Oil makes my hair itchy

So I am trying to figure out whats going on with my scalp. Everytime I braid my hair and have to apply oils to my scalp to prevent dryness or just oil my scalp it makes my scalp itchy. I notice this has been happening everytime I apply any oil to my scalp. I use to just add the direct oil to my scalp, but it caused my scalp to be dry and flaking. I heard this was because oil are a sealent and I was just sealing dryness into my scalp. They said I should mix the oil with water then spritz it into my scalp. I've done that so many times with different oils and its still the same issues. Instead of using regular water I decided to use rose water, a little olive oil and a bit of glycerin. I spritzed that into my scalp and I cant stop scratching my scalp. What do you think is wrong? I surely don't know. Also is there a way to moisturize my scalp without using oil? if so what could I use? When I use greases I have the same issue. I'm so confused on what to do. HELP

I'm not 100% sure but you might be putting too much on your hair. Sometimes when I put too much product in my hair it causes it to flak up and become itcy so now i use less oils.

Hmmmm....a curly conundrum.

If it did it without the oil, it might be saying it needs circulation. Since it's only happening with the oils, it's saying the oils are irritating your follicles. It could be a lot of things from allergies to inflammation in the follicles. But, if it doesn't happen when you don't put oils on your scalp, it's probably something not so serious right now and should be easily remedied. Could be your scalp doesn't like oils very much because your sebum production is enough for your scalp. Sometimes flaking isn't due to dryness too. So you might want to check into that. If the flaking is a little waxier, it may be an overproduction of sebum. In that case you may want to do an acv rinse like Pam Ferrell's version. It restores the acid mantle on the scalp and gets rid of the scaling.

When your scalp is itching or doing anything abnormal, it's usually trying to send some sort of message. If the problem goes away when you stop using oils, then keep your scalp happy. If the problem is just dry scalp you can treat the dry scalp with your washing and conditioning regimen. You can add oils into your poo or condish so you can still get the benefits of the oils in other ways.

I can't apply oils to my scalp for serious reasons. So, I put them in the stuff I wash/condish with and so I still reap the benefits of the oils. I'd hate to see you go from a relatively minor issue to a bad one by continuing to irritate your scalp. Ongoing irritation many times leads to infections and all sorts of baddies.

Hope that helps.

nattyblog wrote:Hmmmm....a curly conundrum.

If it did it without the oil, it might be saying it needs circulation. Since it's only happening with the oils, it's saying the oils are irritating your follicles. It could be a lot of things from allergies to inflammation in the follicles. But, if it doesn't happen when you don't put oils on your scalp, it's probably something not so serious right now and should be easily remedied. Could be your scalp doesn't like oils very much because your sebum production is enough for your scalp. Sometimes flaking isn't due to dryness too. So you might want to check into that. If the flaking is a little waxier, it may be an overproduction of sebum. In that case you may want to do an acv rinse like Pam Ferrell's version. It restores the acid mantle on the scalp and gets rid of the scaling.

When your scalp is itching or doing anything abnormal, it's usually trying to send some sort of message. If the problem goes away when you stop using oils, then keep your scalp happy. If the problem is just dry scalp you can treat the dry scalp with your washing and conditioning regimen. You can add oils into your poo or condish so you can still get the benefits of the oils in other ways.

I can't apply oils to my scalp for serious reasons. So, I put them in the stuff I wash/condish with and so I still reap the benefits of the oils. I'd hate to see you go from a relatively minor issue to a bad one by continuing to irritate your scalp. Ongoing irritation many times leads to infections and all sorts of baddies.

Hope that helps.

The funny thing is that this lady told me the same thing. She told me I should stop putting oil in my hair period. Instead use glycerin and water. My hair does love curl activator so she may be right. She use to be a beautician so she could be right. She said something about my hair glands producing enough oil for my scalp, but not enough moisture to stop flaking. She said I need a very light moisturizer and that may help me.

By oiling your scalp you run the risk of many adverse effects.
First, it's true, oil isn't a moisturizer-- and some oils are irritants. Make sure you have a pure, organic oil that is a carrier not an essential oil. Essential oils must never be applied alone to the body (that is, without a carrier) otherwise you will probably experience irritation. Check this website for more explanation and a larger list of types of oils under each category---> http://www.nappykitchen.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=23
In addition, it's very hard for water to permeate oil. If you oil your scalp (dry or not) very little water will escape or come through. Moisture retention is almost impossible unless you are wetting (and massaging) your scalp on a regular. I mention massage because you must dislodge the oils and dirt that cake in your hair follicles so that your roots can receive the moisture, and nutrients they deserve. Hair growth is also likely to be impeded by clogged hair follicles.

To counteract my sensitive, itchy scalp I do a few things:
1) Wash my hair at least twice a week (I usually do one shampoo, and two co-washes per week)
2) Never apply oil directly to the scalp
3) Work with the very light coconut oil on my hair
4) Spray my scalp with a spritz I make myself (1/2 cup of water, four drops of scalp oil from Jane Carter's Solution, and a small squirt of my Mop Extreme Moisture deep treatment; I change this each week so mold doesn't grow) any time my scalp feels 'weird'
5) Apply Aloe Vera (sometimes with witch hazel mixed in to counteract sweat) to my scalp every two days after the spritz-- it's non-comedogenic, soothing, and is a humectant; not a sealer.

Good luck love! Having scalp problems are the worst.

