One of the first oils to be replaced as the weather cools down is coconut oil. The obvious reason for this is that coconut oil becomes solid at room temperature and so it can make the hair feel hard when used in the winter time. And if anything, the last thing you want is hard hair in a season when everything is hard and dry. Since I love coconut oil so much that I just can’t imagine going without it for 4 months or more, I have found other ways to reap the benefits of this powerful oil all year round.
1. LOCO (Liquid, Oil, Cream, Oil) Method: This method calls for the use of two separate oils when moisturizing the hair. The first oil used should be a light oil such as coconut oil or jojoba oil, while the second oil should be a thicker oil such as olive oil or castor oil. Now, since coconut oil is absorbing, it only makes sense to layer it on the hair before applying the thicker oil. Applying coconut oil in this manner should not harden the hair as long you don’t put too much into the hair. Also, the cream and thicker oil applied to the hair afterwards will “dilute” the coconut oil and prevent it from hardening the hair.
2. Blend with thick cream or oil to increase its spreadability: If you do not do the LOCO method and would rather do the LOC or LCO method, you can simply mix a pea size amount of coconut oil with any oil or butter of your choice and apply it to your hair. This will leave your hair feeling soft, smooth and you don’t have to worry about the smell of your castor oil or shea butter because the fragrance of the extra virgin coconut oil will dominate the other oils added.
3. Prepoo/hot oil treatment: Since the hair will be shampooed or cleansed afterwards, you can still continue to do your regular hot oil treatment with coconut oil. You definitely don’t want to eliminate the moisturizing and restorative properties of coconut oil in the winter, especially if you will be doing a lot of protective styles, particularly styles with extensions which can be drying on the hair.
4. Add to your deep conditioning blend: Similar to a hot oil treatment, coconut oil can be added to your deep conditioning treatment to increase its “slip” factor and to boost its moisturizing properties.
5. Oil Detangle: If you have been following the blog for a while now, you will notice that I am now an advocate for oil detangling. I find oil detangling to be less damaging than the regular wet detangling which calls for a conditioner. The reason behind this is that our hair is very fragile when wet and it can break easily in what I like to call a silent death because you don’t hear the hair breaking off when wet. So to reduce breakage, I have been using oils such as coconut oil to detangle my hair. And I will then proceed to do a hot oil treatment with the coconut oil in my hair.
You can purchase your own coconut butter souffle at the e-store. This coconut butter remains creamy and fluffy in the cold season to allow for easy application.
Do you use coconut oil year round? Will you be giving it a chance this winter? What other ways do you use coconut oil?