Coconut oil nourishes healthy Hair

To take the best care of your hair, we want to make sure you understand your hair well.

The three-layer structure of the hair
The outer layer of hair is called the cuticle. This is the tough, protective outer layer of the hair.

The next layer is called the cortex, this is the thickest layer of the hair, it contains many fibrous proteins and pigments that give the hair color.

The central layer is called the hair medulla, it's very soft. Thick hair contains a large amount of medulla, while fine hair has almost none.

Why is your hair broken?
Not only exposure to sun, wind, and water damages your hair. Daily washing, grooming, styling... also damage it.

Because too much exposure to the hair is easy to damage the cuticle, making this cuticle unable to protect the inner layers of the hair, causing the hair to lose some of the fibrous proteins that make up the hair cortex, making your hair become thinner, and break easily.

Why choose coconut oil for hair?
Coconut oil is said to be the best hair care oil.

In a study published in 2003 examined and analyzed the effects of applying coconut oil, sunflower oil or mineral oil to hair before or after washing hair. The researchers measured how much protein the hair lost after each treatment. They found that coconut oil prevented protein loss better than sunflower oil and mineral oil.

The abundance of medium-chain fatty acids called lauric acid in coconut oil gives its long and straight structure, which is easier to absorb deeper into the hair shaft. While sunflower oil contains mainly linoleic acid, has a bulkier structure, making it not as easily absorbed into the hair. This means that oils like mineral oil and sunflower oil can coat the hair, but they're not as well absorbed into the hair shaft.

How should coconut oil be used?
Wet hair is very susceptible to damage. Therefore, oiling both before and after washing, will protect the hair from damage.

First, apply oil to your hair before makeing it wet to minimize the amount of damage. Because as you wet your hair, the thick cortex of the hair is soaked with water, it swells, causing a structural change in the cuticle. The hair cuticle is made up of flat, overlapping scales that are attached from the root end of hair and point toward the tip. As the hair cortex absorbs water and swells, these scales are pushed out and stuck together, which causes damage to the hair, especially when brushing or styling. Therefore, it is advisable to apply oil to the hair before washing to reduce the amount of water absorbed into the hair shaft and reduce the "sticking" to the scales in the cuticle, helping to minimize damage to the hair.

Second, oiling the hair after washing will make the hair softer and smoother. This reduces the amount of friction caused by styling, making your hair less prone to frizz and breakage.

You can use coconut oil as follow:
√ As a conditioner: washing your hair as normal and then comb coconut oil through your hair, from the midsection to the ends.

√ As a post-wash detangler: after washing and conditioning your hair, rub a little coconut oil through your hair to protect it while you brush it.

√ As a hair mask: rubbing coconut oil through your hair and let it sit for a few hours (or even overnight) before washing it out.

√ As a pre-wash hair protector: rubbing coconut oil through your hair before you wash it.

√ As a scalp treatment: before bed, massage a small amount of coconut oil into your scalp. Leave it overnight and wash it off with shampoo in the morning.

Coconut oil help you easy to have long hair
If you want to nurture a long and shiny hair, you should choose coconut oil for hair care.

Coconut oil moisturizes hair, reduces breakage, protects hair from protein loss and wet damage, and protects hair from environmental damage such as wind, sun, dust and smoke. As a result, your hair becomes healthier, and you will soon have a long, shiny hair.

What happens when you use too much coconut oil?
Coconut oil is considered safe to apply to the skin and hair. But if overused, coconut oil can make your hair greasy, build up oil on your hair, it could make your hair greasy and dull, especially if you have very thin hair.

To avoid this, make sure you only use a small amount and massage the coconut oil from the middle to the ends of hair, avoiding the roots. People with fine, thin hair should avoid applying coconut oil to the scalp altogether.

Normally, hair can lose about 50 to 100 hairs per day, but if you overused it, your hair will fall out even more.

Compiled and penned by Crocus Media