Any opinions on using certain oils to nourish hair on hair pieces. I had a thought, the one thing missing in the hair of hair pieces that normal peoples hair gets is oils and vitamins etc that are fed up through the roots. So I googled "using oils for dry hair" and found plenty of sites that talk about using certain oils for dry hair to help make the hair stronger. But only some oils are able to penetrate into the hair shaft. I think they were referred to as single chain oils perhaps or something. Some of the oils mentioned were olive oil (not virgin), sunflower oil, and I think jojoba oil maybe. Oils like avocado oil (I think) weren't suitable because they are multiple chain oils (or whatever the term was) and will not penetrate the hair shaft. Any opinions on this? I have been trying it with sunflower oil and I find the hair does feel very nice but you only need a small amount of it. However I cannot make a fair call because I am using it on a system that is loosing hair due to breakage and the hair felt rather dry and processed when it arrived so I can't say if the oil is causing the breakage or if it's preventing MORE of the hair from breaking off. Does that make sense?

Hi anubi5.... As far as I can recall, `oils`as such are not recommended for systems ...not because they are not good for hair, but because they travel down to the knots and undo them ---- although if the knots have been sealed with knot-sealer, I guess there`s very little chance of that happening.... so far, none of my systems have ever felt coarse/processed on arrival....the stylist often remarks on how soft the hair is [ and did so again yesterday when cutting the fullcap].... It`s hard to say why this hair is breaking for you ..... I can`t see why/how the factory would over-process hair on a particular batch but obviously i`m totally ignorant of what can happen there on any given day.... I`d just advise anyone who thinks the system hair is very coarse etc. on arrival, to just contact John directly rather than go ahead and wear and then find you`re having problems.....I hope the oil will help..let us know as time goes on...cheers, Paul.

The other problem is of course that oils weaken the glues & tapes, so attachments break down more quickly.
Oils contained in a cream format are better and are best applied sparingly to just the ends of the hair.
There is a range of products that I can recommend:
Macadamia Natural Oil

I have recently been using virgin coconut oil, and having used other oils to combat dryness, it works pretty good, better than others I have used. I am still experimenting with how to use it, but it feels a bit like Brylcreem, which to me is a bit heavy and greasy if left in the hair as a "leave in" conditioner. Coconut oil does seem close to the scalp's own natural oil. Has anyone else used coconut oil?

(06-24-2011, 10:31 AM)mcnash Wrote: I have recently been using virgin coconut oil, and having used other oils to combat dryness, it works pretty good, better than others I have used. I am still experimenting with how to use it, but it feels a bit like Brylcreem, which to me is a bit heavy and greasy if left in the hair as a "leave in" conditioner. Coconut oil does seem close to the scalp's own natural oil. Has anyone else used coconut oil?

Yeah that was another of the "single chain" (if thats what they called it) oils that are able to penetrate the hair shaft. The way they are recommended to be used is you put it through the hair the night before and in the morning use a shampoo that only cleans the surface of the hair shaft without opening the cuticle and then conditioning. But I also like after its had a good wash and condition and I have reattached, to put a small amount through the hair as it also seems to just make it look a bit healthier and is more manageable, after a couple of days it does seem like there is build up, I guess water and dust "catch" onto the oil during everyday activities. But I wonder if the oils can also help protect the hair from the solvents used during removal of the piece, or even help with swimming to prevent the chlorine from coming into contact with the actual hair cos we all know water and oil don't mix, the water just beads off...

I've heard of people using Scotch Guard to lock-in the shine on hair and repel water etc.
Someone on another forum has suggested a spray teflon to do the same thing.

Putting oils on your hair a night is all well and good, but saturates your pillow cases in gunk and then rubs off on your face during the night.
Can be really bad for your skin.

There is an oil in most of the glue removing solvents, often in the form of essences that perfume the product.
Thats why you need to thoroughly wash off those solvents, so that the oils don't prevent a secure attachment when re gluing.

Its a great concept to attempt to nourish the hair from the inside, but on the whole impractical with replacement hair.
Its probably better to go for the appearance of nourished hair by using one of the many 'shine' sprays available, that simply coat the hair.

Jojoba is chemically very close to natural human sebum.

Most oils aren't going to harm the hair, the problem is that applying oil in any quantity by itself can make the hair look dirty and grimy. This is accentuated with processed hair because it is so porous- it soaks up the oil like a sponge.