I don't think my hair likes coconut oil

CurlyGrey3

I tried leaving coconut oil in overnight last night. I didn't worry too much about getting every single strand, but I massaged and worked it around pretty well. I probably only used around a tablespoon. My hair felt great last night (but oily, of course). It felt even better when I woke up - soft, frizz free, nice bouncy waves, but still oily, as expected.

I washed this morning with Deva No poo on my scalp only (I was due for a low poo) and Suave Everlasting Sunshine to emulsify the oil out of my hair. I used my regular rinse out, Suave Coconut as a leave-in, quick super soak, and BRHG as usual. Those are all products I've used multiple times.

My hair is very different from what it's been. I have a lot of surface frizz - I feel like a stuffed animal. My waves are quite limp. The strangest symptom is that I have no gel crunch. BRHG usually dries nice and crunchy and then scrunches out beautifully leaving my hair soft. My hair also seems to be taking longer to dry today.

After reading this:

"Those with very porous hair may find that coconut oil penetrates too much into the interior of the hair, which can cause its own set of problems such as frizz, greasiness, and limp hair."
Mineral Oil Versus Coconut Oil: Which is better?

Although I haven't gotten my hair analysis back yet, I suspect this is what happened to me. I don't understand why it didn't show up until after I washed, though, so I'm not sure how to interpret this.

I think it's greasy and that kept the gel from setting up. It's not dry yet, so I can't really tell.

So, how do I fix it? I'm so tempted to just sulfate wash the whole mess out!

curlypearl

Interesting, CurlyGrey. When I first started wearing my hair curly I tried coconut oil with results similar to what you describe.

Since then, I've been tempted to try it again, but after reading your post, I don't think I will. My hair is very porous, but I didn't know that when I was just beginning to learn about curly hair. My hair doesn't seem to like any oils so far.

I am using sulfate shampoos once a week. Garnier Fructis has some that seem to be gentle, as far as sulfates go. I dilute them a lot in a little dish before I apply them. I sometimes use lo poo instead but it seems to leave my hair feeling kind of coated. Good luck with your experiments!

CurlyGrey3

Thanks, curlypearl.

My hair finally dried after my lunchtime walk and it's not that bad. I think it still has some oil on the surface and that's weighing it down. I can definitely feel some oil in places. That could certainly have kept the gel from activating and the combination of no gel activation plus the oil+products could have made the frizz.

I had even worse luck with olive oil. I couldn't wash it out at all! I usually mix my coconut oil with conditioner before applying and that works well for me, but I wanted to try overnight and didn't want to wear any kind of cap (just threw a towel over my pillow). I may try coconut oil overnight one more time but rub a bunch of conditioner in my dry hair a half hour before my shower and see if that helps me remove the oil. If I still have bad luck when I think I've removed the surface oil, I'll stop experimenting with it.

I just can't stop experimenting. If I were smart (and patient) I would just do the same thing every day until I get my analysis results.

etos

my hair is very porous too and my hair reacts a little like your hair too. Not the first time, the first time it was great, but last couple of days my hair looks too moisturized. Maybe it's better not to use too much of too often?

anissafersure

I'm having the same problem. My hair became ridiculously greasy, and limp! I'm gonna be washing my hair out today, so I hope all of that grease gets out.

CurlyGrey3

My hair got better and better as the day went on. I think as I touched it, I spread out the residual oil, which smoothed down the frizz. My hair has never gotten less frizzy as the day went on before. It seems less oily now, so I must have lost some oil through some combination of absorption, evaporation, rubbing off, etc.

It's now more like soft waves than anything else. Not bad.

Next time I'll work harder to get the oil out in my wash!

Firefox7275

See how you are after the next conditioner wash, do a light protein treatment if needs be. You will get used to washing out all the excess, it comes with practice. I use a conditioner that lightly 'lathers' (Inecto) which helps me know when I've used enough conditioner and water and have clean hair. I generally use a very lightweight oil free leave in afterwards.

Avocado oil is a 'lighter' alternative to olive oil.

CurlyGrey3

Thanks. By this morning, my hair felt rougher again. I guess even more oil had gone. I don't think I'll need protein. I think if anything I need more moisture.

I'll be sending my hair in for analysis later this week, so I can stop some of the trial and error stuff.

carrielynn

I've tried coconut oil twice with the exact same results - limp, surface frizz, and no crunch with gel. I haven't had an analysis done but I've suspected I'm highly porous for other reasons. I really wanted to like coconut oil since it seems to work well for so many wavies...

CurlyGrey3

My hair is still a little limp and producty feeling today. I may need to stick to shorter times with coconut oil.

curlicious13

I don't use straight up coconut oil except on my scalp. But my products have coconut oil in them & my hair loves the coconut. I can't use coconut oil on my hair either. If I use coconut oil on my hair, I will loose all curl. It will be a mushroom. Lol but for those who are skeptical about using coconut, try getting products with coconut in it. Your hair may do better. Mine did.

curlicious13

What I do to minimize the gel crunch is I use the Shea moisture curl enhancing smoothie on my ends, the curl milk from root to tip, then the Softee olive oil gel. The smoothie & the milk get rid of the gel crunch & keep down frizz.

CurlyGrey3

Does the coconut oil on your scalp make you greasy? How long do you leave it on?

I should probably stick to what worked for me, which was mixing the oil with conditioner and honey.

CurlyGrey3

Do I need to sulfate poo to get rid of this coconut oil straightness? I also have Renpure Argan Oil shampoo in the house and it's got coco betaine way up on the list. Firefox, you suggest protein? I'm still scared of using too much with my coarse hair, but I did buy protein filler and could try adding a few drops to my rinse out.

rbb

my hair is not high porosity, but had to chime in when i read this as my experiences have been similar. (my white hair seems to lose moisture rapidly, so i read both high and normal porosity forums.)
while my hair is normal porosity, that happened to me after olive oil, coconut oil. miniscule amounts. took me days with a low poo to wash it out. never again.
i did try argan oil which my hair liked after i did a low poo, then hated it. and that took me a bit to wash out.
then i tried grapeseed oil (not absorbed into the hair), same as argan -- 1st time was ok, but then a disaster. i've learned my hair does not like any kind of straight oil. i have good luck with butter products -- jane carter nourish & shine and spiral solutions emollience. maybe oils/butters have to do with both porosity and texture combined?? my hair is medium texture.

CurlyGrey3

Thanks, rbb. I guess for some people oil is just better in combination rather than alone. I may have finally gotten rid of it. I washed with Renpure non-sulfate shampoo today and then used a combo of FSG, conditioner, and BRHG. I do have some crunch for the first time in days so I think the oil must be off the surface.