Coconut Oil Benefits for Hair – How & When to Use

Coconut oil is a blessing for your hair. This amazing, nutrient-rich oil not only helps to grow your hair quickly but at the same time also takes care of all the problems your hair and scalp face due to sun exposure, heat styling, and many other factors.

This article is totally dedicated to coconut oil, its benefits, and its uses so that, at the end of this writing, you understand why you must incorporate this wonder element in your hair care regime as soon as possible.

Why Coconut Oil is Beneficial for Your Hair?

Coconut oil is the elixir for your hair locks!

This wonder oil is so rich in vitamins, minerals, and other nourishing agents that it can solve almost all the problems and damages your tresses are facing. Furthermore, this oil also promotes hair growth and straight type hair so that you can enjoy long, luscious healthy manes anywhere and everywhere you want.

The reason we favor coconut oil over any other hair oils out there is that this wonder oil is packed with beneficial carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals and has an incredibly large number of fatty acids, the combination of which helps to get rid of damages and also assist in maintaining the good health and appearance of your tresses as well as your scalp.

The medium-chain fatty acids aid the oil to penetrate deeply into the scalp (and absorb easily) while the carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals improve the hair texture and fight frizz and other issues (split ends, breakage, lack of shine and elasticity, etc.) by adding an adequate amount of moisture and nourishment to them.

Additionally, this combination (vitamins, minerals, etc.) along with the chemical structure of coconut oil helps to minimize the protein loss from the hairs’ (bleached, chemically treated, UV exposed, or totally undamaged) surface and protect hair from any further mishaps.

Another amazing characteristic of coconut oil is that it is antiviral, antifungal, and has antibacterial properties that actively fight fungal attacks and infections to improve scalp conditions and present you with a healthy, soft, and supple scalp.

You might squeeze in the Viva Naturals Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil in your hair care routine to see amazing results in just a few days.

When to Apply Coconut Oil to Your Hair? Before or After Washing?

Coconut oil has extremely beneficial effects on your tresses regardless of when you apply it (before or after washing). Having said that, let’s talk about the advantages this miracle oil has on your tresses when it is applied before washing your manes.

When you massage coconut oil 30-60 minutes prior to shampooing your tresses, it forms a protective layer over your hair strands that limits the amount of water absorbed by your tresses and at the same time also prevents the cleaning agents (from the shampoo) to strip away your hairs’ natural oils and nourishment so that your tresses don’t suffer from dryness and frizziness after the washing regime.

This “before washing” oil massaging technique also reduces hair damage (damages due to brushing and styling wet hair) and makes sure that the hairs are softer, smoother, and are easier to style.

On the other hand, when you apply this marvelous oil after washing your tresses, it penetrates deep into the hair shaft making them smoother and softer. This oil deep conditions your manes so that they don’t suffer from breakage and there are fewer tangles and knots.

Other Benefits of Coconut Oil for Your Hair

Now let’s discuss some other benefits you can get from applying coconut oil to your manes on a regular basis.

Provides Sun Protection

The harmful UVA and UVB rays from the sun can be extremely damaging for your delicate tresses. These rays dry your hair locks quickly which makes them brittle and prone to breakage.

With a sun protection factor of 8 (tested and proven), coconut oil helps to filter the UV rays of the sun and provides extreme protection to your manes against sun damage. Therefore, we would suggest putting on a pump or two of this oil on your manes before stepping out in the sun for your own good.

Acts as a Dandruff Treatment

Dandruff is either caused by an extremely dry scalp (which causes the scalp skin to flake) or by the overgrowth of fungus or yeast on the head. However it is caused, dandruff can be totally treated by massaging coconut oil on your scalp religiously on a regular basis.

The hydrating and nourishing properties of this amazing oil penetrate deep into the scalp, moisturizing it from the inside so that the dryness and flakiness are reduced gradually (so does disturbing dandruff) to present you with a healthy and clean head.

Additionally, the antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial features of coconut oil fight dandruff (caused by a fungus) successfully and get rid of this phenomenon so that you have a fresh scalp and flawless tresses.

Prevents Hair Loss & Baldness

By now you already know that coconut oil is a very rich source of vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids which, aside from nourishing and hydrating your tresses, also help them to grow and be stronger than before. When you have strong hair strands, it means that they are less likely to fall off (due to pulling or tangles or other factors) and make you bald.

Acts as a Daily Detangler

Regular styling or dryness can tangle up your tresses very quickly and can cause severe knots and bumps. One way to get rid of such an annoying situation is to apply a small amount of coconut oil in the tangled and knotted area to make them nourished and smooth so that when you comb through your tresses, they come off easily.

Provides Lice Protection

Many of you might not know this, but coconut oil is a proven natural alternative to kill lice from your tresses. Massage coconut oil throughout your manes as well as your scalp, cover it with a shower cap (for 2 hours) before combing them with a fine-tooth comb; after combing thoroughly, you will see and feel the difference and thank us then.

How to Use Coconut Oil for Lustrous Hair Locks

Let’s talk about how to use this magical oil to get extremely beautiful and lustrous tresses.

As a Hair Oil

You can massage it in all your hairs as well as your scalp to not only moisturize but at the same time also enhance blood circulation for luscious, healthier manes.

As a Leave-in Conditioner

Even though your conditioner does the job just right, we would still recommend putting on a drop or two of coconut oil in your tresses just after washing them to keep them smooth and silky all day long.

As a Detangler

To keep tangles, knots and other messes at arm’s length from your precious tresses, apply a few drops of this oil from the roots to tips and examine how it makes a whole lot of difference.

As a Scalp Treatment

At the end of the day, before going to bed, massage a pump or two of this amazing oil onto your scalp to get rid of any fungal infections or dandruff as well as to improve blood circulation for dazzling tresses and a clean head.

Sources

• Gavazzoni Dias, Maria FernandaReis. “Hair Cosmetics: An Overview.” International Journal of Trichology 7