How to Oil Curly or Wavy Hair!

 Contrary to popular belief, oil does not actually moisturize the hair, water does. An oil seals in the moisture, which is what moisturizes the hair. Oils can be used as pre-shampoo treatments or over leave in conditioners (or regular conditioner used as a leave in) to seal in the moisture in the hair. They can also be added to regular conditioner to make a deep conditioning treatment. Some people use the oil only directly applied to the hair as a deep conditioning treatment. A deep conditioning oil treatment and a pre-shampoo oil treatment are the same process, but the reason for doing the treatment may be different. Any time you are deep conditioning, adding heat will always increase the treatment's ability to work better. If oiling only, you can oil even overnight or all day with no issues. However, if deep conditioning using conditioner; I recommend no more than an hour to avoid hydral fatigue. The minimum for deep condition to get a decent effect is about 15 to 30 minutes. Tips for deep conditioning are using a beanie cap over a shower cap, a hooded dryer, or a towel thrown in the dryer so it gets hot and then wrapping the hair up in it like a turban. Pre-shampoo (pre-wash or pre-poo) treatments are excellent if you need to clarify your hair from build up, shea butter, or hard water that can cause limp curls, flakes or itchy scalp; but you don't to want to end up with dried out frizzy hair. Also, pre-wash treatments can help with protein loss. The oils trap the proteins in your hair, so you don't lose them after washing. 

When looking at ingredients in your conditioners and stylers be aware of the properties and heaviness of these oils. It can help you pick the correct product for your hair type or the correct oil for the time of year when doing the LOC or the LOCG method. Oils that are added over a leave in or included in a leave in conditioner help soften the crunch in a hair gel. If you are having trouble with crunchy hair from gel, try a little oil or a leave in containing oil. Start with just a few drops or less, depending on your hair thickness, of a light oil. You can use a light oil to SOTC as well. Listed below are oils that are locally found in your grocery store in the cooking oil aisle or at your health food store. 

Penetrating Oils

These oils soak into the hair. They are usually better for deep conditioning or pre-shampoo treatments because the oils sink down into the hair and remain in the hair after the hair has been washed, locking the moisture into the hair. They are best for pre-shampoo treatments because they penetrate into the hair and decrease water's ability to enter the hair during the washing process, which causes the hair to swell and over time can cause hydral fatigue. Hygral fatigue is usually a direct result of high porosity in hair. It is the weakening of hair caused by the strands swelling during the uptake of water and contracting when the water is lost. The swelling and contracting of the strands weakens them substantially and increases the likelihood of breakage. Penetrating oils seal moisture the hair on the inside. Some oils have both sealing and penetrating properties. Some have more penetrating properties and less sealing or vice versa. 

Deep Penetrating Oils

• Coconut Oil - medium weight oil (Penetrates and seals, the only oil that truly penetrates deep inside the hair shaft, acts as a protein and prevents protein loss, helps with breakage and is great for length retention, may be heavy for fine wavies, make not work for protein sensitive hair types)
• Sunflower Oil - very light oil (Penetrates, but not as deeply as coconut oil, excellent for adding shine)

Mostly Penetrating Oils (heaviest to lightest)

• Olive Oil - heavy oil
• Avocado Oil -heavy oil 
• Canola Oil - medium weight oil (can be very oily)
• Sweet Almond Oil - light oil

Make a DIY deep conditioner with any of these oils, honey and your favorite conditioner! Try adding a teaspoon or less, depending on your hair thickness, to start. Mix the oil and honey into your conditioner.

Sealing Oils

These oils do not penetrate and coat the outer layer of the hair. They seal and lock in the moisture that is already in the hair. They form a film on the exterior of the hair and seal it, whereas penetrating oils sink down into the hair. They add shine, lubrication (so the hair is more easy to manipulate), and increase softness. 

