Getting started, coping with mistakes, finding your routine

[Ms Strangelove]

Hi guys.

Well, I've not been on LHC for long and am in the experimental phase I guess a lot of "newcomers" go through? Anyway, at the moment I'm trying my luck with the mystery that is oil.

Tried to put Jojoba into the ends as well as virgin coconut oil... Surprisingly I hate the smell (though normally I dig coconut products!) and it just makes my hair look, well, oily...:rolleyes: and it does that all by itself in a short period of time after washing so... I don't know if oil even is the right thing for me. Is oil basically a good thing for every type of hair?

I don't know about mixing etheral oils with "basic oils" like almond oil etc or mixing oils at all... it seems a whole unknown science for me!

A guy from a natural cosmetic hair store said that oil is useless because it doesn't go into the hair unless you mix a few drops of it with the conditioner. Any comments?
I've basically lost trust in the things the people from hair salons say, because I've read all this contradicting stuff on LHC .

I bought some castor oil at the pharmacy because I got recommendations and when I googled it practically said that castor is the Holy Grail of skin/hair/overall health treatment... (http://www.castoroilhome.com/) Do you guys have any experiences on that?

I put it into my hair for scalp massaging and probably used too much or something.... my hair was so sticky it was a mess. And it still looks very oily, after 3 washings with shampoo and conditioner! I'm afraid of washing it again... thought about using a cleansing shampoo...but isn't that supposed to be really aggressive?
What happens if I just let it be that way, does the oil magically dissappear/ get absorbed or should I just wash till all is out??

I would wish for, a simple, as-few-as-possible-products-routine.... but I don't know how to find my way between all these contradictions...
Lamb lost in the woods.

Did any of you feel the same way when you "started"? :confused:
Do you have a "simple" , always-the-same-routine that works for you?

Appreciative of all replies......:o

[vanity_acefake]

Most of us that use castor oil will mix it with another runnier oil as castor oil is so thick and sticky.
I love coconut oil but a little goes a long way.
I will put on lots of coconut oil and leave it on overnight before shampoo for deep conditioning. It leaves my hair super soft.
If you google "long hair community coconut oil" or whatever oil you like, you will find a wealth of info.
Hope this helps and good luck.
:)

[Nevvie]

I love castor oil (makes my hair look so shiny and sleek and somehow magically even gives a bit of body) but I would never use it straight. Mix it with a thinner oil, conditioner or w/e works for you. I've also learned that shampoo is almost useless for getting oil out of my hair. After oiling for a set amount of time, I put a ton of cheapy conditioner on my hair and massage it in. Then I let it set for at least a half hour (hour if I have time) before rinsing. Then I use the same cheap conditioner to do a quick co-wash afterwards and then use my regular shampoo and conditioner. After that, the oily feeling is gone but the shine and softness is still there. Because of the process I don't use it as often as I do the easier to remove coconut/olive oil mix. Castor oil is probably once a month tops but I try to work in a deep coconut/olive oiling every week (which I also remove with conditioner but I only let it set for 15-20 min or so then wash as normal). For daily use I only use a tiny, tiny amount of a water, coconut, olive oil, conditioner mix (which works very well with my hair) that I keep in a spray bottle for a leave in. It certainly does take a bit of time and trial and error to figure out what works for you. I spent probably around two months messing around with oils before I figured out which work, which don't and how to best use them for my hair. Some people eventually realize that oil doesn't work for them at all. Just keep trying and before you know it, it'll all just be a normal routine and the trial and error stage will be behind you. Well, until you read a post about some great new product that you just HAVE to try, at least :P

[julliams]

When you are applying oil you are literally taking 1 or 2 drops on your palms, rubbing them together and then distributing through your hair, adding only if you need to. When I began I also put too much in. Conditioner washes it out really well. If I do a heavy oiling overnight, I lather up with conditioner the next day (leave it on for up to an hour) and then wash out with warm water. That should get it out for you.

Simple routine? Yep. I wash, condition, stick hair up in a microfibre towel for 5 mintues, leave-in through ends, scrunch and let dry. That's it. Second day I leave it as is. Second night I put some Nightblooming Panacea (which is like using oil) into my ends. I repeat this every night until I then wash again.

When I feel the need, I will do an SMT for an hour after washing OR do a lite coconut milk soak before washing. This moisturises my hair really well. I used to do this weekly but now it's more like monthly or when I think of it.

Seriously, the more simple you can keep it the better.

