Coconut Oil Hair Mask

      While I love winter and snow and all things Christmas, the winter season doesn't love my hair so much. The cold wind and lack of moisture in the air really takes a toll on my hair! It gets staticy and split ends start showing up all over the place! This is when I turn to my trusted coconut oil! There are so many different uses for coconut oil and I am sure this blog will be full of its uses soon! If you are interested in learning about using Coconut Oil for skin care, check out our Oil Cleansing Method blog post by clicking here (Oil Cleansing Method Post)

How does the Coconut Oil Help My Hair?

      Coconut oil is rich in carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals and has been used on hair for thousands of years! It keeps hair strong, moisturized, and nourished! Many deep hair moisturizers that you can buy at the store are expensive and do not penetrate deep into the hair follicle so you end up only moisturizing the surface of your hair. Because of the components of coconut oil (Lauric acid, capric acid, vitamin E, and much more) it penetrates the hair follicle repairing and moisturizing from the inside out. This prevents hair breakage and split ends, increases hair strength, stimulates hair growth, and adds shine and softness!

How to do a Coconut Oil Hair Mask?

      So how do I use coconut oil as a hair mask? It is really simple! First, as always, you need to warm the coconut oil so that it is in liquid form. Then I section my hair and apply the oil to 1-2 inch sections. Dip your fingers into the coconut oil and then run your fingers through the sections of hair until your hair is saturated with the oil.

Left Side: without oil Right Side: with oil

     Oh! And make sure to apply to dry hair! If you hair is wet, the oil will not be able to get past the layer of water surrounding the hair follicle. So keep sectioning your hair and applying the oil until all of your hair is saturated with the oil.

Left Side: without oil

Right Side: with oil

      After applying the oil, I braid my hair and put on my “heating hat”. It is like a heating pad but for your head! I love it! The heat opens up the hair follicle and makes it easier for the coconut oil to penetrate deep into the hair follicle so that it can get to moisturizing and repairing!

      I leave that on the medium setting for about an hour and then take a shower. When I condition my hair in the shower after a oil mask, I do not put conditioner on every part of my hair. I focus the conditioner from the crown of my head down. When rinsing out the conditioner I kind of push the diluted conditioner/water into the roots of my hair and then finish rinsing. This is how I make sure that my roots aren't greasy for the next day. If I do not want to do the heating mask then I will braid my oil saturated hair and then put a towel down over my pillow and sleep with the coconut oil on my hair all night. I am a deep sleeper and hardly move so I do not have to worry about getting oil all over my sheets. If you are a tosser and turner then I would recommend putting down an extra sheet that you can just throw in the wash the next day. Your hair will love you for it and the silky smoothness will make up for the little extra work. In the morning I was it just like if I had the heating hat.

That’s it! The thing I love about doing a coconut oil hair mask is that you will notice a huge difference after one mask! You don't have to wait for results! I mean it! My hair always feels so smooth and silky afterwards!

      Of course, please let me know how this hair mask works for you! Don't like or are allergic to coconut oil? Try extra virgin olive oil or other oils and let me know how they work for you! Keep in mind that different oils will have different affects on your hair (for example they can leave it very oily) so don't do this mask an hour before going on a hot date!

Don't forget! "Encourage yourself, Believe in yourself, Love Yourself"

The Oil Cleansing Method

              

      About a year ago, I had severe acne covering over 70% of my face. That’s right, there is no typo – over 70% of my face was covered in acne. It was painful, it was red, it was killing my confidence, it had to go! I had tried everything – Neutrogena, Proactiv, Skin ID, Beauty Mint – you name it, I tried it! And all of it made my skin worse with the promise that after all of the burning from the alcohol, drying out and additional breakouts it would get better. This didn't make sense to me, why should your skin look and feel worse in order to get better? I could understand an initial additional breakout but the inflammation, redness, pain, dry skin? Why did that have to happen as well? That is when I learned out about the Oil Cleansing Method.

