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Tuesday, February 07, 2023

***Experiment*** 'Washing' My Hair With Oil

 Okay, before I start this, let me admit that I think the idea of "washing" your hair with oil sounds a bit weird. However, I will try almost anything once if it might help soften, moisturize, and add sheen to my dull-looking hair. Let's just get right into it.

I did the oil wash - massaging in the oil/shampoo mixture for about 5 minutes while in the shower. I made sure to work on the scalp, roots, and ends of my hair. (I did forget to warm the oil as some folks suggest doing. Oh well...)

This is what I used for the oil wash:


No matter how I tried mixing these, they separated - of course?  (~sigh~ Yes, I do know better, I just brain-slipped!)  I ended up pouring the oil into a separate cup &  putting the oil in my hair first, then the shampoo. 

nope, nope, nope

just bubbled a bit...

This is my dirty hair prior to the oil-washing (you can see why I wanted to try this washing method!):

Time for a dye job.

This is my towel-dried hair afterward - with no other products added:



These are the products I used after the towel-drying:



This is my hair after all the products except for the VERB Ghost Oil:

This is my hair after the Ghost Oil. (I wanted to wait until my hair was bone dry before trying the Ghost Oil. I've tried it before on wet hair & it just... ghosted my hair! LOL!)

By the way, the VERB Ghost Oil did not do much for my hair in the way of shine but, oh baby, did it pump up the softness! All the softness from washing with oil was gone the minute my hair was totally dry. (I've told you all before how easily my hair dries out.) I applied the VERB ghost oil (the serum/liquid version, not the dry), once my hair dried out after the shower and... the stuff is amazing for softening 4C hair. I'm still not sure if it's amazing enough to pay 10 bucks an ounce for but, if you've got the dollars, I'd say go for it. It's so good that I might have to admit that it is worth 10 bucks an ounce.

My thoughts on oil-washing?

  • It was not as messy as I feared. Maybe because I used sunflower oil? I didn't feel like I had a coating of oil on my hair while I was "washing" it.
  • The good: I didn't see a big difference after oil washing but my hair did feel much softer than it normally does. The bad: The softness only lasted until my hair was completely dry.
  • Oil washing is not something I'd want to do on a regular basis but more like a special conditioning treatment. I'm sure it did more for my scalp than it did for my hair.
  • I worried that the oil might have repelled some of my after-care products. I'm not sure though.
  • I might do a sort of warm-oil treatment by soaking my wet hair with oil and a conditioner and wearing a heat cap for 10 minutes. I've never been a fan of hot-oil treatments. Maybe I should become one.
  • And, finally, I'm realizing that my hair color is the problem. I have dark brown hair that is dusty/sandy tending-toward-auburn (hashtag: just like my mama!). And because - unlike my mom who had naturally red and straight hair, as some black folks do - my hair is not only this color but also very kinky-coily. I don't think the light reflects the same way on my hair.
Anyway. That is how my test of oil-washing my hair went. It's not worth the trouble. I need my sunflower oil for cooking!

Peace
--Free