Oils oils & more oils!... :-)

OILS!!!

The discovery of different uses and benefits of natural oils has been one of, if not my absolute favourite part of this hair journey so far.

There's a whole world out there of natural oils that can be used for a multitude of purposes, including:

• Hair Care
• Nutrition
• Skin Care
• Massages & Aromatherapy 

They are a staple in my hair care routine where they are used for:

• Pre-pooing (i.e. pre shampoo hair treatment), 
• Oil Rinsing, 
• Hot Oil Treatments, 
• Deep Conditioner mixes,
• Moisturizing & Sealing,
• For lubrication during finger-detangling

Contents of my current "Oils Stash"...

(1) Coconut Oil

This was the first oil I tried on my hair journey. I had loved it from before because I had been using it on my skin for years (I do not use body lotion, at all). In my hair care regimen, I use it mainly for:

• Oil Rinsing, 
• Pre-pooing and 
• Hot oil treatments 

I.e. it seems to work best for me if my hair marinades in it for a while and then its rinsed out. I have found that if I use it it on dry hair it makes my hair feel brittle and straw-like.

Major plus: I LOVE the smell of coconut oil, just heavenly, :-)

(2) Vatika Oil

This product was a nice little discovery. I was just reading the reviews of the hair products I was planning to purchase on amazon, when I saw this item under "other items purchased by people who bought this product"

This ingredients sounded really interesting so I thought I'd give it a try. Boy am I glad I did! I love the earthy smell of it. I use it for:

• Hot Oil treatments
• Overnight pre-pooing

Again, because coconut oil is the main ingredient in this product, I cannot use it on dry hair and not rinse it out, because it will make my hair feel brittle.

(3) Avocado Oil

I decided to try this product, again, based on the excellent reviews I saw for it on amazon, and as you can probably tell by now I'm obsessed with oils, so I decided to purchase it and give it a try.
Love it!
Bear in mind, however, it is quite heavy, less so than castor oil but a little thicker than olive oil. So I use it for:

• Moisturizing and Sealing - I use this oil to seal the ends of my hair while its still damp after washing. Because it is so heavy and my strands are very fine, it can weigh my hair down quite a bit if I am heavy handed, so I mix the Avocado Oil with some Grapeseed Oil (half and half) in the palm of my hand, mix, then apply.
• Oil Rinsing
• Deep Conditioner mixes

The brand that I have (NOW Foods) has a very faint scent, if any at all.

(4) Sweet Almond Oil

I decided to try this oil when I saw Traycee from Kiss on YouTube talking about using this oil for sealing in moisture after applying a leave-in conditioner. I picked up a bottle at the local Nature's Way store right away! Like I needed more convincing *side-eye* :-D
Needless to say I was very pleased with this product. I use it mainly in my moisturizing and sealing routine.

Its about as thick as olive oil, so again I have to mix it with the lighter grapeseed oil before I can use it on my hair as a sealant.

I was hoping that it would have a nice "almond essence"-type smell, but it has no scent at all. I suppose that's a plus for some people though.

(5) Castor Oil

Ahhhh, the grandfather of the all natural hair oils! :-) Everyone who is on a hair journey, be it relaxed, transitioning or natural, knows about Castor Oil.

It is touted for its ability to:

1. Stimulate hair growth, 
2. Stimulate hair regrowth in cases of alopecia, 
3. Thicken hair that appears to be thinning
4. Soften and smooth texture to the hair after moisturizing and sealing.

It is a very thick oil, the thickest of the oils in my stash, and has a very mild scent. Because of its thickness it can be difficult to work with, and it will definitely weigh hair down if you are too heavy handed with it.
I use it mainly for Moisturizing & Sealing, and for this purpose I will dilute it with grapeseed oil +/- sweet almond oil.

(6) Grapeseed Oil

Grapeseed oil is a MUST in my regimen. I use it daily for Moisturizing & Sealing where I use it by itself or I'll add Castor oil/Sweet Almond oil/Olive oil depending on my mood, or rather my hair's mood :-)

It is a nice light oil that has little to no scent. My hair loves this so much that I also add it to:

• Oil Rinses
• Hot Oil Treatment
• Deep Conditioner mixes

(7) Olive Oil

This is another staple in my regimen that was right under my nose the whole time! I've always loved this oil for cooking and for use on my skin, but I never ever thought to use it for my hair until I started my hair journey.

Its similar to sweet almond oil in terms of thickness. It definitely has a moderate scent but it reminds me of food, so it doesn't bother me at all.

I use it mainly for:

• Oil Rinsing
• Hot Oil Treatments
• Deep Conditioner mixes
• Oil Infusion mixes - Of late I've been experimenting with infusing my Olive oil with garlic and rosemary to reduce shedding and stimulate hair growth. Very excited about this one :-D

(8) Profectiv Growth Oil

Before I got into buying my different oils online, I used this one first.

I saw it in the Beauty Supplies store in town and I liked the ingredients. The other plus was that it had a lovely smell. I used this mainly for moisturizing and sealing, and it was so great I never abandoned it. Hey if it aint broke, don't fix it!

Ingredients: (Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil , Lanolin Oil , C12-C14 Alkyl Benzoate , Olea Europaea Fruit Oil (Olive) , Triticum Vulgare Germ Oil (Wheat) , Cocos Nucifera Oil (Coconut) , Simmondsia Chinensis Oil (Jojoba) , Vitis Vinifera (Grape Seed) Oil , Persea Gratissima Oil (Avocado) , Linum Usitassimum Seed Oil (Flax) , Equisetum Hiernale Extract (Horsetail) , Silk Amino Acids , Triticum Vulgare Protein (Wheat) , Glycine Soja (Soybean) Protein , Hydrolyzed Oat Protein , Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein , PC-Propyl Silanetriol , phenyl trimethicone , Zea Mays (Corn) Oil , Mays Oil (Corn) , BHA , Bht , Methylparaben , Propylparaben , fragrance)

(9) Liquid Gold Hair Growth Oil

Yes hair growth oil!
At the beginning of my hair journey I wanted my hair to grow to waist length overnight! Okay, so I knew it wouldn't but I could hope right? Every minute I'd do a length check after length check hoping to see growth. So it followed that I decided to try one of the many growth aids ladies on hair blogs were raving about.

Sulfur is supposed to be the main ingredient in this mix that will stimulate increased growth rate, followed by Castor Oil.

This oil has a very "earthy-pepperminty" smell; this is because peppermint and other essential oils were added to mask the notoriously stinky smell of the sulfur.
I didn't notice any change in the growth rate after using this oil, but to be fair, I didn't use it on a regular basis. This is because I found the sulfur and peppermint to be drying to my hair strands. I'd have to Co-wash every morning to counteract this, and that can be time consuming.


So that's my "Oils Stash", Whew! I didn't know I had so many until I actually had to list them!
Hope you all are having a great weekend!
Until the next post,

Xoxo,
Rachie :-)