      I had heard of the Oil Cleansing Method but had stayed away from it. How was putting straight oil on my face going to help if my skin was already oily and full of acne? I think I lasted another month before I finally decided to try it. It has been about 8 months since I made that decision and I am so glad that I did! I even wish that I would have tried it sooner! My skin has never looked better! My acne is practically non-existent (except for the occasional breakout from not washing my face at night – I know it’s bad but I admit, sometimes I am just too lazy!), my scars are gone, and my oil problem is fixed! It has been amazing! My friends keep asking me what my secret is and so I have decided to share it with you!

      The oil cleansing method has been around for a long time but many people do not understand how it works.

First – what is the Oil Cleansing Method (O.C.M.)?
              
      In a nutshell, you use natural oils to cleanse the skin and balance your skins natural oils! It is that simple! I know what you are thinking, so how is this better than an artificial cleanser that claims to do the same thing? The O.C.M. is very natural and does not dry your skin out or cause inflammation/redness. Plus, when you wash your face with a cleanser, you are stripping your face of its natural oils which results in your skin producing more oil to make up for the lost oil and so goes the oily skin cycle. When you are supplying your face with natural oils, your face does not need to produce as much so it reduces the amount it makes. Another bonus is that the O.C.M. can do something that the majority of cleansers can’t! It breaks up oil! That’s right! Most of the time your pores are clogged with dirt AND oil. Water can’t break up oil – but oil can!

What do you need for the O.C.M?

      There are many different oils that you can choose from when doing the OCM, you just have to pick the right one for you. This can take some time and experimenting but it is worth it! The most common oils used are castor oil and extra virgin olive oil (1 part castor oil to 2 parts olive oil). When I started the O.C.M. I used the olive oil and castor oil mixture but found that was not the right oil for me. It was too thick and left my face feeling like there was a lot of oil left on top of my skin that wasn’t being absorbed. I did some research and found that you can also use hazelnut oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, and coconut oil as well. I personally LOVE the coconut oil! It is the perfect consistency for me and I love how moisturized my skin feels after washing my face with it! I get pure, cold-pressed, organic coconut oil from my local natural grocery store.

 How do I do the O.C.M?

      First, I melt my coconut oil (it is a solid at room temperature) in a bowl of hot water or in the microwave. If you are going to warm yours in the microwave make sure to scrape off all of the seal from the top of the container because it contains metal and will spark in the microwave! I learned this the hard way! As your oil is melting, wash your hands! This will prevent the spread of bacteria from your hands to the oil.

Once the oil is melted and your hands are clean, dip your fingers into the melted oil and rub directly onto your dry face and massage for about 1-2 minutes. 

Then take a wash cloth and run it under warm water (as warm as you can get it without burning your skin). Get the washcloth wet, wring it out, and hold over your face for about 30 seconds.

This part is very important! The heat from the warm wash cloth opens your pores and allows for the coconut oil to get deep into your pores and break up the oil and dirt. After about 30 seconds, remove the wash cloth and wipe the remaining oil off of your face.

Look how much makeup came off my face in just one wipe! The oil makes it so easy to remove your makeup AND mascara! Look! No raccoon eyes!!!

      After you finish wiping off all the oil off of your face, you should still feel like you have a thin layer of oil on your skin - that is good! This fine layer of oil is going to nourish and moisturize your skin as well as tell your skin to produce less oil since there is already natural oils on it. Walla! You are done! It’s that easy! Keep your coconut oil in the shower if you have other acne prone areas such as chest and back. This method works great for those too! Do not freak out if you break out slightly after starting this. That means it is working! The oil is bring all of the impurities in your skin out of your pores! Yay! For a deeper cleanse, mix your oil with some brown sugar or regular sugar to exfoliate. I would recommend doing this once or twice a week but NOT if you have open acne. If you exfoliate your face with open acne, you risk spreading the bacteria around and creating more acne. If you have open acne, simply do the step above until it heals. It won’t take long! I started noticing drastic differences in my skin 1 week after starting the O.C.M! The redness went down and my face didn't hurt as much! 6 months later, I was acne free!

      That is it guys! That is the Oil Cleansing Method! Interested yet? Try it out!! I would love to hear how it works for you, which oils work best for you, everything! Leave your comments below! By sharing our experiences and tips/tricks, we can help someone else have an even better experience with this! 

And remember, “Encourage yourself, Believe in yourself, Love yourself”