Is olive oil good for dry hair?

[AbbyGirl]

Is olive oil good for dry hair?
I have been having a lot of trouble with my hair being dry. I haven't been able to find a good moisturizing conditioner that I don't react to. I have a lot of allergies. My hair does not like aloe or honey. It feels very dry and coated after I use it. I recently tried avocado but I think it was way too much protein for my hair. I was kind of crunchy for a few days. My hair doesn't seem to like coconut oil. It just kind of sits on my hair. So I was wondering if overnight oiling with olive oil might help.
Any advice is much appreciated! =)

[AMD]

It really helped my hair, but I always put it on damp hair. I also didn't wash it out for a couple days.

[arielágua]

I like olive oil, but I only oil the ends, because they're the only dry parts of my hair. I do not oil scalp, because makes my hair fall out.
My hair feels crunchy with almost any oil, specially almond oil.
Olive is the one who works best with me, but it might not be the solution for you. i think each hair type has it's demands and they differ so much.

Sorry if I did not help much. :(

[MychelleC]

I do love olive oil for hair. I work warm olive oil into slightly damp hair, cover with a shower cap and let it sit for an hour or two. I wash it out with shampoo and follow with conditioner. Sometimes I am left a little greasy if I don't get it all out, but I always end up with soft hair. Give it a try!

[CurlyCap]

I have the same problem! Allergies can be harsh on hair care routines, no?

What I did was buy an all natural conditioner (took a lot of tries, PM if you want to hear about the brand I like best so far) because for some reason the lack of detergents and harsh emulsifiers really helped me.

Then I split my conditioner 50:50 with olive oil. Not only was it a convenient way to add olive oil to my routine every night, but it really makes the all natural conditioners more affordable since they are stretched so much.

The mixture is used just like conditioner. I co-wash every night and only shampoo about once a week.

The olive oil has been tons better for my hair than just conditioner. And something about applying it to sopping wet hair is much better for me than just applying it to damp or dry hair. I noticed in your member blurb that you have straight hair, so maybe less olive oil might do better for you.

Hope you find something that helps!

[spidermom]

I had benefit from olive oil, but I don't like the scent very much. I do like the scent and the benefit of coconut oil, so I stick with that.

Olive oil is worth a try. If you don't like it in your hair, you can always cook with it.

[Mopolop]

I have a sensitive scalp, so I put olive oil on my scalp before shampooing (with a gentle shampoo) to "protect" my scalp. I also put a drop on my scalp (after washing) if I'm blowdrying my hair.

During the day I like to put some on the ends if they're feeling dry, a drop at a time (rarely more than one drop in total), and some elsewhere if it's frizzy. I do prefer olive oil to coconut oil, although it's easy to overdo (I have done so quite a few times... :S ). Oh and I apply it to dry hair, because then I can tell where the dry parts of my hair are.

[Madora]

I don't use olive oil for dryness but I notice my monthly EVOO treatment leaves my hair in a wonderful state and makes it much easier to braid.

I only use a little...less than 1/4th of a cup, and put it on completely dry hair and let it sit overnight, then shampoo it out the next day.

[AbbyGirl]

Thank you for all the replies. I washed my hair this morning so I think I'll go ahead a do an overnight olive oiling. Sounds like it's worth a shot!

[CC-Bale]

Good luck.

[Diamond.Eyes]

Olive oil is really good for your hair. I mix some in my overnight deep-contioning treatment that I make. It moisturizes my hair so well. Good luck! :)

[blondie9912]

Olive oil is super moisturizing, so if you found your hair 'crunchy' after using coconut oil, olive should probably work for you! Careful not to apply too much though, as it is quite difficult to wash out on some hair types (literally takes me three washings to remove when I apply it allover)

[Madora]

Thank you for all the replies. I washed my hair this morning so I think I'll go ahead a do an overnight olive oiling. Sounds like it's worth a shot!

Please tell us how it went..or not.

[AbbyGirl]

Update:
I washed my hair yesterday morning. So last night I applied olive oil to dry hair, not to heavy, put it in 2 braids, covered with a bandana and went to bed. This morning I woke up and was able to cwc the oil out. It was MUCH easier to wash out than coconut oil. My hair is now softer and silkier. I can actually run my fingers through it! I think I'll try this once a week and see what happens.
Thanks again for all your help! =)

[heidi w.]

Generally, I would not recommend Olive Oil. My understanding is it can create kind of dry, crunchy hair. Apparently it has some acidity in it that prevents it from being the better choice of a carrier oil.

A carrier oil is an oil that carries other oils, such as "essential oils" which are distillations from plant oils. Generally you do not want to use an essential oil alone. Most come in the carrier oil, Jojoba Oil, which is said to most closely resemble sebum.

Of course, apparently there are those who experience success with Olive Oil.

heidi w.

[kaned_ferret]

olive oil has been one of the big successful changes to my hair thanks to LHC :) I have found through experimentation however that I get best results from 1) applying warmed to damp hair, 2) wrapping it up in cling film with a wooly cap on top 3) CO washing it out after a few hours, but not so the whole darned lot is stripped straight back out. It's good to keep experimenting with these things to find what suits your hair best :)

[jojo]

EVOO is the only oil which gives my hair wonderful shine and body. My hair isn't dry though just normal but I do a treatment every month on dry hair and CO it out in the morning.

[Spring]

I like olive oil, but I only oil the ends, because they're the only dry parts of my hair. I do not oil scalp, because makes my hair fall out.
My hair feels crunchy with almost any oil, specially almond oil.
Olive is the one who works best with me, but it might not be the solution for you. i think each hair type has it's demands and they differ so much.

