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Q&A: Will Oils Prevent Moisture From Penetrating The Hair?

Question

Ayesha asks: I just wanted to ask, when we talk about oils and other natural stuff coating our hair, does it mean it forms a layer on the hair, preventing the penetration of water to the hair shaft when you have a shower and wash your hair?

Answer

Hi Ayesha,

Not necessarily. Oils do form a coating around your hair strand which slows down evaporation of moisture off of your hair, but it will not prevent moisture from getting in.

If you oil dry hair and then mist it with water it will still absorb it and puff up. So in this respect it will not stop moisture from getting in, but your hair will not absorb as much water as quickly with oil on, as it would if your hair had no product on. So it will take more water to reach maximum saturation.

This of course depends on the type of product you are using. Natural Oils create what i consider to be breathable layers, which means that they will not clog the hair’s cuticles or the scalp’s pores. Other products however, may very well hinder moisture absorption such as mineral oil and silicones. Silicones may not suffocate the hair as much as mineral oil but if over used it can create an impermeable barrier which will leave your hair dry, dull and lifeless. Click HERE for my post on the dangers of mineral oil.

Washing your hair with oil already applied still allows the moisture to get in, keeps the hair soft and prevents it from being overly dry afterwards. That is why so many people use oils as a pre wash treatment to soften and ‘protect’ the strands during shampooing session.

Using a gentle shampoo will not strip all the oils off your hair and thus allows it to still be soft and moisturised. Using a harsher shampoo containing sulphates or coco betaine will remove or strip off most, if not all of the oils on the hair.

Co-washes will not remove all product build up such as silicones and heavy butters but still offers a mild cleansing experience.

So… in summery

Oils don’t stop moisture from getting in. Other products such as mineral oil and silicones may prevent moisture from entering if allowed to build-up and washing your hair with oils already on your hair will not stop the water from penetrating the shaft. Oils used as pre wash treatments can help protect hair from drying out whilst washing. Using sulphate and coco betaine shampoos will remove all product build-up whilst co-washing and gentler shampoos will not strip all the natural oils off the hair, maintaining softness.

Check out The Natural Havens post on Oils to gain a better understanding of how they function on hair.

Take care.

Technorati Tags: Oils,Hair penetration prevention,co-washing,Shampoo,silicones build-up on hair,Mineral Oil on hair

1 Comment

Posted by mercz on November 21, 2010 in Oils, Q&A, Will Oils Prevent Moisture From Penetrating the Hair?

Tags: co-wash, Mineral Oil, Moisturising, Oils, Shampoo, Silicones

Co-Washing & The Quick-Drying Method

26 Oct

This week is week 4 of my new regime which called for co-washing and deep conditioning (DC). On Saturday night i took down my twists which i’ve kept for the week but i didn’t pre-poo as i was going to co-wash the following day and it doesn’t really call for the extra treatment.

On Sunday i washed and detangled my hair with Liz Earle Botanical Shine Conditioner for Dry hair and deep conditioned with my mix of Jason’s 84% Aloe Vera Conditioner mixed with honey and olive oil.

I must say that my hair greatly loves co-washing. It makes my hair feel incredibly soft. All the conditioning without the overly cleansing stripping shampoo is just what my hair needs this winter. More Please!

Quick-Drying Method

A little while ago i came across a video of a woman named curlychronicles on YouTube and she talked about this method she uses to air-dry her hair within a few hours. It intrigued me because my hair takes about a day to dry overall after i wash it. If i wash today and cornrow it for air-drying, the following morning it’s still slightly damp which can be rather annoying.

The quick-drying video can be found here.

So after i co-washed and DC’d in my usual four twisted sections i towel dried my hair and then took down one section, towel dried again and then divided and re-twisted the section into two or three twists depending on the size of the section. I did this without applying any product to my hair. I had already detangled in the shower so it parted easily.

