Can someone clear this up for me?

Hmmm.....Good questions Tiff. The mineral oil thing I see your point and have thought the same thing. However, I feel that even though you may just be using it to seal it may still get on the scalp and clog the pores. I just don't wanna use it. I used to inly use coconut oil on my hair and had now problems. I also just read a girls thing yesterday on here (I forget her name but her hair is GORGEOUS and LONG) and she said she ONLY uses coconut oil. So it works for some. And I don't see why you would be able to just use coconut oil and then jojoba to seal it in. Makes sense to me if the facts are really facts. Try it and see what happens if you were thinking about it. And for the evoo, I believe it penetrates. I read a lot that says it does and I didn't have any problems when i used it on my hair.

I would used coconut oil in conjunction with another product. It's just not enough to moisture my hair.

I have used jojoba oil to seal but it was in the summer months because it is light. I have to have something heavier for the colder months.

Mineral oil and petroleum can be used to seal in but if during the week you need to remoisturize, you would have to wash your hair again. Mineral oil seals in and blocks out from what I have read.

There are a few ladies on fotki (cant think of the names off the top of my head) that use vaseline to seal their ends and all of them have BSL or longer hair. So mineral oil and petroleum can't be as bad as most naturals try to make it out to be.

I dont think EVOO penetrates but it sure does help with the shine factor. EVOO and coconut oil is a great combo for hot oil/deep treatments.

I had to learn the hard way that my hair hates almost anything even remotely related to coconut, lol. I tried it in sprays, alone, and store-bought coconut based products. Now I just use the Deep Treatment Masque from Shea Moisture and "seal" it with a palmful of White Rose (petroleum jelly) daily. I only wash my hair every 2 to 3 weeks, or whenever it feels dirty or drier than normal.

Kinda felt like the coconut oil was just rolling right off of my hair, didn't penetrate or even sit there. But I'm an odd duck anyways and I was probably doing it all wrong

You are pretty much right Coconut oil, being a triglyceride of lauric acid (principal fatty acid), has a high affinity for hair proteins and, because of its low molecular weight and straight linear chain, is able to penetrate inside the hair shaft. i also read that , avocado oil and olive just like coconut oil penetrates the hair shafts
Jojoba oil however is more of a sealant although it mimics sebum witch is our natural oil , it seals in moisture and make hair thicker , prevents breakage therefore promotes hair growths
As far as using mineral oil as a sealant it would be a good idea but as someone mention mineral oil is known to clog your pore , and block everything from getting in so to re moisturize your hair you might have to wash it than moisturize and re seal
There are so many oils and each has their particular your function i love learning about them

I'm with Creole, there are so many wonderful oils out here. Tiff, just keep reading about them. Also, in addition to what Creole stated about petroleum products, the other issue is the refining process. Since the profit margin is the bottom line with corporate America or corporate most places, they tend to use other chemicals during extraction and refining that are hazardous or suspicious of being hazardous to our health. This is why the last bit of info I had was the European Union does not allow petroleum based ingredients in cosmetic products unless the company can provide a 100% paper trail (evidence) of purity. **Disclaimer - as far as I know, this has not changed, but haven't reviewed this in a while.

Remember, the benefit in an oil is not always related to penetration b/c some of them make your hair feel soft, give it sheen, or help with manageability.

In addition to what everyone has said about mineral oil (thank you naturalnolagirl for that bit of info!), mineral oil as a sealer would clog the pores on my face since I wear my hair out a good portion of the time. With APL to BSL with , I would be breaking out on my face constantly!

Lynnieluve wrote:Mineral oil and petroleum can be used to seal in but if during the week you need to remoisturize, you would have to wash your hair again. Mineral oil seals in and blocks out from what I have read.

There are a few ladies on fotki (cant think of the names off the top of my head) that use vaseline to seal their ends and all of them have BSL or longer hair. So mineral oil and petroleum can't be as bad as most naturals try to make it out to be.

