Mineral Oil/Baby Oil? Help?

[blackgothicdoll]

Oh gosh, giiiirl, don't get me started. When I first got here I experimented with all kinds of things, experimented to high heaven. I mostly these days keep it as simple as possible.

Keep us posted!

I think it's a no for me, my hair was very dry today and I noticed more ssks than usual. Not even sure how that would happen as I didn't notice more tangles, just dryness (though at first, it was very smooth and cooperative). I did do some other things, like spray with water and then add gel to make a smooth bun, and it was only after that that it begun to misbehave. Unfortunately, that's something I must do at least on work days so I don't want to combine two things that don't work together. I may revisit this later on down the line, but for now I'm going to try to stick with what I know until I get to a new milestone (and if I can't get to the next new milestone, then clearly it's time to continue experimenting to find what works!).

[lapushka]

I think it's a no for me, my hair was very dry today and I noticed more ssks than usual. Not even sure how that would happen as I didn't notice more tangles, just dryness (though at first, it was very smooth and cooperative). I did do some other things, like spray with water and then add gel to make a smooth bun, and it was only after that that it begun to misbehave. Unfortunately, that's something I must do at least on work days so I don't want to combine two things that don't work together. I may revisit this later on down the line, but for now I'm going to try to stick with what I know until I get to a new milestone (and if I can't get to the next new milestone, then clearly it's time to continue experimenting to find what works!).

Aw that's a bummer! Maybe it was the gel that did it. Gel (even without drying alcohol) can still be drying on the hair.

That's too bad. It could have been "the" thing, you know? Alas!

Good luck on your journey to find something that does work!

[Amy-Lee]

When I was a child, I had hair passed my bum. My sister grew her hair down to her ankles. I remember my mother always using baby oil on our wet hair. Once it was dry, she would sometimes add a little more if needed. That was it. Our hair was long and beautiful with no breakage or split ends. I just ordered a huge bottle to try it again. Mothers know best.

[lunalocks]

I use generic baby oil to ends and most of length while still damp after washing. I use "generic" because the smell is less intense. Baby oil is thinner than pure mineral oil.

I've been doing this for years, after a soak in catnip tea and this has prevented splits and is how I was able to grow from hip to knee.

I keep my baby oil in a small spray bottle and one or two sprays into my hand, then palms rubbed together, then applying to length and ends is all it takes. I used to do this nightly between washes. Probably should start again.

[knobbly]

Wow lunalocks thanks so much for being specific about what, why, and how! I think I’m going to try this!

Do you apply on damp as well or just dry hair?

[lapushka]

I used to use straight up Johnson & Johnson baby oil for the rinse-out oil method on here (see signature), but I had other things / oils to use up first. MO will always be a sure preference for me!

[knobbly]

So, haha I may have read this entire thread over the past few days, and when I decided that my scalp was itchy enough for a midweek wash today, I did it exactly as ktani lays out (or to the best of my ability.) Here's what I did.

• a good squirt of Suave Essentials Wild Cherry Blossom shampoo in my squeezy bottle, filled the rest of the way with water, applied on dry combed hair; this time I applied it to my length as well to get rid of any buildup and really clarify all strands
• rinsed well with tepid water
• acid rinse (8% white vinegar and cool water)
• blot dry with birdseye hair towel
• at this point, I flipped over for the first time, and did a little shake to get my strands as aligned as they could be, then I began to apply MO
• first I got two drops and applied to the bottom couple of inches, then I got three more and applied to a bit more of my length
• began to detangle and things started to go pretty well! I ended up applying about four more drops as I went, mostly because it was hard to feel where I had applied it already
• I had begun detangling with my fingers, but I finished with my TT to help distribute the MO as much as possible
• wrapped in my turbie and let sit for 10 minutes
• now I'm air drying and very impatient to see how it turns out!!

I can definitely smell the vinegar, so if this ends up being a thing I do often, I might have to buy some citric acid (unless I can use ascorbic acid instead, anyone know? That I do have just laying around.)

The best part of all of this is that I lost maybe half or even a third of the hair I usually do on wash day!

[aloewurly]

I adore mineral oil! This is how I use it:

• Wash with a sulfate shampoo. I'm now using the Garnier Hair Food, Aloe Vera line.
• Apply a hydrating conditioning product on my wet hair (in my case, without any silicones). Right now it's Garnier Hair Food aloe vera, the conditioner (You can tell I have a preference haha).
• I partially rinse the conditioner out, and squeeze some water out so it's not dripping.
• Still with fairly wet hair, I apply mineral oil with my head upside down: I squirt some into my hands, rub it between my palms and scrunch it into my hair to lock in all the moisture. I do tend to use a lot more than people on this thread... I use the Johnson's baby original one, personally I love the smell.
• I dry my hair with my microfiber towel (the plain kind, without terrycloth-like "loops"). Scrunching upside down and to the side, even when the towel has gotten wet. I get more definition and less frizz that way.

YMMV, but these is the routine that works out best for me I'm a frequent washer either way because of my sensitive scalp, so I don't have any issues with using larger amounts of MO.