Do blacks produce sebum oil?

[larry3344]

Hi ladies,

I've had my hair blowdried and straightened three weeks ago roughly. I have still not wash it because I had been planning on getting single braids done. Later I decided to get a lacewig instead to save my edges...anyway I have noticed of all this time my scalp is not really oily. Now I wonder if some afro textured people produce less sebum or none at all. Also if my hypothesis is correct if there are anything currently on the market that can help you produce sebum.

 

[NappyNelle]

Yes, we do produce sebum; the hair strands we produce tend to not to be coated in this sebum because of the kinks, coils, waves, and squiggles in the texture of the hair.

I believe you can only supplement the sebum through topical oil application. Even if you were to produce more sebum, you would have to work to distribute it along the hair strand

Think of it like water slides:

Which one takes more water, time, and pressure to get the human to the bottom?

Slide A:

Or Slide B:

And I'm sure there are some ladies that need to shampoo to get rid of the sebum they are producing because it's too much for their hair. When I was relaxed and had very little new growth, that was one of my problems... yucky, oily, scalp. lol

 

[Lady_q_tee]

Yes, we do produce sebum - the amount of sebum we produce is down to our genes, rather than our race.

Now, with afro textured hair the sebum can't travel down our strands as easily as with Caucasian/Asian hair because of our tightly coiled curls.

Jojoba Oil is one of the closest things to our natural Sebum, so purchase some of that and use it on your scalp.

 

[Lilmama1011]

Yup but because the hair is coily it doesn't reach our ends thats why some moisturize the hair not the scalp because we produce sebum

 

[DaiseeDay]

Yepp what NappyNelle said. Even those with straight hair brush their hair to make it shiny because it helps spread the sebum. Eating foods rich in omega-3s (avocado, flax seeds) I believe can help the quality of sebum your scalp produces, but you still have to help it distribute.

 

[koolkittychick]

Yes we most definitely do! That's one of the reasons why I can't go too long between shampoos. I have very oily skin, my scalp included, and because I have 4a-4b hair, the sebum does not have a chance to travel down my hair shaft and so gets trapped on my scalp, especially deep into a stretch. I don't know of anything that will help you produce more sebum, but I have heard of several types of oils that mimic the qualities of it (coconut, jojoba, and of all things, liquified beeswax!), so try to find some of these and see what works best for you.

 

[virtuenow]

Excerpt from article http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask107:

African hair produces plenty of protective oils, called sebum. In fact, African hair actually produces more oils than Caucasian and Asian hair. However, due to the tight curls, the oil fails to spread evenly along the hair fiber.

Without lubrication, the fibers become very dry. This causes the brittle strands to flake and roughen, resulting in hair that is coarse to the touch. Very curly hair from all ethnic groups often lacks the silky smoothness of straight hair. This may due to the same reason, but to a lesser extent.

 

[gforceroy]

Yeah! My scalp is always super oily! Which sucks...

 

[Tiye]

Some black people actually have very oily scalps and oily hair. It's assumed that all black people have dry scalp/hair but that's not true. In many cases hair/scalp seems dry because of the things that many of us do to our hair. Sometimes you have leave your hair in it's natural state and cut way back on products as well to see the true nature of your scalp.

 

[lovegymnasts]

People always say we produce plenty but it does not go down our strands. While I do believe this is true for some, I don't believe that it is true for most. If it was so, most of us would have very oily scalps. If that was true, it would not be general practice to grease your scalp because it is dry. This practice started long before relaxers and the numerous things people do to their hair.

 

[MsLi@512]

If i didn't know any better i would say that i don't produce ANY or very little. My hair and scalp are always lacking moisture and is never greasy unless i supplement with oils. But than again i am a certified type 4b.

 

[topnotch1010]

^^^ what she said. Most of "us" do not produce enough oil to lubricate our hair, contrary to this myth that our hair is too coily for it to slide down the strand. Take it from someone who shampoos hair for living.

 

[Solitude]

I have wondered this as well. I noticed that if I don't use oils or other oily products on my hair, my scalp NEVER gets oily. It might get sweaty during working out, but never oily.