I am not using anything that has mineral oil in it at this time, but I'm glad you said this. I've read alot of articles and such that naturals have posted about the hazzards of mineral oil and not one of them is from a source that I consider to be reliable (ie. a peer reviewed research journal), so I've never jumped on this bandwagon. There are two curlies (one BSL and one WSL) in my meetup group and both seal with vaseline. Not my product of choice. I hate vaseline, but it's interesting to hear it again.

@Ambitious Tiff -

I have fine hair and look for lighter oils. Coconut is great for my hair. In the summer when I wore wash and goes I tapped my ends with it every night. I really think it worked well with my water based moisturizers to moisten my hair.

I have Jojoba in my spray bottle along with EVOO and again the combination with my other products in the bottle works well.

I can't say I've figured out what oils work great for sealing. I've used EVOO and Cocount and some Jojoba, but I haven't studied them independently enough to know which one was the better.

Here's my two cents: to me coconut oil is still an oil whether it penetrates the shaft or not. Meaning, I still use a water based leave-in then use the coconut as a sealant. Remember that oils don't necessarily give moisture to the hair, but protect it, impart shine &manageability, as well as soften. I would imagine this is why a lot of people find that using coconut oil solo isn't enough. I would *cautiously* advise that you can use EVCO &seal with jojoba, BUT still use that leave-in! I would be more like a double sealant to last longer; a sealant for inside the hair shaft, and one for outside. *my take on things of course*

As far as petroleum jelly/grease/vaseline as a sealant, there are MANY ladies who use this method. What seems to be popular is using a deep conditioner as a leave-in and sealing with the petroleum. Of course what works for them might not necessarily be your cup of tea for whatever reasons you choose! I will say this: I believe most naturals are so against the using mineral oil or petroleum based products is because most of us grew up "greasing" our scalps (or having them greased). this is what causes the blockage of pores, stunts growth and perpetuates scalp issues. Now this is all just speculation, but I would venture to say that most of the hazards of using mineral oil/petroleum based products comes from direct apllication to the skin, thus applying it to the actual ends or shaft of hair (which are dead cells) wouldn't have the same adverse affect. And like Lynnie said earlier, you would have to shampoo or clairify the hair in order to restore moisture if you find your hair is drying out after however many days into whatever style you have. No easy spray &go to remoisturize. Add to that the fact that mineral oil/petroleum based products are a lot heavier than oils normally used to seal, therefore are harder to wash out so you may do more harm than good when trying to cleanse your hair since co-washing would not be enough. But for those who have it down to a science and use it like religion, it works for them. But no telling if its the actual product usage or just the regularity of a routine in general. Either way, its not something I would be willing to risk based upon my own personal history with products of such nature. :-)

In the end its always up to how your hair feels about it so in both cases, try it *if youre daring enough*, if it don't work, chuck the idea and stick to what you know!

speaking of sealing... if I use a styling agent that contains an oil (whipped Shea with evoo or co, or the Shea moisture line which both contain an oil(s)) do i still have to seal my hair?

@blkbeauty its completely up to you! If its whipped shea, remember you can seal with butters too! If you feel like the product is heavy enough; which usually means that Water isn't one of its first 5 ingrdients and some sort of oil is; then by all means use it as a sealer and see how your hair likes it! Trial &error my love, trial &error!

@tiff glad to help! You don't have to seal per say, but it helps in the colder months and if you have fragile ends like I do. I'm prone to splits &ssk's like nobodys business! So sealing helps to retain moisture. If you find yourself reapplying your moisturizing agent daily or several times daily try sealing &see what it yields for your hair. As far as what you use, its really up to you! But let it be something that either contains and oil or butter and is heavier than your leave-in. I'm currently on EVCO but you can use pretty much any oil, butter, or product whose main ingredients contains either or both. Castor oil is really heavy so its perfect for these colder months and a little goes a long way. But you can use jojoba, olive, grapeseed, coconut, almond, safflower, carrot, sunflower...the list goes on! Its all up to what your hair likes! Get creative &mix up some oils!

Oh and PS is perfect for sealing! Especially twists! Just rub a little down the twist concentrating on the ends! HTH!