My Hair Hates Coconut Oil

Coconut oil and my hair are no longer friends. Truthfully, they’ve never been friends, but I wanted so desperately for them to be an item because for some odd reason, I felt like the black sheep of the natural hair community. (Okay, maybe not that serious, but I really wanted things to work out.) Everyone sings the praises of coconut oil for hair health-specifically moisture retention and shine- so I thought surely I needed this in my life. Although I had quite a few bad experiences with coconut oil in the past, I had convinced myself that I was using it incorrectly or just pairing it with the wrong products.  I wanted to prove myself wrong. It was working for all the other naturals so clearly I was doing something wrong, right?

Nope.

My hair hates coconut oil. And let’s just be clear, Its ONLY my hair that doesn’t like coconut oil. It has been oh so good to my body for internal health and natural remedies (more of that later). As much as I wanted to love this treasure for my tresses though, there is no benefit of having it in my regimen. Not as a leave in. Not as a sealer. Not as a pre-poo. Not on dry hair. Not on wet hair. Each and every time I use it, my hair looks great for a few hours- then starts to become dull and rough to the touch. Yet knowing this, I recently decided to give coconut oil another chance. Sigh.

I applied the oil as a sealant (or the last layer on top of my leave in conditioner and cream styler of choice) in a very tiny section of my hair, and went about my day. Hours later, I was excited. I was having a great hair day, and had just been complimented by a natural who flagged me down to ask what products I use in my hair. I reached up to touch my hair and was met with… a layer of oil on my fingers. Wait, what? I felt so betrayed. I immediately felt the other sections of my hair to compare, and nothing. My styler was still on point; it was the coconut oil that was showing out.

Even still,  I made the bold move of doing a scalp massage a few hours later, applying the oil to the remainder of my head and letting it “penetrate” overnight. Not only was my hair still greasy the next morning, but when I went to co-wash, it was a hot, dry mess. My wash and go took an extra 5-7 minutes (which is an eternity when you have a screaming baby to tend to) to do, most of that time spent detangling and kicking myself for committing this crime.

I could do nothing but shake my head at this one, because I knew better. Closed case; I give up on coconut oil for my hair. That goes for applying the direct oil, and any other products that have coconut oil high up on the ingredient list. After doing some research, I stumbled upon a YouTube video that explains that coconut oil may not be liked by low porosity hair because it mocks protein when applied to the hair. Though I don’t know the validity of these claims it definitely makes sense because my hair can only take protein in small increments. Oh well, I tried.

Sorry coconut oil, we just don’t mesh well together.

Chime in! Do you use oils in your routine? How do you incorporate them?