Monday, February 17, 2014

4 Ways to Incorporate Oil Into Your Curly Care Routine (Part 2)

The Oil Rinse

Oh my.  This is my personal favorite.  It is quick and relatively painless and is the perfect solution for squirrelly toddlers. 

I first learned about this method from this post on the Curly Nikki blog.  May God bless Petra Lomax and Curly Nikki forever and ever for this post.  What oil rinsing has done for us is all that is mentioned in that blog, which amounts to;
-         -  Reducing frizz (drastically!)
-         -  Improved moisture retention (for days!)
-         -  Much easier detangling (like cuts time down by more than half!)
-         -  Healthier wash and go’s.
-         -  More shine without greasiness.
-          - Reduction of single strand knots by as much as 75 to 90% - I kid you not, even on free, unprotected hair.
-         - Cuts down styling time post-conditioning.
-          - Much improved second and third day hair.
-        - Growth/ length retention.

The only disadvantage is the oil slick in your bathtub or shower, so do be careful.  Depending on how sensitive your toddler’s skin is to oils, you may have to rinse off his or her whole body or parts of their body with soap and clean water separately after the process.  I have to do this for Jubi’s back and chest but her legs and arms love the extra moisturization.

To perform an oil rinse all you have to do is add your preferred oil to the hair between the shampooing and conditioning step.  You can either then rinse out some of it with hot/warm water or just add the conditioner on top of that and rinse out as much or as little of that combo as you want after detangling.

Sealing with Oil

This is an important step that is often missed.  Curly hair loves water.  The problem is keeping the water in.  Here is where oil comes in.  You probably already know that the less frequently you wash your hair, when you are a curly, especially for tighter curls and coils, the better.  In between washes, your child’s ends can really take a beating, leading to frizz and breakage.  Try to at least coat the ends of the hair with oil daily.  Even protective styles sometimes need a brush with a light oil. 

For some of us, oil sealing works best over water or water based products, and under a heavier cream or light styling gel.  Experiment with whether your child has oil on top  or oil in between hair.  It is the only way you can know for sure.  The difference between one or the other will be immediately obvious to you.


The next blog will focus on the different types of oils and figuring out which work best for your hair type and where to get well-priced, bulk, organic oils.

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