I know you’ve all been anxiously waiting to hear the outcome of my coconut oil experiment; and we’ll get to that, but first, let’s take a look back on the road to the finale…
There was that time I followed a random idea that floated through my head and told you guys about it,
Then, I played with my phone, watched television and posted pictures on Facebook:
Finally, I left us with the million dollar question….
“Is my hair wet? Is my hair greasy?”
NOBODY KNEW.
And that about brings us up to speed.
The answer?
I was SO greasy, buddy!
In a bad way. Not in a Pauly Shore way. Which is a GREAT way.
This just didn’t work out great for me. Some weird stuff did happen though, so I’ll share.
I think the idea to try this out popped into my head because my hair has been through a lot lately. I’ve been swimming a lot, and I have the suspicion that my Suave coconut conditioner is not up to the task of taking care of that sun and chlorine damage. My hair was feeling pretty dry and poofy. My hair is never poofy. But, you could gather it up in a ponytail, and it was like a big clump at the end. GROSS.
At first, I was super stoked about the way the oil was feeling, because it seemed like my hair was really sucking it up. I’d add more, and it would be gone. All in all, I probably used a little over a 1/4 cup of oil in my hair. Is that too much? In retrospect, it seems like a lot. I have a lot of hair though, so maybe it isn’t? I massaged the oil into my scalp, and all down the entire length of my hair, being really generous at the ends. After my head felt saturated, I pulled it up into a shower cap, and waited for about an hour and a half.
As soon as I started trying to wash out the oil in the shower, I knew I had made a mistake. It was pretty readily apparent that my cleansing conditioner was going to struggle with removing the oil. And, whoa, struggle it did. After a little while, there didn’t seem to be any more I could do, so I got out, hoping that meant the oil that was left was there because my hair wanted it. NOPE! The oil that was left was there because I couldn’t wash it. There was a lot of it. Everything from my ears down was slick with oil. It was weird though because it didn’t feel heavy, or even really sticky greasy. You could easily run your fingers through my hair, and it was light. It was greasy though; all piecey and slick. It was strange. I’d never really felt and oiliness like that.
Instead of getting back in the shower, I braided my hair into milkmaid braids and pinned them up. I was still optimistic that, in the end, everything would work out. Now it was like I was having a long term moisture treatment on my hair! How luxurious! I left it like that for about a day, and then I tried again to wash it out.
This time, I used shampoo.
Here’s where another weird thing happened! The second the shampoo went onto my hair, everything tangled up! It was fucking bizarre! It felt like my hair completely flipped from a slick, over greasy, stick straight mess to a rough, tangled, tumbleweed mess. Scrubbing was a nightmare, everything pulled and hurt. Conditioner barely helped. It was a disaster!
And don’t even get me started on the death trap that was my shower floor while all this was happening.
I dried my hair and I was unimpressed. My hair was shinier and softer, but not soft or shiny enough to make it worth all the mess. You can get faster results from a regular deep conditioner.
If you still want to try it, go for it. As usual, your results will vary. Tread very carefully if you have thin or fine hair, and maybe don’t do it if you have somewhere to be in the same day.
So, there you have it. More bullshit that doesn’t work as well as I’d hoped!
This is a better story than half the movie plots I’ve seen lately! So sorry it didn’t work out…if you’re looking for cheap and effective, give Aussie 3-Minute Miracle a shot. I’m obsessed now.
I’m going to make this happen for myself next time I get an Ulta coupon!
I applaud you for trying! Thank you for taking one for the team.
You wheezed too much of the juice!
Care to elaborate, Erin? I did the same thing, only when I washed it out, I did use shampoo (sufate free) and my regular conditioner. I needed my regular leave-in spray conditioner, but I agree that after shampoo, it felt strawlike and tangly. Is this what you mean by wheezed to much of the juice? Is there something we are doing wrong? I am trying again, only this time, I put it on my dry hair.
My results were really sucky doing the coconut oil mask. I thought I was giving my hair a treat but now my hair is twice as strawlike as it was before I put the mask in 🙁 I really don’t know what I did wrong… I used about 5 tablespoons of oil because my hair is quite long and thick. I massaged it in my scalp and distributed a lot on the lengths to get them moisturized. I slept with it on and used a lot more shampoo than I usually do to make sure it all got out. It didn’t… Some did but not all. I decided to wait a little until I washed it again. I washed it the same evening and now it felt a lot worse than it did to begin with 🙁 I never let the water hit my hair (with the mask in) before I put shampoo in it because I’ve heard that that can make the oil stick even worse. I distributed a lot of shampoo and massaged it thoroughly… Ugh, why doesn’t this work for me? 🙁 I’ve heard it’s amazing for others!