Electrum wrote:By oiling your scalp you run the risk of many adverse effects.
First, it's true, oil isn't a moisturizer-- and some oils are irritants. Make sure you have a pure, organic oil that is a carrier not an essential oil. Essential oils must never be applied alone to the body (that is, without a carrier) otherwise you will probably experience irritation. Check this website for more explanation and a larger list of types of oils under each category---> http://www.nappykitchen.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=23
In addition, it's very hard for water to permeate oil. If you oil your scalp (dry or not) very little water will escape or come through. Moisture retention is almost impossible unless you are wetting (and massaging) your scalp on a regular. I mention massage because you must dislodge the oils and dirt that cake in your hair follicles so that your roots can receive the moisture, and nutrients they deserve. Hair growth is also likely to be impeded by clogged hair follicles.

To counteract my sensitive, itchy scalp I do a few things:
1) Wash my hair at least twice a week (I usually do one shampoo, and two co-washes per week)
2) Never apply oil directly to the scalp
3) Work with the very light coconut oil on my hair
4) Spray my scalp with a spritz I make myself (1/2 cup of water, four drops of scalp oil from Jane Carter's Solution, and a small squirt of my Mop Extreme Moisture deep treatment; I change this each week so mold doesn't grow) any time my scalp feels 'weird'
5) Apply Aloe Vera (sometimes with witch hazel mixed in to counteract sweat) to my scalp every two days after the spritz-- it's non-comedogenic, soothing, and is a humectant; not a sealer.

Good luck love! Having scalp problems are the worst.

I understand what your saying completely, but I know about essential oils and carrier oils. I use the carrier when I apply oil to my scalp. I even tried putting a few drops of peppermint oil and water and spritzing it hoping that would help with the itchyness and thats did not work. My hair just may really dislike oils. I'm going to just try spraying glycerin and water on my scalp and using lots of curl activator. Since I changed my reg by using all natural products, my hair has somewhat taken a turn for the worst. Shea butter and coconut oil makes my hair feel hard, Jojoba oil makes my scalp itchy, Castor oil seems okay, but its a little icky and you cant mix it with anything, Avocado oil and Aloe vera oil does not penetrate my strands, Macadamia and Avocado butter seems to work okay, but curl activator has worked better at moisturizing, Beeswax causes build-up as we all know, Olive oil only works when I cowash now, I applied Castor, Coconut, Olive oil to my scalp and all caused it to feel itchy and my hair flaked. I'm going back to my glycerin products. Hopefully that would be beneficial to my hair.

I used to have itchy scalp issues but, not using petroleum based oils was my solution. It sounds like you should stick to cowashing in lieu of oiling your scalp. Most people tend to forget that our scalp needs to exfoliate just like the skin on the rest of our bodies. I'm not a hair expert but, dead skin that is trapped on the scalp from excess oil can prevent the skin underneath from receiving moisture. Don't inhibit exfoliation with excessive oil! Instead try a natural Alpha Hydroxy acid for your scalp. Forexample, wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo or rinse your hair with a black or green tea and lemon juice rinse. Also, try "coconut milk" as a conditoner. Then just stick to washing and cowashing. For your hair you should should just use non-greasy/ non-oily leave-ins like Giovanni leave-in or Kinky Curly knot today. Let me know how things workout for your. Good Luck!

Mllebutterfly wrote:I used to have itchy scalp issues but, not using petroleum based oils was my solution. It sounds like you should stick to cowashing in lieu of oiling your scalp. Most people tend to forget that our scalp needs to exfoliate just like the skin on the rest of our bodies. I'm not a hair expert but, dead skin that is trapped on the scalp from excess oil can prevent the skin underneath from receiving moisture. Don't inhibit exfoliation with excessive oil! Instead try a natural Alpha Hydroxy acid for your scalp. Forexample, wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo or rinse your hair with a black or green tea and lemon juice rinse. Also, try "coconut milk" as a conditoner. Then just stick to washing and cowashing. For your hair you should should just use non-greasy/ non-oily leave-ins like Giovanni leave-in or Kinky Curly knot today. Let me know how things workout for your. Good Luck!

Thanks. Sounds like a plan.Thank You

your scalp doesn't need moisture, your hair does. only put it on your hair and don't put anything(not even leave in) on your actual scalp. sorry if someone already said this but I didn't read all the answers.

JazmineB wrote:your scalp doesn't need moisture, your hair does. only put it on your hair and don't put anything(not even leave in) on your actual scalp. sorry if someone already said this but I didn't read all the answers.

Thanks. So I have a question. What does one do if they have dry scalp? just mist it with water? Oh btw I stopped using oils all together and my scalp is not itching. I'm using glycerin, aloe vera and rose water on my scalp. My scalp is no longer dry or itchy. I also moisturized with curl activator and my hair is just sucking up everything. I'm going to continue with this. No more butters or oils

chocolate-kinks wrote:

JazmineB wrote:your scalp doesn't need moisture, your hair does. only put it on your hair and don't put anything(not even leave in) on your actual scalp. sorry if someone already said this but I didn't read all the answers.

Thanks. So I have a question. What does one do if they have dry scalp? just mist it with water? Oh btw I stopped using oils all together and my scalp is not itching. I'm using glycerin, aloe vera and rose water on my scalp. My scalp is no longer dry or itchy. I also moisturized with curl activator and my hair is just sucking up everything. I'm going to continue with this. No more butters or oils

Your welcome. I'm not too sure about dry scalp, you might have to ask someone who also has a dry scalp, because I have the opposite problem. But it sounds like your glycerine/aloe vera mix is working, that is good to hear! I was just reading about the benefits of aloe vera, and its great for the scalp.

http://www.blackhairplanet.com/blog/aloe-vera-gel-natural-hair/