• Jojoba Oil - light oil (Plant wax that is very similar to our own hair sebum, adds shine)

Mostly Sealing Oils (heaviest to lightest) (These penetrate somewhat)

• Castor Oil - very heavy oil (great heavy sealer, provides great shine, great for hot oil scalp massage treatments, stimulates hair growth and hair strength at the follicle, but not able to remove with conditioner only methods, must use low poo or must be a PEG-Castor which is water soluble)
• Shea Butter - heavy oil ( butter is just an oil in solid form, great sealer especially on porous types, may build up in the hair and need occasional low poo to remove, too heavy on many fine, wavy or low porosity types and can weigh the hair down and make it look greasy)
• Grapeseed oil - light oil (can get oily if using too much, penetrates somewhat, so good for some low porosity types to pre-poo or deep condition)
• Safflower oil - light oil (light shiner)

Penetrating and Sealing Oil

• Argan Oil - very light (adds shine to the hair, but also can deeply moisturize)

You must experiment with all these oils to see what works best on your hair type. You can use either a penetrating or sealing oil as the O step in the LOC or LOCG styling method. If you have low porosity hair, try the LCO or the LCOG method with a light oil, so you don't seal out the moisturizing properties in the cream. For porous types, LOC works because it traps in the moisture as soon as possible and layers the cream over it. It is really is all trial and error, but these are some good experienced guesses based on my hair type (2c/3a, porous and coarse) and research. 

Suggestions Based on Hair Type:

Low Porosity and/or Fine Hair

• Coconut oil pre-poo, if too heavy, try sunflower or grapeseed oil 
• DIY deep conditioner  -
•  Sunflower oil, honey and conditioner
• Oil to seal (your leave in conditioner)
• Argan (lighter)
• Joboba (light)
• Grapeseed (light-medium, heavy on some wavies)

Medium Hair 

• Coconut oil pre-poo, if protein sensitive, try olive oil
• DIY deep conditioner  
• Olive oil, honey, and conditioner
• Any penetrating oil, honey, and conditioner
• Oil to seal (your leave in conditioner)
• Argan (lighter)
• Joboba (light)
• Grapeseed (light-medium, heavy on some wavies)
• Sweet almond oil (medium-light)
• Coconut Oil (medium, heavy on many wavies, good in the winter to penetrate and seal, good for curlier or coarser wavies, light for high density/coarser types)

High Porosity and/or Coarse/Thick Hair

• Coconut oil pre-poo, if protein sensitive, try olive oil
• DIY deep conditioner  
• Olive oil, honey, and conditioner
• Any heavy penetrating oil, honey, and conditioner
• Oil to seal (your leave in conditioner)
• Argan (lightest)
• Sunflower (lighter)
• Joboba (lighter)
• Grapeseed (light)
• Sweet almond oil (light)
• Coconut Oil (medium, heavy on some finer types, good in the winter to penetrate and seal, good for curlier or coarser wavies, light for high density/coarser types, does not work well for protein senstive types)
• Shea Butter (medium-heavy, great sealer, heavy on some, seals out the humidity, I don't seal with it, but it acts as a sealer in my stylers and conditioners)
• Castor Oil (very very heavy, awesome sealer, can get oily or heavy, good for porous hair or winter, too heavy for me, I don't seal with it, but it is great in lower amounts in my stylers when I need extra moisture)
• Olive Oil (very heavy, only for higher density very coarse hair, too heavy for me, I don't seal with it, but it is fine in my conditioners or stylers when I need extra moisture)

http://www.blackhairinformation.com/growth/deep-conditioning/porosity-and-hygral-fatigue-two-problems-one-solution/

http://www.curlynikki.com/2015/05/is-your-favorite-oil-moisturizer-or.html

http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/oils-which-ones-soak-in-vs-coat-hair.html

http://www.hairboutique.com/tips/tip000453.htm

Porosity- Learn What Your Hair Wants

Porosity- Learn What Your Hair Wants

Knowing your porosity is helpful for picking product. For instance, Shea butter may be heavy and not penetrate the hair shaft for many low porosity hair types. Glycerin is a strong humectant and can be a problem for porous type 2-3 curlies and may cause frizz in the summer and dryness in the winter because it can cause the hair to swell up to the moisture in the air and frizz in the summer and pull the moisture out of the hair in the winter when the air is very dry. Low porosity hair loves humectant based product to draw moisture into the hair. High porosity loves oils and butter to trap the moisture into the hair, unless you are very fine or wavy.