Awwww, Jenny! I feel like we had the same sucky results. I totally know how you feel, and it’s such a bummer! One thing I’ve REALLY learned doing this site is that sometimes, things just don’t work for me. I think that the voices that have positive results are SO POSITIVE, that they’re really the only results we hear about. That’s kind of why I wrote about how bad it came out for me. Don’t get discouraged, it’s not just you! There’s something out there that will work for you, and you’ll love it, and coconut oil as a hair treatment can get effed!
I tried the overnight coconut oil cap for the first time last night and I loved it! My hair is pretty thick and damaged but I’m trying to grow it out long and don’t want to keep cutting it. It was getting to the point where it was hard to straighten so I thought I’d give the overnight coconut oil treatment a try. Last night before bed I scooped out some of the solid coconut oil and warmed it with my hands to mostly liquid state. Then I put it all over my dry hair. I put my hair in a ponytail, covered it with the cap, and went to bed. When I woke up this morning I shampooed and conditioned as I normally would. I also used a leave in protector spray when I brushed my hair while blow drying and straightening. My hair hasnt been as soft and easy to style as it was today in a long time. I am so glad it worked because I was starting to feel hopeless about my hair. I’m doing it again tonight!
Probably a little late, but here’s how I do it. Start with extra virgin or virgin, unrefined coconut oil, NOT refined. I have pretty thick hair that goes down to my lower back, and I only us maybe one and a half to two tablespoons MAX. A fourth cup is too much. After you put it in your hair, wrap it up and let it sit overnight. In the morning hop in the shower and rinse with very warm water for at least a minute while running your fingers from root to tip to get excess oil out. Next shampoo your hair and roots, still running your fingers from root to tip to prevent tangling. Rinse and do a second shampoo. Then condition with your normal conditioner.
I realize that sounds complicated, but it isn’t, so I will list it out shorter
1.Coat hair with 1.5 tablespoons of coconut oil.
2. Wrap and let sit overnight.
3. Rinse hair for a whole minute.
4. Shampoo and rinse twice.
5. Condition your hair and rinse.
Thank you so much for this!! If I feel brave again, I’ll do it your way! xo
I think you should do it again. Trial and error it takes practice
I don’t know why I only just decided to look this up right now with the oil already in my hair. I used 1/4 cup as well, avoided the scalp, and put it all over my frizzy, ultra thin hair. Leaving it in for 30 minutes, then rising like Kali warned to do. Let’s hope it doesn’t turn out too bad!
Almost exactly a year ago, I tried the coconut oil hair treatment (see above). It didn’t destroy my hair, but it made it worse for the wear, more frizzy than it normally is. I have since switched to an aloe-containing hair products and my hair has never been better! Use more conditioner, my fellow 2A wavy haired friends! You hair NEEDS the moisture! Don’t weigh it down with oils.
Oh my! Hmm, here’s my experience with coconut oil for my hair…
I bleached my hair a few years ago and used to use coconut oil on my hair.
I would wash my hair as normal in the shower, then towel dry my hair after, then rub a tiny amount of coconut oil into my hands then rub it down my hair. When it dried, it was shiny and nice. I would also, only rub it on the ends of my hair not any where near my scalp, to smooth out my dry ends.
I have since grown out the blonde and am back to my natural dark brown. I tried to do this method recently but it just left my ends looking greasy. I think it worked on my bleached hair because it was SO DAMN dry!
Also, when I say I used a tiny amount, I mean miniscule! I would get the bottle, place my palm over the top to seal it, tip it upside down to get the oil onto my hand, tip it back up and wipe the excess oil off. Rub my hands together then rub it down my hair on both sides and maybe do that twice for each side if my hair was really frizzy and dry.
I found leaving olive oil in my hair has worked nicely in the past as a mask. I’ve also seen some “hair masks” you can make using coconut oil, maybe try those instead of straight oil.
Have Fun!
Bel
Thanks for your comment! It’s been so interesting to hear about different techniques and results from other people. I’ll give that teeny dab a shot! xo
I always use coconut before I was my hair and I get great results! But then again, I have super curly hair so my hair needs all the moisture haha!