I needed a quick project because we went away for the weekend and just got back today, so I thought I’d try something that has been recommended to me many times over, by actual people who cut hair: olive oil as hair conditioning treatment. I used only extra-virgin olive oil, nothing extra, because I love the smell of olive oil, especially the super green, almost bitter kind we buy, which even has a little sediment in it. It didn’t have much of a smell once I applied it, anyway.
You can see from the picture how much I used (there was a little extra, which I used after as body oil!). I poured a little in my hands and applied it to my hair, going around my head until it all seemed coated. Then I wrapped my head in plastic wrap to keep it warm. Yes, plastic wrap. Amazing how the kitchen and bathroom coincide in these projects.
I sat in a bath while I waited for it to infuse into my hair. I gave it about 40 minutes, periodically wetting a washcloth with hot water, wringing it out so it was warm and damp, and placing it on my head to warm the oil under the plastic wrap. Once I was done, I showered but the oil didn’t rinse away without a good amount of water and a couple rounds of shampoo. I’m pretty sure there is still some oil in my hair; it remains to be seen whether this will have negative effects on how it looks, so check back later in the week for an update.
Overall this was totally easy to do and seems pretty cheap (again, we buy our oil in bulk so it’s hard to tell), so if it works, I think I would do it every week! But I would just buy a shower cap I could reuse every time with the oil: I hate the idea of using all that plastic wrap.
