What Happened When I Left Coconut Oil in My Hair
I was casually chilling, or rather heating, under the dryer at a hair salon one day (I was getting a gloss, in case you were wondering) and I overheard a stylist talking about being "on day three" with coconut oil in his hair. I know it's bad to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help it, I was intrigued. He was said he does it for about three days, washes it out and his hair looks fabulous afterwards.
Coconut oil has been a trendy beauty tool recently. People cook with it, use it to wash their face and even do a disgusting-sounding treatment called "oil-pulling" with it. And it's great for your hair. That might be because it's rich in lauric acid, which helps your hair retain protein, and it has a high moisture-retention capacity. Translation: it helps strengthen and hydrate your hair--both of which I'm in desperate need of.
So this week, I decided to try it out. I had a few days to myself, so I figured it was my chance to finally give it a go.
I slathered some organic, cold-pressed coconut oil (see above) all over my hair--paying extra attention to the ends. Then combed it through, put it in a simple french braid, and went on with my day. My hair smelled great, but obviously felt pretty greasy.
The one mistake I made during my experiment was going to a Pilates reformer class. As I tried to wipe sweat away from my face, my hands got oily, which made it a bit slippery when I tried to do different moves. I also would like to take this opportunity to apologize to the person that used the machine after me--I swear I did my best to de-grease it!
Rather than leave it in for three days, I decided to leave it for two. I did two shampoos to make sure I got it all out and followed with my usual conditioner. After blowdrying my hair, the moment of truth came.
Was my hair transformed? Not really. My hair felt slightly softer and looked slightly shinier. The truth is that I can get the same effect with a hair mask that only requires five minutes of my day, so I don't think it's worth suffering through a few days of greasy hair (and pillow cases). I'm glad I finally did it though! It's another DIY beauty treatment I can cross off of my list.
