Exquisite Practice, Hair Revelations: Week 1

A deeply moisturizing coconut oil hair treatment!

Last week I had the honor of speaking with hair healer and stylist, Stefani Padilla. I’ve never paid much attention to my hair (honestly, I’m overwhelmed by it’s sheer mass – my own fault since I rarely cut or style it), but after hearing Stefani’s passion around the ritual of hair care and the beauty of healing through plants, I’m awakened. Welcome to June’s Exquisite Practice theme, Hair Revelations. I’ll be posting my interview with Stefani next week along with a link to her handmade, plant-based hair care products, but today I want to talk basics.

In my conversation with Stefani, I mentioned my woefully under served hair: sometimes it’s dry and crunchy, other times it’s oily even on the same day that I wash it. It’s irritating and confusing — help! Thankfully, she had an answer for me: a coconut oil hair treatment. Stefani told me that even without all the dyeing, blow drying, flat ironing and salt spraying that we generally do, sun and other environmental exposure can cause your hair to become stripped, unbalanced and unprotected. Time to circle back to a basic, deeply moisturizing and full-coverage hair oil treatment. She walked me through it:

Since you’re likely already cooking with coconut oil and slathering it on your skin daily, you might as well use its mineral and vitamin advantage on your hair, too. Coconut oil is rich in lauric acid, has a high affinity for hair protein, and easily infiltrates the hair shaft due to its low molecular weight. Since it retains moisture so well, it keeps your hair soft and strong. Finally, it helps reduce protein loss in the hair, so as you age, this treatment will help keep your hair strong and healthy. Make sure you buy responsibly grown and harvested coconut oil – there are plenty of great options out there including Spectrum and Nutiva (my personal favorite).

Coconut Oil Hair Treatment

Ingredients:

Organic virgin coconut oil (a large scoop will do)

Scarf or wrap for your hair

Method:

Comb the coconut oil through your hair from root to tip, making sure it’s well integrated. I used the Wet Brush Pro for this on the advice of my good friend, bandmate, and most importantly – pro hair stylist – Leslie here in Philly. The brush is gentle and works beautifully on wet hair, detangling without stretching or breaking it. I’m a convert!

Once the oil is in your hair, wrap a towel or scarf around it and let it sit for a few hours. A beach day (or pool day in my case!) is the perfect time to do this because, as Stefani mentioned, the heat from the sun helps to activate the transmission of the moisture into your hair. You can also leave it in overnight, just be sure to place a towel over your pillow.

Finally, hit the shower and wash your hair twice then condition it well. You (and your hair) will love the results!

Let me know how it goes ladies, and tune into next week’s post for my very exciting interview with Stefani Padilla. Get ready for some real hair revelations!

A huge thank you to my sister Alyssa for taking the beautiful photos in this post. All I had to do was lounge by the pool, soak up the sun and moisturize while she got all the shots! Check out her work at alyssarobb.com.

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