Twists from washing

Twists from washing – side

My hair after towel drying and re-twisting in slightly smaller sections allowing it to dry faster

My Quick dry twists from the side

After about an hour and a half i carefully undone the twists and continued to let it dry for another hour or so.

Here’s what it looks like from the side

After the hour or so drying time my hair was practically dry. Just slightly damp at the root.

Dry hair from the side.

I have super shrinky hair as you can see from the last two photos. From looking at these you would never believe my hair was past my shoulders. Here’s a pic to prove it. lol.

Nearly APL (arm pit length)

After my hair was dry i then preceded to section it for my weekly twists. I parted my hair with a tail comb, applied my leave-in conditioner and shea butter mix and twisted it into my smaller (but still rather chunky) twists.

My finished twists

From the side.

All in all i think the quick drying method really works. and it’s not too much extra effort. It took my hair a little longer than curlychronicles to dry, about 2 1/2 – 3 hours, but i loved the fact that my hair was fully dry when i finished with it. Normally i twist my hair straight after washing so my hair is still wet when done. But twisting on dry hair allowed for a neater finish, i believe. So i’m definitely going to continue with this if i have the time.

A Quick Note

A quick note on my leave-in conditioner. I haven’t used it before on dry hair. I only use it straight after washing, before air-drying, so i was interested to see how it would perform on dry hair. OUTSTANDING (if i do say so myself, lol). After drying my hair with no product, my hair felt quite crispy dry. But after applying my leave-in it became so soft again. It worked really well. So i’m very pleased with it.

Technorati Tags: co-washing,quick-drying method,my natural twists

2 Comments

Posted by mercz on October 26, 2010 in Co-Wash, Hair Care, Pictures Of My Hair, Quick-Drying Method

Tags: co-wash, My Natural Twists, Quick-drying Method

Curl Harmony Review Week 3 – Mid-Week Co-Wash

23 Jun

So today i went to play badminton with my brother and his wife. It was so much fun, but now i am achy all over and can barely stand up to walk. At first i wasn’t going to bother co-washing but i did sweat a lot and i was excited to try out my new and improved leave-in conditioner.

So i co-washed with the Hydrating Conditioner in my usual sections and detangled with a wide tooth comb only. I didn’t scrimp at all with it. I wanted it to saturate my coils and make detangling a breeze. Which it did. The comb slid through my hair, easily annihilating any tangles. I must say, i think it’s won me over this week. I said i liked the Cleansing Conditioner better, but after that performance it’s probably edged into the lead. I also did a final rinse of the left over tea from making the leave-in conditioner. Once i had finished detangling, i rinsed off the remaining conditioner from my four twisted sections and then poured the tea slowly over my head. There wasn’t a lot of it left, about a cup. I squeezed it through my twists. I towel dried and then section by section added in my leave-in conditioner and Shea Butter mix.

I must say i am SUPER PLEASED with the results from my leave-in. The consistency was lovely and thick and it wasn’t too slippery. With my last one it was so slippery and sticky i had a hard time spreading the Shea Butter over it. It was just sliding off. This time as i smoothed it on one untwisted section i noticed my hair became so soft. Mmmmmmm. I applied some Shea Butter Mix to the section and it smoothed on easily. Double Mmmmmmm. It made my hair feel silky, soft and well conditioned. I braided the section and moved on to the others.

I keep touching my ends now that it’s dry to see how it feels. It feels super soft. Triple Mmmmmmm. This one is definitely a keeper. Now all i have to do is keep my Ingredient supply topped up regularly and i can have leave-in conditioner whenever i need it. GREAT!

Technorati Tags: Co-Wash,Leave-in Conditioner Recipe,Curl Harmony

Length Check & Trim

17 Jun

I’ve finally succumbed to doing another length check. It’s been six months since i did my very first length check and i’ve had to re-convince myself to blow-dry my hair again. Last time it was a horrific ordeal, i struggled to get the blow-dryer through my hair because the hot air from the dryer sucked all the life out my delicate strands, leaving it crispy and dry. Not Good.