[MyKing'sQueen]

What vanity acefake said about mixing castor oil with another oil. You can try co-washing to remove the oil, for me it works a lot better job washing out a heavy oiling. Try using just a drop of oil (or a tiny scraping of coconut oil) as a leave-in on wet or dry hair focusing on the ends. HTH.
Oops.. Somebody else beat me to it))

[sazzie88]

Julliams can i ask what SMT is?

[Alvrodul]

You have to try things out to see what works for you. What my hair loves, may well be something that your hair hates.
My hair loves coconut oil, particularly as a pre-wash treatment. I usually make up a mix of oils, using coconut oil as the base, and add a bit of other things, like almond oil or avocado oil, work this mixture well into my hair - enough that my hair looks wet - and then let it stay in my hair for at least a couple of hours before washing.
for post-wash oiling, I use argan oil on slightly damp hair - my hair loves that. Also some Panacea on the ends.

SMT (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128)is a moisturizing treatment. My hair looooves that1

[jacqueline101]

I don't think you would have to mix oils with conditioner to get it to penetrate your hair.

[maria_tasha]

"Tried to put Jojoba into the ends as well as virgin coconut oil... Surprisingly I hate the smell (though normally I dig coconut products!) and it just makes my hair look, well, oily... and it does that all by itself in a short period of time after washing so... I don't know if oil even is the right thing for me. Is oil basically a good thing for every type of hair? " Oil is really good for every type of hair but depends a lot on the oil and the necessities of your locks. I am using both coconut oil and jojoba but never together. I usually use coconut for the ends - just take a tiny amount, rub it between your hands to warm it up and apply on the ends. I use the Jojoba on the scalp to dilute the castor oil as it is a lighter oil. Also i use it on my face as a moisturizer.

I don't know about mixing etheral oils with "basic oils" like almond oil etc or mixing oils at all... it seems a whole unknown science for me!Well mixing essential oils with carriers isn't rocket science. just browse around the Internet and LHC and read about different kinds of oils. I use for my scalp in order to promote hair growth, castor oil mixed with Jojoba oil (2/1) in wich I add a couple of drops of essential oils: rosemary and sage (ithey are scalp tonics, enhances the blood flow, promotes growth), lavender ( it nourishes the scalp and the follicle, controls hair fall, improves hair growth), tea tree (antiseptic, gets rid of problems like itchy scalp and dandruff). I just rub the mix on my roots, massage for a couple of minutes and leave it over night .

A guy from a natural cosmetic hair store said that oil is useless because it doesn't go into the hair unless you mix a few drops of it with the conditioner. Any comments?
I've basically lost trust in the things the people from hair salons say, because I've read all this contradicting stuff on LHC .You can do that, i don't think there would be any harm but I would't waste any essential oils in the conditioner, i would add it to the shampoo as that is the one that gets in contact with your roots. tou can add jojoba oil in the conditioner or any other nourishing oil.



I put it into my hair for scalp massaging and probably used too much or something.... my hair was so sticky it was a mess. And it still looks very oily, after 3 washings with shampoo and conditioner! I'm afraid of washing it again... thought about using a cleansing shampoo...but isn't that supposed to be really aggressive?
What happens if I just let it be that way, does the oil magically dissappear/ get absorbed or should I just wash till all is out?? This is how I get the oil out of my hair: mix a little conditioner with water, put it on hair and massage for about 3 minutes and leave it another 10. after this you rinse it out, use shampoo and that's it.

I would wish for, a simple, as-few-as-possible-products-routine.... but I don't know how to find my way between all these contradictions...
Lamb lost in the woods.

Did any of you feel the same way when you "started"?
Do you have a "simple" , always-the-same-routine that works for you?
Yes! You are not alone! I had a lot of trial and error. Be patient, read all you can find on the subject and experiment. :toast: Happy growing!

[aster66]

I'm in the same boat as you are right now :). I became active on LHC a couple of weeks ago and all the information is still pretty overwhelming. At the moment i'm trying to find a wash routine that works for me and i've been experimenting with only using an SMT once a week (no shampoo) followed by an ACV rinse. I've used the SMT twice now and my dry hair loves it! Now all i'm doing is waiting to see how long it takes for my hair to become greasy and in need for wash.

The best advice i can give you is to not try too many things at once (I know its difficult ;) ).

