Coconut Oil - Hair Mask

When I was pregnant with Ryder my hair was SO thick and long. Thicker and longer than normal. (I have a lot of hair. Again, I didn’t get the nickname “Simba” for nothing. HA!) Every time I went in to get my hair colored during that pregnancy my friend was like “Dang girl!” and I just felt sorry for her arms that she had to stand there and foil my head for hours! LOL After Ryder was born I never felt like I went through that stage of losing the hair, either. I’ve had so many mommy friends say their hair would just fall out by the tons! I was so thankful this never happened to me.

This pregnancy… different story! I have had SOOOO much breakage. It’s bad. I still have a lot of hair, nevertheless, it’s left me feeling bald! It’s all relative, right?! Not only is my hair breaking, but it’s breaking really close to the root. So I’ve felt bald and also had crazy fly-aways ALL over my head. I can’t even hide them. I can’t flat iron them to blend, putting in oils or leave-in conditioner didn’t help, either. On top of having major breakage all over my head … I’ve even lost eyelashes. Like, chunks of eyelashes. I swear I’ll put on mascara and half of one eye is left with one thin little hair. It’s kinda funny. But not!

So finally after months of this (and my hairdresser having no solution other than to be “gentler” on my hair and be patient while it grows back out – I know she’s probably right, but come on! It’s going to take yearssssss before this grows out!!) I started looking up natural and/or home remedies for broken/damaged hair. I came across someone recommending putting coconut oil in your hair. I saw a bunch of other recommendations where you have to make DIY creams and buy a bunch of weird stuff and spend time mixing it together. But my lazy, pregnant self thought that would be WAY too much work and decided to go with the straight coconut oil. I wanted it to be something easy so I could realistically do it at home and on my own.

I was so hesitant to do this. I am used to my hair feeling very full and thick and was worried that putting coconut oil alllll over my hair would make it feel very greasy and weighed down. I stared at the stupid coconut oil jar on my bathroom counter for months! Yes, that was plural. Finally, I told myself to suck it up and do it. What’s the worst that could happen?! #YOLO

You guys, it’s amazing. It was recommended to leave on hair for at least one hour before showering. I think I left it on for 5 minutes before I hopped into the shower the first time because I was really worried about being left with flat, greasy hair. And even just five minutes made a big difference! I have since done it a few times and every time I am left with smoother, less frizzy hair. It’s easier to blow dry and not greasy at all. I do use a little less oils and other products in my hair after doing a coconut oil hair mask.

I have also heard about putting the coconut oil on your eyelashes and/or brows if you want them to grow in thicker. I try to do this a couple times a week. I haven’t noticed my lashes getting any thicker, but the fall out I was having before is MUCH less. High five!

I was so excited to tell my girlfriend about this new trick! When I told her she said all calmly, “Oh yeah, I do that hair mask every now and then.” I was like, “Whaaaaatt?!?!? Why didn’t you ever tell me about it?!” LOL Months later, I’m still a little mad at her for keeping this secret from me, but I forgive her ;)

Anyway, I thought maybe someone else could benefit from this little trick! I buy one jar and it lasts me about 3-4 hair masks. I cover my entire head in it and put it up in an oily/coconut-y bun for about an hour before I shower and shampoo + condition as I normally would. Like I said, I was worried to put it up close to my roots, but since that’s where the frizz and breakage was the worst, I went for it and haven’t experienced any excess oil or grease from it. But I do have super thick, course hair naturally, so use caution! LOL

Let me know if you try this trick and if it works for you! Or … you can just let me know that you already knew about this nifty little trick and tell me to get with the program a little faster next time. HA! Good luck!