Much like contouring and avocados, coconut oil has become a staple in pretty much every Millennial's life.
Whether we're frying our vegetables in it or slathering it over our dry skin to combat the effects of too much hand washing, the world has gone loco for all things coco. Celebrities like Kourtney Kardashian and Miranda Kerr have been preaching the benefits of the all-natural oil for the last few years and brands have created entire beauty and haircare ranges infused with the stuff.
If you haven't used coconut oil shave your legs or whiten your teeth, you're seriously missing a trick.
Plus, with shop shelves running low on essentials like olive oil and vegetable oil, coconut oil could be the next best (and healthier) alternative to your culinary conundrums right now.
However, before you start getting carried away and slathering it from head to toe, you might want to heed our expert's advice. After news broke that coconut oil could be bad for certain skin types, we were keen to find out whether the same was true for our hair, especially as we witnessed a huge surge in people Googling it.
We called on Ross Charles, Owner of Ross Charles Hairdressing, to weigh in on the topic - and his verdict was seriously insightful.
Is coconut oil good or bad for our dry hair?
"People often use hair oils to moisten their hair, but I often say that when hair needs moisture, it is thirsty and needs a drink. In fact, oil and water don't mix. Oil actually repels water and either pushes it out of the hair or stops it from getting into the hair."
What exactly is coconut oil doing to our hair, then?
"If your hair has been damaged from over-processing from colour, or is weak and fragile, you need to get amino acids into the hair shaft, so definitely don't want to coat your hair in oil.
"Hair oils - and especially coconut oil - tend to seep into every tiny hole in your hair shaft and disguise the real problem to act as a quick-fix; this won't help your hair in the long-run and is one of the main reasons I advise against using oils in your hair."
What should we be using to hydrate our hair instead?
"Instead of using oils to fight frizz, always use low PH products on your hair. This will keep the cuticle flatter, meaning less tangles. Tangled hair is often the cuticle scales of your hair interlocking with each other.
Use moisturising masks on a regular basis as an alternative to oils to really penetrate dry, damaged hair and begin a long-term treatment process to healthy, strong hair."
This article originally appeared on GLAMOUR UK | Author: Bianca London