There is more to the story than just blow-drying issues. In all honesty i have felt a lot of pressure, not from anyone at all, but because i write blogs about natural hair. Everything i do points to having healthy long hair and so i’ve kind of put off doing another length check. My fears of my hair not growing and nullifying everything i have been promoting is quite strong for me so i just didn’t do it.

However, the other day i was taking a look at my hair and i was quite fed up of it. Don’t get me wrong, i LOVE my hair. But it just didn’t look as healthy and full. The ends of my hair were damaged, thin and straggly looking. I didn’t think it looked nice. Since starting my hair journey to healthier longer hair in October 09 my roots have grown immensely thick and are putting the ends of my hair to SHAME.

Even though i’ve been natural for over 5 years i really didn’t know how to care for my hair. I neglected it badly, just leaving it in braids most of the time. Not properly moisturising, conditioning and caring for my hair as i should have been. I blow-dried my hair after every wash.

So even though for the last 8 months i’ve been taking great care of my hair it doesn’t negate the 5 years of mistreatment. My ends are a lot weaker and prone to damage then my new growth. That’s a fact. So all i could do was trim off the damaged ends.

After all, it’s better to have shorter healthier looking hair then to to have long straggly damaged ends (i’m convincing myself).

So yesterday i began by co-washing my hair with the Curl Harmony Hydrating Conditioner. I used plenty this time as i wanted to compare it to the cleansing conditioner. It went on easily and detangled my hair well. I’m still not sure whether i prefer it over the cleansing conditioner but it is still good for my 4b/a hair.

Once fully detangled, i retwisted the sections and rinsed out the remaining conditioner. I towel dried and starting with one section, i un-twisted and applied some A’Kin 24 hour Intensive Moisture Leave-in conditioner. I then parted the section in two and blow-dried it on a low, gentle heat. Once it was nearly dry i smoothed on some of my Shea Butter mix and finished blow-drying it, again on a gentle heat. Once dry i twisted the section. I repeated this for the other part of the section and for the rest of my hair. It wasn’t a nightmare like it was the last time. In fact it went rather well. Even so, i still hated the fact that i was blow-drying it. I could feel my hair ripping and breaking all the time and i just thought, ‘MY HAIR’. I’m sorry to do this to you. I can’t believe i used to do this after every wash, no wander my ends are not coping well! I will leave the length checking to every 6 months if i have to as i am certainly not going to apply any heat to my hair earlier than that given period of time. I just can’t afford to damage my hair.

I left it in the twists, covered it and went down to see my sister at the salon. She is a hairdresser, now specialising in caring for natural hair using natural products. She trimmed off all the straggly damaged ends. It was a lot (to me) and it has set me back nearly 2 inches in reaching my hair goal but it was so necessary. My hair now looks healthy from root to tip and i’m satisfied.

Ranting Over! Here are the pictures. lol

Excuse the face, lol. As you can see my hair comfortably sits at the top of my shoulder blade.

Side View, Sorry about the dark Picture. Just trying to show the full length of the back.

Fully stretched, blow-dried hair. Nearly Bra Strap Length (BSL).

Fully twisted.

My gorgeous sister. An excellent hairdresser. The best i know of. She is the only other person (besides myself) that i let ‘touch’ my hair.

Before the trim. Just took out the twists. If you look closely, you can see the straggly, thin ends i’m talking about.

After the trim. Comfortably sits just below the shoulder. (my poor, poor hair) it’s all gone. lol

Here’s a comparison of my hair from Dec 09 to now, June 10

Dec 09

June 10

As you can see it grew several inches. I also had a trim after i took the pictures in Dec so that’s why the growth seems minimal (less than two inches) but really it has grown about 3 inches (half an inch per month, which is about right). I showed you before the trim so you can see how much my hair actually grew.

I’m so glad that’s over. Until the next length check.