If you are unsure of your porosity, there's easy tests. These are guidelines and don't always work on everyone. 

Easy version:

1. Run your fingers down a strand of hair, if it's rough it's porous. If it's smooth it's low porosity.

2. Put your hair that has no product on it in water, if it sinks all the way it's high porosity. If it floats it's low or medium. If it's in the middle, it's medium.

3. Squeeze your index and thumb finger tightly and run backwards up the hair by pulling the hair down through your fingers, if it squeaks it's low porosity.

4. How quickly does your hair get wet in the shower? If it gets wet quickly and sucks up water, it is high. If it's hard to get the hair wet it, it's lower.

5. If your hair dries slowly, it is probably low porosity. If it dries quickly, it is probably high, unless it's very thick.

More info:

Test 1: When washing your hair notice how long it takes for your hair to become saturated and fully wet. Hair that wets easily is porous, much like a new sponge. There is also a possibility that you hair could be covered with to many hair care products such as oils and conditioners. Additionally consider how long it takes your hair to dry, hair that dries quickly is porous as the cuticle layers are open and allow air flow.

Test 2: Wash and condition your hair as normal. Towel dry (do not add any other products). Gather one strand of hair and run your index finger and thumb along the shaft starting from the end of the hair strand to the root. Low porosity will feel slick, normal porosity will feel smooth, and high porosity you will feel catches as you move your fingers down the shaft.

Test 3: Take a few strands of hair (from comb or hair brush) and place in a bowl of water. If the hair sinks to the bottom of the bowl in less than a minute or two, it is porous. If only a part of the strand sinks your hair is porous in certain areas and this is quite common.

Low porosity like humectants to draw water into the hair. High likes oils to seal moisture into the hair. Unless you are very fine or wavy.

Curls need moisture, it creates hydrogen bonds in the shaft to help the curls, like tightening a spring. Unless you are finer, wavy, or overconditioned. In that case, there's too much water weight on the spring weighing the spring down.

High porosity needs to be sealed with antihumectants (natural oils) or it will lose moisture and frizz. Too much humectants (which attract water into the hair) on porous hair will cause it to swell, frizz up, and become tangled. That's why some porous people can use heavier shea products to help seal. I use a humectant gel, but I use it over my sealed hair. Before when I used it without the natural oils under, my hair was a dry frizzy crispy mess. 

Medium porosity can use products with both anti humectants and humectants sometimes.

Low porosity needs humectants to help draw the water into the hair because the cuticle scales lie flat and aren't open. Usually, the heavier oils block water from going into the hair...you can seal with a lighter oil if you need to seal in the the moisture but since it's a lighter oil it allows water to still pass into the hair slightly...the hair is sucking in water from the air more than it's letting it out. Also, since low porosity won't let anything in or out, you need conditioners and humectants to draw the moisture into the hair if it is dry and lighter oils or ones in milk form to allow moisture into the hair.

This doesn't always work, but it's a starting place. Also if your hair feels smooth it's low, rougher is high. I did protein treatments to rebuild my hair gaps. It's making my hair shinier, less frizzy, and curlier (strengthening my natural curl pattern). My hair has bleach, brushing, straightening, and heat damage, thus creating gaps in the hair cuticle (surface area). I'm also noticing I'm needing less condish and less Shea because my cuticles aren't needing as much sealing and they're retaining moisture better.  After being CG for  year, I have have some hair that is low porosity in the unbleached healthier areas and the dyed and bleached hair is higher porosity. I am finally able to use more humectants and glycerin in my products and leaving all my condition in is helping seal the porous areas of my hair much better.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Do-You-Know-How-to-Check-Your-Hair-Porosity%3F&id=6207835