Sorry if I did not help much. :(

I absolutely love olive oil.... and I have the same experience with it near my scalp, but on the length it's great! I always spritz with water before applying olive oil.

[CaityBear]

Don't know about your hair (it's all about experimentation...) but my hair loves a nice olive oil overnight oiling. I just saturate my hair with oil and sleep on it. And my hair feels amazing in the morning once I wash it out.

[Starlight1986]

Wow, yesterday I found out, that my hair loves olive oil, too! My length and ends are always sooo dry and I tried with simple sunflower oil but this didn't work too well...
Yesterday I bought olive oil and covered all my hair with it before my washing routine. It was really greasy because I felt that my hair absolutely needed it.
Then I washed it out and dried my hair on curlers overnight.
Today my hair is lovely. :) Not perfect but especially the ends are a lot shinier and softer. I think I will definately do this more often.

[Amber_Maiden]

I think it works for some people and doesn't work for others. A lot of people told me their scalp has liked olive oil treatments. My hair doesn't like oil at all....

[Amarante]

I think it works for some people and doesn't work for others. A lot of people told me their scalp has liked olive oil treatments. My hair doesn't like oil at all....

None at all? What happens?

[CarpeDM]

My hair loves olive oil. I used to use coconut oil but it started to make my ends weird and crunchy, so I went to the olive oil. My hair just seems to soak it up when I apply it.

[marioma]

i've used olive oil before , i apply it onn dry hair and not on the roots and leave it for about 3 hours then i wash it , yes it makes hair softer but i don't like the scent .

[lesbia]

For me olive oil is not good, but you should try! All hair are different! I suggest sweet almond oil, for me it's the best :)

[longhairedlady]

I have dry coarse hair and my hair loves it! But I have to put it on my hair when its wet. If I put it on dry it does not agree with my hair at all. Weird!

[cmg]

Almond oil was the best oil for me too for years. But now it has become so expensive so I switched to coconut oil, which is just as great. And sometimes I add some amla oil, but just a few tiny drops. I dont like the smell of that (its perfumed in the bottle). If I can't get coconut oil I use shea or som other nut butter. I have only used olive oil in small amounts in the henna, when I ran out of almond oil.

[julliams]

Olive oil cured my dry itchy scalp - seriously just one application using fingertips on my scalp. I use it as a deep treatment overnight and my hair is beautifully soft the next day after washing as Madora has described. I would also recommend jojoba oil. I know you said you don't like coconut oil but I find lite coconut milk on my hair for an hour before washing does a good job of moisturising too.

[SoulOfTheSea]

Oh for me it totally is great for my hair! I like to heavily oil my hair, put it in a single braid, cover it with a plastic grocery bag, then use a tshirt over my whole head and sleep on that. Then in the morning when I shower, it's super soft and shiny! :) I do that once a week. I also like to put it in my hair when it's wet sometimes, and it helps the frizz big time.

[PixxieStix]

My hair really likes deep hot/warm olive oil treatments. But then, it also likes coconut oil, shea butter ( that was a b**** to wash out, but left my hair oh so silky smooth! ) and avocado/coconut oil mixed, and I bet it would like the avocado oil plain too. Glad t hear it worked so well for you!

[CastaDiva]

My hair likes olive oil. I actually soak my dry hair in evoo and leave it in overnight before every wash. Since I started using olive oil, my hair has never looked better. The oil makes it super soft, shiny and the overall condition of my hair has improved.

[Feng-Shui]

My hair loves olive oil.
I does it some hours before the laundry on my drying hair.

In the course of the years I tries have some different sorts oil.

Olive oil and Shea butter functions to best for my hair and my scalp.

[Trish in SC]

My hair seems to like the olive oil. :cheese:

I use it overnight and then wash in the a.m. I actually used olive oil & coconut oil mixed. I had to heat the coconut oil to melt it. I hope that's okay. The results were great! My hair was soft, supple and had much less frizz. Actually my photo was taken that day, so you can see how it came out.

Coconut oil is a bit heavy for my hair, I guess. When I put it on in the morning (even if I use just a TINY portion), it weighs my hair down. Kinda' disappointing but that's the result many get, right? Can I still use it in a defrizzing spray, or would it be too heavy for that also?

Thanks for any help! I am enjoying my time here on LHC and learning so much. :D

[ellen732]

I haven't used olive oil in so long since I started using coconut oil instead. Then I read this thread yesterday and decided to use it before I braided for bed. I washed it out this morning and it is so shiny. I am glad I switched it up.

[coffinhert]

I put olive oil in my hair (a small slathering... maybe a tablespoon for armpit length) and slept. In the morning it was very soft and shiny and had good curl. Lately I've been using coconut with good results, but my hair definitely loved olive.

[Keller1128]

I'm glad I read this. I did an EVOO/Coconut Oil treatment tonight and had about 10-15 hairs fall out. Maybe it's because I applied it to my scalp hair as well. I'll try avoiding that area next time.

[PaganPriestess]

I have been getting excellent results with overnight oilings with olive oil. The night before I am going to wash my hair I put a palm full (about 2 tbsp) through my dry hair, focusing on the ends. Then I bun or braid it, and wash the next day with a moisturizing shampoo & conditioner. You can read more details on my hair routine in my blog. But I have noticed definite improvement in the silkiness of my hair as well as my ends are far less dry.