Hair Oiling Changed My Ends — and My Mind.

Hair oiling isn’t new. It’s ancient. But like most things in adulthood — budgeting, boundaries, and dating — I didn’t fully get it until it clicked.

I was working in Kuwait, doing hair in a place where the heat is no joke. Dry desert air. Sun exposure daily. Heat styling on top of it all. And yet, most of the women had healthy, thick, and nourished hair. Even the clients with wavy and curly hair, it was long and strong. I learned quickly: they oiled their hair. Not a cute dab of serum for shine. Not a “hair oil” with more perfume than potency. I’m talking about full-on ritual. They drenched their ends in real oil. Consistently.

I was like, Ok. This really does work. And its perfect for anyone who has fragile hair and roots growing in constantly, but no length to show for it.

This wasn’t some coconut oil trend. It was maintenance. It was protection. It was their way of shielding the most vulnerable parts of the hair, the ends, from snapping, breaking, drying out, or vanishing into the brush.

And in a way, I was mad I hadn’t done it sooner, especially knowing how protective Oil can be.

I love my cosmetic oils or products, but there's a huge difference between a serum oil that is created as a hair product to create shine, smooth frizz, smell good, and hydrate vs a pure or cold pressed oil that is not diluted by other chemicals, ingredients, and is quite heavy and not recommended as a leave in for a blowout. One is for styling, the other is for treating.

Switching to pure oil — cold-pressed, undiluted, nutrient-rich — changed everything for my ends. For me, it was avocado oil, since my hair is coarser. But I also have sweet almond, jojoba, and argan. Rich enough to hydrate, light enough to absorb. I oil a little bit on my ends every few days, but I do my ritual once every two weeks. By Ritual I mean, I pour oil in a bowl, (my oil bowl), and I drench my ends in it, fully coating them. I let them sit for a few mins. I remove the excess oil, but I don’t rinse. I’ll clip my hair up and go about my day, errands, house work, etc. That night i’ll do a light wash and I immediately notice my ends are compact and not limp or split.

After adopting this, the breakage slowed. My ends weren’t snapping. My hair is longer, but the length is more dense. Looked at myself in the mirror, like wait… I think my hair getting big, haha!

So if your ends feel brittle. remember, that is the oldest part of your hair. Your hair is growing, there's no such thing as it can’t get passed a certain length, why because it suddenly knows to stop growing once it reaches your armpits? No. Your weak ends are snapping off. Love on them with some oil and let me know how it goes.

— Bianca