[QMacrocarpa]

I haven't tried castor or coconut, but jojoba has worked well for me, and I'm shortly going to try almond (I'm cheap, and I can get it for less). I don't do heavy oilings, just a couple drops on my hands and then running my hands through my ends. I'm split-prone and oiling my ends just a tad every few days seems to reduce the need for self-trims. An even bigger factor for me is wearing my hair up or in a braid most of the time: 6-days-a-week-ish. Other than that, I shampoo and condition once a week or so and try to treat my hair gently, but I don't worry much about sleeping on a flannel pillowcase or sometimes using a plastic pick with seams, though I might get around to replacing them with hair-friendlier versions sometime. I'd say my overall regimen is benign neglect with an explicit "no-obsessing" clause. :D

[Madora]

Julliams can i ask what SMT is?

http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=14635

Here you go, sazzie88!

[Arctic]

Oiling never worked for me. Well, that's only half true: my hair loved oil, but my skin didn't and I developed bad acne any time I used oils. I tried several with same effects.

I've never tried castor oil, but in general, conditioner removed oil better than shampoo for me if I had been heavy oiling (CWC wash to be precise, where I left the first C sit for several minutes). In other words, after removing oil with conditioner (or CWC) my hair did not look or feel oily, but my skin till reacted to the oil. If I had used few drops of oil after a wash, that was removed well with next shampoo (but this too gave me acne).

This is not very informative post, but I wanted to say that not all of us here oil, from one reason or another.

[Pierre]

I have a spray bottle of mixed oil which I use on my underarms, groin, and hair. It's about 1/10 essential oils (tea tree, ylang-ylang, patchouli), maybe a gram each of coconut and andiroba, and the rest jojoba. I spray a drop or two on my palm, rub the palms together, and spread it over the hair. Many days, instead of that, I put some henna attar on my hair. I don't use big handfuls of oil on my hair; it doesn't need it.

[sazzie88]

http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=14635

Here you go, sazzie88!


Thank you Madora!

Im off to buy me some Aloe gel!

[Long_hair_bear]

Hi guys.

Well, I've not been on LHC for long and am in the experimental phase I guess a lot of "newcomers" go through? Anyway, at the moment I'm trying my luck with the mystery that is oil.

Tried to put Jojoba into the ends as well as virgin coconut oil... Surprisingly I hate the smell (though normally I dig coconut products!) and it just makes my hair look, well, oily...:rolleyes: and it does that all by itself in a short period of time after washing so... I don't know if oil even is the right thing for me. Is oil basically a good thing for every type of hair?

I don't know about mixing etheral oils with "basic oils" like almond oil etc or mixing oils at all... it seems a whole unknown science for me!

A guy from a natural cosmetic hair store said that oil is useless because it doesn't go into the hair unless you mix a few drops of it with the conditioner. Any comments?
I've basically lost trust in the things the people from hair salons say, because I've read all this contradicting stuff on LHC .

I bought some castor oil at the pharmacy because I got recommendations and when I googled it practically said that castor is the Holy Grail of skin/hair/overall health treatment... (http://www.castoroilhome.com/) Do you guys have any experiences on that?

I put it into my hair for scalp massaging and probably used too much or something.... my hair was so sticky it was a mess. And it still looks very oily, after 3 washings with shampoo and conditioner! I'm afraid of washing it again... thought about using a cleansing shampoo...but isn't that supposed to be really aggressive?
What happens if I just let it be that way, does the oil magically dissappear/ get absorbed or should I just wash till all is out??

I would wish for, a simple, as-few-as-possible-products-routine.... but I don't know how to find my way between all these contradictions...
Lamb lost in the woods.

Did any of you feel the same way when you "started"? :confused:
Do you have a "simple" , always-the-same-routine that works for you?

Appreciative of all replies......:o


I use jojoba, but you need to use only a very small amount of it, otherwise you'll get the greasiness. I've never used castor oil, so can't answer that one. As for products, I use handmade shampoo, deep condish, and a leave in with jojoba. I may try mineral oil soon. Also, consider buying a boar bristle brush to help distribute your oils. :D

[ladyshep]

It sounds like you are on the right track or at least getting there. I'm glad to hear you are trying oils rather than silicones. The mistake I made (because I was a hairdresser) was using too much cones. I know my hair would be in much better shape if I hadn't used so much. I wish I would have gone with some oils instead. (Now, I don't need any because the cones thinned out my once Medium texture to thin and now I deal with static all of the time if I use any oils or cones) (Not saying cones are terrible, but too much is terrible and oils are better)

So kudos to you.

[ladyshep]

Yes, there is also such a thing as over oiling as well.

[spidermom]

This is how I like to use oil. After my scalp area gets oily, I oil the length with coconut oil, braid, and leave it overnight. Then I shampoo/condition it out after a workout in the morning. It has made my hair so silky and shiny, definitely worth doing.