Technorati Tags: blow-dry,co-wash,Length Check,Trimming

Onion Juice Treatment & Curl Harmony – Week 2

14 Jun

This week i tweaked the onion juice treatment slightly. I also took some pictures of what i did as i said i would in my previous post.

The Onion i used

I juiced the onion in my Champion Juicer

Then strained it through a muslin cloth to get rid of any little bits

Here is the resulting juice

Next i added in some bentonite clay

And whisked it in until smooth. I used 2 teaspoons in all, adding it in 1/2 a teaspoon at a time.

The pH of the mix was between 6.5 and 7. This is considered acceptable for hair and scalp usage as it’s the same pH as water… But i wanted to bring the pH a little closer the scalps pH which is between 4.5 –5.5

So i decided to add in some ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar). Just a 1/4 teaspoon. That brought the pH right down to between 5 and 5.5. The darkness of the bentonite clay made it hard to read it properly but it was definitely in that range.

HELLO! lol. This is what it looked like once i had applied it to my scalp and hairline.

I then put a plastic bag over my head (Waitrose this time. ha) and left it on for about 30 – 45 mins

Curl Harmony Review

I used the Curl Harmony Cleansing Cream to wash my hair. I started by rinsing my hair thoroughly and then took down one of the sectioned twists. I let the water run through it some more before applying a liberal amount of the cleansing cream to the section. I rubbed my scalp well and massaged it into the ends and rinsed it out. I then applied some more of the Cleansing Conditioner and detangled, first with a wide tooth comb and then with my modified Denman brush. It detangled really well. I was very impressed. I think i like it more than the Hydrating Conditioner. But maybe that’s because i didn’t use enough of it last time. Because of the onion treatment i wasn’t scrimping with the Conditioner as i wanted to rid the smell as much as possible

Shed hair from detangling. I lost a little down the drain but this is most of it.

I hope you can see. I wanted to show you how much Cleansing Conditioner i used. I could make it last another 3 washes i think.

After detangling i retwisted the section, still with the conditioner in and repeated the process for the remaining 3 sections. Once i had finished detangling i rinsed my whole head with the twists in to remove the remaining conditioner. I towel dried and then DC’d with the…

Intensive Repair Deep Conditioner

I took 2 heaped teaspoonfuls of the conditioner and mixed it into some honey and olive oil.

Here’s what it looks like mixed together. Still super thick and creamy. Lovely.

I applied it to my hair in sections. Taking down the twist apply the DC and re-twisting. Here’s what it looked like. If you look closely i haven’t applied it to the roots. I didn’t want to coat my scalp with it. I didn’t want any conditioner residue left on my scalp.

I covered my hair with another plastic bag (Tesco’s. ha) and left it on for about 30 mins. I rinsed my hair well under cool water without taking down the twists and towel dried.

My leave-in conditioner and Shea Butter Mix. This will be the first time i’m using it since i made it last week.

Working a section at a time i took down the twist and applied some of the leave-in conditioner and Shea Butter mix and sectioned my hair to ‘butter’ my scalp rubbing that in well. I then cornrowed the section and moved onto the next. My leave-in conditioner is really slippery. I like it. The consistency needs to be adjusted a little to be slightly creamier and thicker in texture. Other than that i’m really pleased.

A section of my hair after applying the products. It’s super shrinky. Look at the difference between the length of the braided section and the loose section.

Cornrowed hair, ready to air-dry.

Take Care.

Technorati Tags: Onion Juice,Bentonite Clay,Curl Harmony,Co-Wash,Deep Condition

Nadia's Notes

Tag Archives: co-wash

Q&A: Will Oils Prevent Moisture From Penetrating The Hair?

Co-Washing & The Quick-Drying Method

Curl Harmony Review Week 3 – Mid-Week Co-Wash

Length Check & Trim

Onion Juice Treatment & Curl Harmony – Week 2

Curl Harmony Review

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