Hair

3 Reasons Why Coconut Oil Is a Black Chick's Best Friend

Lizzo was right! All I needed was some coconut oil!

by Dionna Daniel | COMMENT

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Coconut Oil as a Pre-Poo Treatment So pre-pooing is the main reason coconut oil and black girls are a match made in heaven. If you are a natural hair gal like myself, you know how hard it is to keep our hair moisturized. Moving from a humid climate to a more arid-desert climate wreaked havoc on my hair; I never knew how to keep it moisturized. (And believe me, I tried everything.)

For a while, I was convinced I was just going to have to chop all my hair off because it hated dry heat. Now matter what I did, the moment I walked out the door all the moisture would evaporate into thin air, leaving my style looking Crazy with a capital C.

Then, I realized moisturized hair starts on wash day. I also realized my shampoos were stripping my hair of important oils. To combat this stripping effect, I started pre-pooing (pre-shampooing) my hair with coconut oil and it made all the difference.

You can use two techniques: a hot oil treatment or the overnight baggy method. For hot oil treatments, I heat the coconut oil in a small saucepan. You must be very careful and make sure the oil is not scalding. Once the coconut oil is melted, I drench my hair with it. I sit for 30 minutes with a processing cap over my hair then I continue to shampoo as normal.

The baggy method I do the night before wash day. I take some coconut oil and lather my hair with it. I sleep with a processing cap over my head all night and wash with shampoo out in the morning as normal. If you were experiencing insane dryness before trying pre-pooing, being prepared to be shook. This will leave you hair feeling supple and soft. Just don't forget to deep condition afterwards to lock in all the moisture.

Image via luba/Getty

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