Not every person gets the same result from oiling, however.

[princesitamaria]

Yea I def understand, I just joined a few months ago and I made the same mistake with coconut oil, and had a wash it several times and then I waited a day and washed it again and it came out- never again tho! lol if you are gonna use oil you only need a pea size amount for your length- and also Co washes work good too- good luck and remember if you try something new dont try something else until after 2 weeks- good luck :):o

[hypersensitive]

I don't like the smell of coconuts so if you still want to go for coconut oil, I'd recommend trying refined coconut oil. The benefits are the same and there's no smell. I myself am curious to try it- it's next on my list of hair things to try.

If you look at some of the popular conditioners here on LHC, specifically Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition and Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose, you find that their ingredients list is packed with oils. Especially that AO one, man, there's a lot! As for whether or not oils are useless for hair, we have a great article about the penetrative power of oils (or lack thereof). As I recall, only a select few oils actually penetrate the hair shaft. Coconut oil is one of them. Most others sit on top of the hair cuticles.

[PixxieStix]

I found the reason I first had oily hair after adding in oil to the ends was that I was using waaaaay too much. You need very, very little. My hair loves coconut oil though, it makes it so soft and shiny, but here is how I use it and my relatively simple routine:

I wash my hair every 3-5 days (was 4-5 but I'm working out a lot more now), using a mix of 50/50 organic virgin unrefined coconut oil and ABBA shampoo, leaving it on my head while I bath/shave legs/whatever, rinse out, get out of the shower and put my head back in the tub and rinse my hair with cold water. I then wrap in a towel for a while, let down and allow to air dry. Once it's mostly dry, if I feel my hair needs it, I add a little coconut oil to the ends by dipping two fingertips into my oil jar and rubbing it between my hands, and then running my fingers through my hair ends up. Adding CO to shampoo allows the CO to penetrate into the cortex layer of the hair shaft. Add in once a week deep oil treatments with EVOO, and you have my hair care routine. Sometimes I use coconut milk mixed with avocado. And I've been washing out my treatments with my oil shampoo and it's been working pretty well for me. I'd love to try washing it out with conditioner, but I'm afraid of making my hair unhappy with that. :p

As for castor oil, I've been mixing that 50/50 with EVOO to do the oil cleansing method (OCM) for my face to control acne, and it's the best thing I've ever done! I haven't tried adding it to another oil and massaging my scalp with that though, I just massage my scalp with the natural oils on my head to distribute them that way.

[holothuroidea]

I am just now coming out of my tryeverythingatoncebecauseitisallsofunandnew phase. :D No, you are not alone!

Two important things I learned are-
1) Try only one thing at a time, and wait a week before trying something else.
2) If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

As for your specific questions,
Oils are used basically to seal and protect the hair, some oils do absorb into the hair but that is not the real benefit of using them. As for finding which one is right for you, it's a lot of trial and error. With any oil, the big thing is to not use too much. 1-2 drops rubbed into your hands and then a quick finger-comb or scrunching should do the trick. When my hair was very very short I just dusted the ends, or rather I let the ends of my hair brush up against my hands.

It's also important to find out if your hair prefers to be oiled while wet, damp or dry. I find that damp is the best for me.

Sometimes oils will just sit on top of your hair and make it look gross if you have build up. If this is happening to you in spite of only using a couple drops you can try clarifying your hair.

Castor oil gave me really bad acne. This is not a usual side effect of that oil but it can happen. The best oils for my hair have been camillia and shea butter. Jojoba worked well for me also, avocado and olive were too heavy. I never tried coconut because it is supposedly pore-clogging and I have scalp acne issues.

Just keep trying stuff, you'll figure it out, don't worry!

Your hair looks beautiful by the way. :)

[Ms Strangelove]

Thank you everybody, this is really helpful...
I got the castor oil all out, letting the conditioner sit for an hour finally did the trick. :cheese:
Looking though your answers, I think the most important thing will be to develop some patience... and only try one thing at one time and then for some time, before the next.
...
Thank you so much!

[luxepiggy]

Oh most definitely - when I first stumbled upon LHC, I embarked upon a lengthy series of experiments. It took me nearly a year, but I did finally settle on what I consider to be a fairly simple routine.

Daily:

sleep on silk pillow covers
fingercomb upon waking
apply Aquage Beyond Shine before going out



Every few days (whenever it starts to feel oily):

modified 2-step CO wash with Garner Daily Care conditioner & Acca Kappa White Moss conditioner
cold water final rinse
apply Aquage Beyond Shine to damp hair
blow dry on Cool