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ist/?next=/science-nature/why-humidity-makes-your-hair-curl-21127724/

http://www.chocolatehairvanillacare.com/2012/05/humectants-what-they-are-and-when-we.html

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-ivZiv_QOIbdmVQQ3TC0R9NMmO57422YS34AwIv08vqCPu9NDIxLAlAcIuGyhgUEjH28uXyWjP9voD6S47b42wb9YU9akPaGssaWjfiE19yg7paIbqmUAs4zXlYLyUVHtvOlnSAwWxuH/s1600/hairporosity.jpg

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=pic+of+porosity&view=detailv2&&id=68BCB3CF5C21D6E5A8C28272C9D5EAEC58D72D3C&selectedIndex=125&ccid=U7AoC%2bAc&simid=608015246417003804&thid=OIP.M53b0280be01c2f73e751c132f611881do0&ajaxhist=0

Product Suggestions and Styling Based on Porosity, Thickness and Curl Pattern

Product Suggestions Based on Porosity and Density

A lot of curlies and wavies struggle with CG because they are picking the wrong products for their hair type. You must take the time to learn you hair properties. If you are a fine haired wavy loading your hair up with Shea butter, heavy conditioner and oil constantly, you are going to eventually have product build up and greasy limp waves or curls. Here's my suggestions based on your hair type. Of course, CG is all trial and error and I cannot guarantee they will work for you, but I can give you an experienced guess.

These are listed in order of lightest to heaviest based on my research.

Cowashes (using conditioner to cleanse the hair): 
Vo5
Suave Naturals (the one for a dollar)
Your regular conditioner
Yes to Carrots
Eden BodyWorks Cowash
DevaCurl No Poo
Devacurl Decandence No Poo
As I Am Cowash (has castor cil, could build up)
Camille Rose Caramel Cowash

You can use ANY conditioner to cleanse the hair, but conditioners advertised as cowashes have more cleansing properties.

Low Poo (occasional use for build up)
All Shea Moisture Shampoos
DevaCurl Low Poo
Eden Tea Tree Tingle (clarifying, use sparingly)
Kinky Curly Come Clean (very clarifying)
Ion Hard Water Shampoo (for those with hard water)

Conditioners (Rinse Out):

All hair types
Tresseme Undone (May be too light for coarser/porous types)
Tresseme Naturals
Yes to Carrots
Nature's Gate Pomagrante and Sunflower
Generic Value Matrix Biolage Conditioning Balm from Sally's (has parabens)Tresseme Naturals
DevaCurl One Condition

For higher porosities and densities, leave in all the conditioner and do not rinse it out or just rinse the roots. Finer/wavy types can rinse it all out or rinse out or add more ears down or away from the roots down.

Fine/Thin Hair or Low Porosity

Suave Naturals
Tresseme Undone
Tresseme Naturals (the avocado oil in it may weigh down very fine haired wavies)
Generic Value Matrix Biolage Conditioning Balm from Sally's (has parabens)
DevaCurl One Condition

Coarse/Thick Hair or High Porosity

Tresseme Naturals
Yes to Carrots
DevaCurl One Condition
DevaCurl Decadence One Condition
All Shea Moisture Conditioners and Masques
Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner Conditioner

Leave in Conditioners:

You can leave your regular conditioner in as a leave in or after you rinse it all out, you can use it as your leave in. Or you may have better results adding a leave in to your routine, after rinsing out all the conditioner or adding more on top of your regular conditioner if you left it all in.

Medium Thickness or Normal Porosity
As I Am Leave In
Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave In
DevaCurl B' Leave In
Your Rinse Out Conditioner
Shea Moisture Milk (can be heavy on some textures)
Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Leave in  (can be heavy on some textures)


Fine/Thin Hair or Low Porosity 
As I Am Leave In
Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave In
DevaCurl B' Leave In (can be heavy on fine wavies)
Camille Rose Coconut Water Leave in
Your Rinse Out Conditioner

If you are a fine wavy, you may not need a leave in. especially if your hair looks weighed down.