 

[FrazzledFraggle]

I had this exact same question but i was to shy I guess to post it. Do you think we produce as much sebum as white people? My DH's hair gets super oily (and stringy) if it's been a long day...like someone poored baby oil on his head. *I know that's not nice but I've told him this so I don't feel bad.* I have a very oily face but I never feel like my hair is oily. I notice other white people get the stringy oily hair if they don't wash their hair frequently. Why is that?

NEVERMIND. I should have read the entire thread, you already answered my questions!

 

[lovegymnasts]

I have a very oily face but I never feel like my hair is oily.

I have an extremely oily face too. Within 2 hours of wiping or cleaning my face, it is slick and shiny.

 

[Solitude]

I have an extremely oily face too. Within 2 hours of wiping or cleaning my face, it is slick and shiny.

My face gets very oily, too. If I don't use an oil-absorbent face wash, I often have to wash my face during the day or use oil-absorbent blotting cloths. My hair never gets like that.

About sebum...

I never really buy the curly-hair-sebum-can't-travel argument because I have spent most of my life straightening my hair.

 

[koolkittychick]

My face gets very oily, too. If I don't use an oil-absorbent face wash, I often have to wash my face during the day or use oil-absorbent blotting cloths. My hair never gets like that.

About sebum...

I never really buy the curly-hair-sebum-can't-travel argument because I have spent most of my life straightening my hair.

Well, for some people, it's not always the case that they have oily skin and scalp. My scalp became very oily once I stopped using shampoos with sulfates; before that, it would be itchy and flake badly. As for straightening the hair, for many black women (especially those of us with type 4 hair) straightening it does not mean it acts like straight non-kinky hair. Even when I relax it bone straight, it is still very porous and dry, so my natural sebum will have trouble traveling down my shaft to the root (it gets absorbed in the first couple of inches) unless I moisturize and seal the hair properly. Kinky hair was designed by nature to be worn shrunken and close to the head or picked out in a halo (to allow for proper airflow and cooling of the scalp in the typically hot African weather), and so the qualities that make it great for that (including being porous and unable to retain moisture without assistance) are not conducive to the other styles modern black women opt for these days. We just have to understand and work around it.

 

[Napp]

i think it depends on the person. my scalp is very oily

 

[silenttullip]

I produce too much... Even before my scalp issue... My mom used grease thinking my scalp was dry it was really built up sebum and grease was making me flake. Now I agree it can't travel down for me its not a myth when straight I can go a week or 2 and not shampoo just brush and my hair is great but natural no way it has to be washed because it will build on my scalp because it can't slide down. I also agree its genetics. I get oily scalp from my dad. I wash every 3-5 days in warm months. Now massaging your scalp with fingers only or a little oil should help you produce more sebum.

 

[MsJamerican]

I read somewhere drinking 1 Tbsp of Hemp Oil can increase sebum production

 

[Nonie]

Yes we produce sebum. That is why I haven't needed to oil my scalp since 1980 and my scalp is never dry. Also because I baggy, my hair is never dry even though I haven't used a leave-in for years. The GHE helps sebum spread to the hair as it evaporates and then gets trapped and condenses back on the hair.

I do believe that if we smother our skin with products, we stop it behaving normally. Before 1980, my scalp would itch something awful if I didn't "grease" my scalp. I would get dandruff and I was sure I could not live w/o applying something to my scalp. But then I was dared by a teacher to not apply anything. I itched for a day or so and then nothing. I've never looked back. I use shampoo twice a week and my hair and scalp don't feel dry.

The same thing happened with my skin. I used to have dry combination skin. If I washed my face, it felt tight in the dry spots and I'd have to moisturize or I'd itch like mad. I stopped using water-based moisturizer and even go bare (all over sometimes) and my skin feels moisturized and doesn't look dry. On my face I only use a sunblock that has no water on it. On my body, in the winter I use coconut oil. In the summer I go bare. My skin doesn't look dry at all.

So you may find going bare scalp and maybe adding the GHE allows your scalp to normalize and your sebum production to become optimum. A diet that includes healthy oils (EFAs) and water also helps with the moisturizing of skin including scalp.

 

[candy626]

I believe we all do. Even if you can't see it, you can certainly smell it. Ask someone to smell your scalp for you after you haven't washed your hair in a week.

It's there...