In my recent post on protecting the hair while swimming, nzinga left this comment:
this blog entry is right on time! Thanks. I’m going to the D.R next month and was wondering what I’m going to do with my hair! However, what is an oil rinse? do you just pour oil on your hair and then rinse it out?
Oil rinsing is essentially washing your hair with oil before applying your conditioner. I have found that occasionally oil rinsing allows my hair to dentangle easier and it also softens it up. To oil rinse, simply do the following:
1. Wash or Rinse hair
2. Apply oil of choice from root to tip.
3. Rinse hair.
4. Apply conditioner and continue as you normally would.
My favorite oil to use for oil rinses is olive oil. It’s nice and thick and goes on easy. It’s way too heavy for me to use on my hair after washing, but perfect for my oil rinses. You can use any oil you like, though.
Here are two threads that have more information on oil rinsing. I think the LHCF thread was where I learned about it.
Don’t sleep on oil rinses- LHCF
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i heart oil rinsing. it does soften the hair and make it feel really silky upon rinsing. i rarely have to use a moisturizer after oil rinsing. i find that pre-pooing with oil gives better definition than oil rinsing, but since i don’t wear my hair out it’s not that big of a deal.
Thanks! I will definitley try this!
I’ve been keeping my hair oiled (not necessarily rinsing it out) for most of this month, and even though I didn’t think oils worked in my hair before, I find that now it seems to be doing my hair some good. I just apply an oil/water mix throughout my hair in sections, comb/detangle, and either air dry or style into a bun/pony/what-have-you.
When I cowash my hair is much softer and hangs on to the moisture longer.
Hey there Ms Newly Natural
I’ve tried it!
Me likey!
I use my Virgin Coconut Castor Hair Oil to oil rinse.
Cheers for the great post.. my napptural hair loves you for it!
All the best
Anita
Thanks for visiting Anita!!
Is this method the same concept as a hot oil treatment? If not, what’s the difference?
Just A Girl, you don’t have to apply heat for an oil rinse. Also I think some people do hot oil treatments before shampooing or as the last thing they do to their hair before styling.
I need to know how often should the oil rinse be done or pre poo. Also, wouldn’t this create a lot of build up on the hair.
Would co washes create a lot a build up on the hair. And how often should one co wash?
darkborwnquit, this has never caused me an unusual amount of buildup. You should just do it as often as your hair needs it, some people may need it less than others. I usually do mine before each DC.
Cowashes can create buildup, especially if you’re using certain ingredients (in my experience). Again, how often you cowash is on an individual basis. People who have TWAs can often cowash everyday.
i have gotten SO MUCH information from this site! I love it. i am going to try oil rinsing.
I am a transitioner (4 months with no relaxer!) and I am on this site everyday getting tips! Thanks everyone for the info!
I am so happy to have found this site. It is as if a new world has opened to me. I have been natural for about 5 years now and found that I was making some mistakes as my hair grew a lot and then became very dry and shedded like crazy. I am now following some of the regimen and products on this site and am very pleased as I no longer feel like I have to hide my hair as it has come to life. I remember growing up as my mother taught me how to do hair as she had learned, pin curls, paperbag curls, bantu, twists and waves. The use of natural and home product, but during the perm era I truly had forgotten how to nurture my hair. I just want to thank you this site. My twist are the strangest but cutest as they sort of stand straight and spike a bit and people refer to the style as a sexy wild look. I hope to be able to share a picture in hopes someone can tell if this is how it is suppose to look. Again my gratitude to all contributors to this site.
Sorry I put this initially in the wrong place so sorry if this a dupl.
After reading about this on your site about three months ago I started doing this. It was great my hair was suffering from dryness and this seemed like the perfect remedy. At the time I was using EVOO (I know use Coconut oil), which I used primarily directly on my hair after my co wash. I had to stop because I began to break out on my forhead. I never had a problem with acne as a teen and now that I am hitting 40 I have bumps all over my forehead. I stopped after a month but i am still dealing with the acne. Dryness averted though with my discovery of the coconut oil. I do not do the oil rinses though.
I can’t believe I’m just now getting curious about this oil rinse thing… I had heard about it but didn’t think it was any different from a hot oil treatment? I have a deep conditioner in my hair right now? I wonder if I will reverse the affects of that, if I try to do an oil rinse and then add more conditioner afterwards. I really want to see if there is a difference in how my hair feels. And since I just did an herbal treatment, I could use the additional softness.
I do mine a little differently. After putting the oil in my hair, i put the conditioner on top of that, put on a plastic cap for about 15 minutes and then rinse.
Hi, what is the difference between and oil rinse and oil pre-poo. Which one works better?
ChiChi–prepoo is done before shampooing your hair. It decrease the amount of dryness that results from shampooing and some people say they experience softer hair. Oil rinse is done after you shampoo but before you condition. Which one works better depends on the person. I personally prefer to oil rinse.
This is some good info!! i will be trying this today.