Coconut Oil Hair Treatment
Coconut oil is a traditional oil that people in tropical places have used for hundreds of years to condition and maintain healthy hair. Countries like India have entire industries based around coconut oil for hair treatment.
In recent years, coconut oil has been popularly used for natural hair treatment with African hair types. Audrey Sivasothy, a writer on the Yahoo associated content network, has done research on "Black Hair Care" and notes that coconut oil is an excellent choice for a pre-treatment before the hair is shampooed, as well as an excellent sealant on dry hair.
She writes:
"Many black women suffer from hair porosity issues as a result of our styling choices. Coconut oil's ability to prevent protein loss and reduce hair porosity makes it a valuable oil for those who chemically relax, regularly heat straighten, or permanently color their hair."
Those in the "natural hair" movement have repeatedly testified to the benefits of switching from harsh chemical treatments to pure coconut oil. Their testimonials in public places like Twitter are very numerous.
Sivasothy comments:
"Coconut oil is a very unique hair oil. This versatile, low molecular weight oil is able to leverage its traditional oil status to seal the hair, but complements this sealing capacity with a strong affinity for hair proteins not found in other hair oils.
Coconut oil benefits black hair in two important ways.
First, coconut oil's hydrophobic oil characteristics allow it to inhibit the penetration of water from the surrounding air and environment.
Second, coconut oil is able to bind to the natural protein structure of the hair.
This helps the hair retain its natural moisture content and reinforces the hair fiber, making it stronger."
References
1. "The Benefits of Coconut Oil in Black Hair Care - How Coconut Oil Can Bring Out the Best in Your Hair" Audrey Sivasothy, The Benefits of Coconut Oil, Dec. 21, 2011
See also our line of hair oils containing Virgin Coconut Oil and other high quality organic oils: