Coconut Oil & Your Hair
As we all know, coconut oil has become a household staple over the last few years. As people look for more natural, home remedies to add to their beauty regimes, a lot of misinformation and non-sensical information has been attributed to essential oils, coconut oils, and more. In honor of World Coconut Day, I am here to sort through some myths and
spill the tea on the actual benefits of utilizing coconut oil for hair health and maintenance from my personal and professional experience as a licensed cosmetologist.
1. Coconut oil makes your hair grow.
Regardless of what your mom, cousin, sister, neighbor, whomever swears by, your hair growth cycle is first, and foremost, impacted by your genetics. There is not a single product, vitamin, elixir, or potion that will make your hair grow or grow faster. The hair growth cycle has three phases and at any given time each follicle is going through one of the phases of said cycle.
That being said... the vitamins and fatty acids in coconut oil help make your hair growth more effective. These beneficial ingredients help to strengthen and hydrate the hair, thus making your hair less prone to breakage and damage during its growth cycle. As a result you will have a more efficient growth cycle, making it appear that your hair has "grown faster."
2. Use coconut oil before a color service to prevent damage.
While there is supportive information to this tip, and I've seen many stylists online swear by this step, I find it to be an unnecessary one. Many people will overdue it when they use coconut oil as a preventative measure for damage, which makes placing foils much more difficult for your stylist, as they can slip more or the hair sticks together and sections may not be taken out properly.
If you choose to do this step, shampoo your hair the day before, melt some coconut oil and apply it from mids to ends of the hair. Leave your roots alone. The root/regrowth area is the healthiest section of your hair, as it's the newest. Your ends take the most abuse, so they need the protection. This step is also only necessary if you're lightening your hair with bleach. An alternative is to ask your stylist about adding a bonder to your formula (Olaplex, B3, etc.) For an additional fee, bonders help prevent damage during the lightening process, can be added into your bleach, and doesn't impact the process or add any extra time into your service.
3. Coconut oil fixes split ends.
Much like a conditioner, detangler, or serum from a hair care brand, these products do not fix your split ends. The only solution to split ends is a haircut, sorry, not sorry. What many of the items listed before, including coconut oil will do is remedy the problem. They simply smooth the cuticle, which reduces frizz and the disheveled appearance of said split end.
4. Coconut oil kills lice.
While coconut oil is a great lice removal tool, there is little evidence that it actually kills head lice and it is even less effective on their nits. Without killing the nits you're not exactly solving the problem. Utilizing Tea Tree, Coconut oil and ACV is a great, natural combination to rid you and your family of those pesky parasites.
5. Coconut oil prevents balding.
This rings back to our first point. Coconut oil, while full of heathy vitamins and fatty acids that can strengthen the hair, has never been proven to stop any balding or hair loss.
Now that we've gone over some of the top misinformation factors pertaining to coconut oil, I would love to share some of my favorite haircare products that incorporate coconut oil in their ingredients.
Rich Kid by IGK ($29)
Air dry cream perfect for air dry styling or creating wet-look waves due to its moisture trapping ingredients.
Ouai Scalp & Body Scrub ($38)
Nourishes and hydrates skin and scalp.
Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Conditioner by Bumble & Bumble ($34)
This moisturizing conditioner is perfect to smooth and hydrate coarse hair, dry or brittle hair. I highly recommend this product for home maintenance after lightening and color correcting services that can cause wear and tear on your ends.
SUPERCREAM Coconut Curl Styler by Devacurl ($28)
*DISCLAIMER: I am aware of the concerns and lawsuits with Devacurl, but in my personal and professional experience, I've never had any issues with their products.
This is one of my favorite curl creams because it hydrates and forms frizz free curls without leaving the hair crunchy.
Coco Natural Conditioning Spray by AG ($26)
This one is for all of my granola mama's out there. It's a natural, cruelty-free detangler that doubles as a thermal protectant. I'm not personally a natural product junkie, but this is one that I thoroughly enjoy!
Grooming Cream by American Crew ($18)
Here's one for my fella's. Probably my all time favorite product from Crew because it's easy to use, gives a nice finish, and moisturizes the hair while still holding the style. This should be a staple in male grooming.