Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Coconut Oil to Condition Hair...without the Oiliness



Anyone who reads blogs on beauty, health, or natural living, or simply peruses Pinterest has likely seen that coconut oil is the "it" natural beauty product these days.

I have to admit, I'm a little jealous of it's popularity.

There are articles on how it can give you softer skin, better hair, remove makeup, and likely 50 other things you can do with it.I decided that being the natural DIY cool girl I wanna be, I should try hopping on this bandwagon.

So when I was at Trader Joe's (yep, workin' on that natural cool girl status) I picked up a jar. If there isn't a TJ's near you, you usually can find coconut oil in any natural foods store, or the natural section of your usual supermarket.

I was surprised to see that it's not a liquid oil at room temperature. It's semi-solid, almost like Vaseline (but natural instead of made with petroleum and chemicals). I LOVE coconut, so the creamy coconut smell was divine to me. No fear for those who don't like the smell of coconut - it's actually pretty light, and doesn't linger.

I started by making a scrub with the coconut oil and raw sugar. I had to fight the temptation to eat it! It felt great. I loved that it was moisturizing but not as greasy as baby oil or other oils. I also found it does a great job to gently remove eye makeup.

Then I read it makes a great conditioning treatment for hair. At first I wasn't interested, as my hair is annoyingly oily instead of dry. I have to wash every.single.day. You don't want to see it if I don't!

Then the Great Curling Iron Incident of 2012 happened last fall. My curling iron malfunctioned and quit managing temperature. It got really hot. Sadly, being the oblivious person I am, I didn't realize this for days until one morning my husband Brandon said, "What did you do? You smell like burned hair."

Just what every girl wants to hear.

I had already burned the ends of my hair. They were broken and frazzled. My stylist confirmed several inches of my hair were damaged, but I wasn't willing to amputate all of it. She trimmed what she could and blended the layers around it so it wasn't as visible, but I still had to deal with the frazzled ends for several months. About 4 haircuts later, it's finally almost gone.

Enter coconut oil. I read several articles online about using it as a hair conditioner. Since the rest of my hair is oily, I tried using it on the ends. I started by applying it to the ends of already wet hair, then shampooing and conditioning as usual.

Unfortunately, that didn't work as planned. Defying the laws of physics, the coconut oil had somehow worked its way up my hair almost to the root, and hadn't completely washed out. After I dried my hair, my hair still felt wet and flat to my head. It was like I hadn't washed my hair in a week! I had dinner plans that night, and had to wash my hair another couple of times to get back to normal. 

The ends of my hair looked great, though! While not completely repaired, they weren't quite as frizzy. Thus, I set out to develop a technique that could condition the ends of my hair without causing an oil spill! I experimented and figured out my own technique that works for me.

With that said, here's the solution that works for me:
  1. Start with dry hair in a ponytail. This helps me keep the coconut oil contained to the ends of my hair.
  2. Apply the oil to the part of the hair sticking out of the ponytail. I used a small spoonful - probably 1/2 to 1 tablespoon. I work it in with my hands.You can wash your hands afterward or leave it on to moisturize them, too.
Okay, it's a little oily during this step.
You also caught me on a good day when my nails were done.
  1. Leave it on anywhere from 5-30 minutes. Obviously the longer you leave it on, the more conditioning you're going to get from it. I usually leave it on about 15 minutes.
  2. Time to wash it out! Leave hair in the ponytail. Start by shampooing only the part of the hair sticking out of the ponytail. Your usual shampoo is fine. Rinse out the shampoo.
  3. Take the ponytail out and shampoo and condition your hair as usual.
  4. Dry and style your hair as usual. Done!
I usually do this Saturday morning after running. This past Saturday, I decided to curl my hair (with my new fancy ceramic curling iron on a lower temperature ;)) after the treatment.

All ready to grab a latte and run errands!
I felt a little silly taking this picture, but was trying to show how it helped the ends of my hair

Then I took a shot outside with my phone, which gave a totally different lighting effect.

If your hair needs a little love but you don't want a ton of weight and oil, I've found this to be a great solution. If you have dry hair, other techniques like using it all over your hair, as a mask, or scalp treatment might work better for you.

Do you use coconut oil as a natural moisturizer or beauty product? Have you used any other natural beauty products? How do you deep condition your hair?

-Amy

*I'm not a licensed cosmetologist or beauty expert of any kind. I'm just a normal girl who experiments with new products and techniques, and I'm writing from my own personal experiences. Your results may be different than mine.

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3 comments :

  1. I have frazzled ends thanks to coloring and crazy roots so I absolutely need to try!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Jennifer! I definitely think coconut oil is worth a try for hair! It may not work the same for everyone, but I personally was happy with the results. It's not very expensive, and can be used for a variety of things! Hope this was helpful!

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  2. If you use every day in pure coconut oil your heir is very soft and smoot Coconut Oil Based in Oxfordshire, Eden of Essence provide pure organic extra virgin coconut oil to a range of wholesalers and health food shops across the UK. Buy online or call 0800 458 2928.

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