of CWCing like I usually do negate any positive effect that deep oiling would provide?

[furnival]

I find that conditioner alone does a much better job of removing oil than shampoo. Why not give it a try next time?

[RitaCeleste]

I don't know. To me it would seem to be too much shampooing. I've really got my hair greased with coconut oil, I've added some AOHR for deep conditioning and I'm gonna see if the last of trader joe's nourish spa conditioner will degrease my hair. If I have to climb back in and wash it, I won't put this much in my hair again. I have tried caster oil and it seemed to be pretty thick. Perhaps a lighter oil might work better?

[Dr. Girlfriend]

I'll probably give it a shot Saturday before washing again, and I'll see what using just condish to get it out does. I was really excited over the castor oil effect on growth rate, so if I can get it to work for me I would love to keep doing it.

I've had a simular experienced when I overzealously oiled my hair with a much lighter oil when I was newer to the practice and I recall it taking a nice bit of washing to remedy the situation.

[RitaCeleste]

Conditioner seems to work to take oil out, just make sure to get it everywhere and leave it on a few minutes. I over do coconut all the time. I threw a protein treatment on my greasy mess and that really seemed to get rid of my oil fast.:joy: Not sure if I can tell how good oiling is from that though.

[McFearless]

Lathering with shampoo 4 times cancels out the benefits of deep oiling. You should CO wash it out instead by applying conditioner to your dry hair 15 minutes before you get in the shower. Once you're there wet your hair slightly and massage a little more conditioner into your scalp. Put on a shower cap and go on about your other duties. Once your hair dries the oil should be gone.

[ratgirldjh]

I just lightly oil my scalp and ends with a tiny bit of oil that can be removed the next day with a regular shampoo bar washing.

Works well for me.

When I have heavily oiled even conditioner washing would seem to dry out my hair!!! I think the oil pulled more oil out when it was removed.

But doing the very light scalp and end oiling has helped me reduced my shedding to almost NONE!!!

I use an auryvedic oil with sesame, coconut oil, and castor oil with herbs.
djh

[Darkhorse1]

I've had these oiling mishaps. I have naturally oily scalp, so I just oil the length when it looks fried, and I use clarifying shampoo after. If I don't, it's disgustingly stringy/greasy and gross.

It's always a trial and error situation with oil/wash routine.

[gypsymoth]

I find that wetting my hair before I oil it helps a lot - I know some people think that this is a weird thing to do since oil and water repel each other (?), and I don't know much about the science of it, but I get much better results this way than if I apply it to dry hair. It also seems a lot easier to rinse out. :p
I leave it in for a few hours and then when I'm in the shower, I barely shampoo my scalp and then condition everything else.

[Mamakash]

Co washing twice should get all the oil out. Last time I did this, I found my hair was squeaky clean without being stripped.
When I started oiling(with jojoba) I found my hair greasier than normal and looked unwashed . . . with time, I think my scalp just got used to it and I learned how to remove it better. I also found I prefer Vatika/coconut oil to jojoba. You may prefer a different oil.

[Dr. Girlfriend]

Thanks everybody. I will definitely use CO next time and pray for a better result. I had the feeling that lathering four times was going to undo whatever the oil treatment would have done.
I don't think I stripped my hair with so much shampoo, right now my hair feels about how it would had I CWC'd and done nothing special, except that I STILL have a few almost sticky spots from the Castor oil, meaning I will probably have to CO wash tonight.

[Lianna]

I oil my scalp with castor oil too, and it gives me headaches if I use it too much. Be careful even though it's "natural", you know. To take it out I just shampoo it once, because that's my regular routine. Sometimes I condition, sometimes I don't, when I don't, I use a leave-in conditioner. Then I use olive oil on the length and leave it in. My regular shampooing don't cancel out the benefits of both oils for me.

[McFearless]

I find that wetting my hair before I oil it helps a lot - I know some people think that this is a weird thing to do since oil and water repel each other (?), and I don't know much about the science of it, but I get much better results this way than if I apply it to dry hair. It also seems a lot easier to rinse out. :p
I leave it in for a few hours and then when I'm in the shower, I barely shampoo my scalp and then condition everything else.
I apply oil to wet hair too. Its how I trap in the moisture. Not weird at all. :)


Thanks everybody. I will definitely use CO next time and pray for a better result. I had the feeling that lathering four times was going to undo whatever the oil treatment would have done.
I don't think I stripped my hair with so much shampoo, right now my hair feels about how it would had I CWC'd and done nothing special, except that I STILL have a few almost sticky spots from the Castor oil, meaning I will probably have to CO wash tonight.

Next time maybe try using the castor oil only on your scalp, and a less sticky oil on your length.

[Dr. Girlfriend]

Well, I CO'd when I got home from school yesterday, and my goodness! It took the rest of the oil right out and left it so silky and soft... maybe I should switch to the CO method, It left better results than CWC does for me. :)

I will definitely keep the castor oil on my scalp only from now on. Thanks for the heads up on headaches, I did have one yesterday and attributed to the stress of upcoming finals.

I'll give this another shot this weekend, and take the advice I was given on here to heart. Thanks LHC community, you guys are always so helpful. ::hugs::

[bunzfan]

Just a tip for you, when i have oil in my hair and i CO in the morning i leave plenty on my scalp for at least half an hour before my shower and it leaves me with very clean soft hair.

[Darkhorse1]

I apply oil to wet hair too. I find it works better than applying to dry hair.

[Peashy]

Wow! I've never thought to put conditioner on dry hair prior to my shower before, this could be a really useful tip. There is just so much information on here it's easy to miss really good bits of advice as I know i've spent ages looking at ways of CO washing before in the past! I did try it but just couldn't seem to get my hair to feel clean even after using lots of cheap conditioner so maybe this is the secret I was missing. Thanks again LHC =D