Welcome to my new post category, “Good Pintentions”! I’ll do my best to weed out the good, the bad, and the ugly among ideas I’ve found via Pinterest and tried for myself.
First up is this Pin describing how coconut oil will make your hair soft, smooth, and shiny. (It also claims it will make your hair grow faster, but I’m not sure anything is scientifically proven to help there.)
This was one of the first Pins I tried, since I’ve been having a hell of a time with my hair falling out and becoming more brittle since I hit my 30s. I’ve tried all kinds of crap to try to strengthen it and tame the frizzy broken strands that have minds of their own. We’re talking vitamin supplements, shampoos, conditioners, serums, laminators — seriously, lots and lots of attempts with little or nothing to show for them.
I ordered myself a 16-ounce jar of organic coconut oil on Amazon and waited to give this latest gimmick a shot.
You know what? It does help — but you have to work for it.
To start with, coconut oil is generally firm when stored at room temperature, but if it gets much over 75ºF — for instance, when it comes in contact with your skin — it liquefies. It can be an adventure to scoop up a bit with your fingertips and get it onto your hair and scalp before it slides right off your hand and onto your clothes or the carpet. It’s a fairly thin oil, though, and can be cleaned up easily enough with a little soap and water, but I recommend losing your shirt before cracking open that jar.
The oil, once liquefied, spreads through your hair fairly easily, although you will need to specifically aim for your scalp and the ends of your hair with additional daubs. I have really long hair (not as long as the girl in the photo, but past mid-back), so it takes me 20-30 minutes to do my entire head. I do it in sections, starting with the bottommost partition that goes around my head at about earlobe-height. I work my way up to the top of my head, going through 3 or 4 more horizontal sections, one at a time, keeping the hair I haven’t dealt with yet pinned in a loose twist at the crown.
Once I’ve gotten everything oiled up, Peter usually walks in and cracks a joke about how badly I need a shower since my hair is an oily mess. It’s funny every time. :p
Since it takes me so long to get the mask finished, I usually only sit around with it on for 10 or 15 minutes before I shower. The oil washes out with just one shampoo and rinse, and then I condition and rinse again as normal.
Because it’s such a production, I don’t do it as frequently as I probably should. I’ve been slacking for the last week or so, and I can definitely tell the difference in my hair since I last used the mask — the frizz is back and the shine has dulled.
The final verdict?