Coarse/Thick Hair or High Porosity
As I Am Leave In (may be too light)
Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave In (may be too light)
DevaCurl B' Leave In
Your Rinse Out Conditioner
Camille Rose Coconut Water Leave in (may be too light)
Shea Moisture Milk (lighter)
Camille Rose Moisture Milk
Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Leave in

Creams (not needed for fine wavies...except possibly in the extreme cold, apply over your leave in)
DevaCurl Styling Cream (light, good for low porosity or finer types but also good for thick/porous)
DevaCurl Supercream (a little heavier, very volumizing)
Camille Rose Whipped Aloe Butter Gel
Eden BodyWorks Coconut Shea Curl Defining Curl Creme
Camille Rose Almond Jai Twisting Butter
Camille Rose Coconut Water Style Setter (has castor oil, great shine, can get heavy with too much)
Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie (heavie, forms up the curls and stops frizz)

Curl Enhancing Gels or Custards (use over leave in or creams)
Flax Seed Gel (FSG)- (homemade, can freeze and can customize with additional ingredients, awesome definition)
Jessicurl Rocking Ringlets (Similar to FSG, with lots of salt for curl enhancement)
Ecostyler (not exactly a curl enhancer, but gives good definition and curl clumping if your hair loves protein, it will tighter the curls)
Kinky Curl Custard (wavies love this stuff for curl enhancement tighter curlies love the definition)
Mop Top Custard (many like it better than Kinky Curly)
Shea Moisture Curling Souffle (heavier than Kinky Curly and too heavy for fine wavies good definition)

Gels (used over leave ins, cream, or curl enhancing gels, listed lighter to harder hold)
Ecostyler (protein heavy, light hold, type 2-4 hair)
DevaCurl Light Defining gel
GVP Sebastian Wet (great for finer hair that gets crunchy or weighed down easily type 2-3 hair)
Jessicurl Spiralicious (good for fine to normal types)
La Looks Nutra Curl (light hold)
La Looks Mega (medium hard hold, may be crunchy if you're very fine, or don't use much/very moisturizing leave in, mix (cocktail) with a lighter gel if you like, type 2-3 hair)
La Looks Sports gel (very hard hold, type 2-3 hair)
La Looks Extreme Spikes Gel (very very hard hold gel, type 2-3)
Beyond the Zone Bada Bing Gel (this feels like a mixture of La looks sports gel and Biosilk Rock Hard Gelee, clumps well)
Biosilk Rock Hard Gelee (extreme hard hold, wavies love this cocktailed with kinky curly custard for ultimate lightweight curl enhancement, hold and volume, it has protein which fine hair loves and holds the waves up, apply with wet hands and mix with another clumping or curl enhancing gel if you can't get it to clump well)

Mousse (not a huge fan of them because they don't have much hold so they don't provide much definition and don't fight frizz as well, but many fine wavies that do not have much frizz love them)
Herbal Essence Totally Twisted
DevaCurl Foam
Tresseme Sea Foam
Shea Moisture Fruit Fusion Coconut Water Mousse (has a drying alcohol, but is so moisturizing it didn't affect me...it's the only product I use with an alcohol and not often...this is the best mousse I have tried actually)

You can use mousse alone, over leave in or under gel for more volume without being weighed down by a cream.

You can layer products in these methods:
CO - Conditioner only (one product for cowash, leave in and styler)
M - Mousse
LG - Leave in and gel (the basics of the curly girl method, can leave all your regular conditioner in)
LM - Leave in and mousse
LC - Leave in and curl cream
LCG - Leave in, curl cream and gel
LCEG - Leave in, curl cream, curl enhancing gel and hard hold gel.
LO - Leave in and oil
LOC - Leave in, oil and curl cream
LOCG - Leave in, oil, curl cream and gel
LOG - Leave in, oil, gel
LEG - Leave in, enhancing gel, and hard hold gel
LMG - Leave in, mousse and gel
E- Enhancing gel (fine wavy types)
EG - Enhancing gel and hard hold gel (fine waives wanting curl enhancement and volume)