If our hair can supposedly produce natural oil how come different oils adsorb it?

[Blue_Berry]

Excuse my ignorance, I keep hearing that African American hair can produce natural oils like any other race. How come everytime I put oil in my hair it adsorbs it later on, but with another race it is a different story. Their hair keeps getting oilier if they don't wash their hair. Can someone please enlighten me on this topic?

 

[rririla]

Hey Blueberry, They say that our scalps produce oil the same as other races, however the texture of our hair and the curliness does not allow the oil to really flow down the entire hair shaft, whereas people with straighter hair, the oils flow easily down the hair shaft so they must wash more often, in order to avoid the 'greasy' look. HTH, but I am not an expert so don't quote me.

 

[Rei]

bump for this answer. I always thought that it was the shape of the hair (the coils) that prevents oils from the scalp from traveling all the way down the hairshaft, hence why the extra oil is needed, but my hair was just as dry and un-oily relaxed when my hair was straight so idg that explanation either

 

[lolascurls]

When you're relaxed, my hair did tend to look oily a lot quicker. However, new growth is wavy enough to prevent the oil going all the way down. Remember that relaxed hair looses moisture easier too (dry ends break off) and natural hair can get dry too. We seal in the moisture but that doesn't mean the elements still don't get to our tresses (air and wind), drying them out again. Finally, the oils we put on are not the same as the sebum we make (jojoba oil, which is actually a wax, is the closest to it).

 

[lea86111]

i think the ladies are right. I read smwh sm time ago that it's the coils and their tightness that prevent the oils to slide down, also I THINK i remember reading that the reason why it still doesn't do this when relaxed, is because the shaft has been disturbed/altered by the relaxer and therefore the shaft doesn't lay down smooth or smth....i think, lol eheh

 

[lalla]

I think that we do not produce enough oil and that it does not reach low enough on the hair strand to keep all the hair lubricated.

Some oils ( coconut, avocado and olive oils if I remember correctly) penetrate the hair strand and I think the absence of natural oil makes that easier vs oily straight hair.
For other oils that coat the hair, I think they mostly lubricate the strands and make the hair shinier when it could be dry/dull/tangled without. I'm not sure if they provide any other benefit.

 

[My Friend]

I read somewhere that lack of sulphur in the diet cause the oil glands to shut down or lessen the amout of oil that is produced. I think that's why some people here have success with MSM.

My own theory is when we apply topical oils to our scalp (greasin) it tells our body to stop making oil. I'm not talking about the coconut or olive oil that can penetrate the epidermis, but the pore clogging oils that sit on top of the scalp. JMHO

 

[Boujoichic]

My scalp definitely produces a far amount of oil. It is more noticible when I wear my hair straight after about a week my hair would start looking oily and sticking to my head and this is without adding any oils to my hair for sealing or styling. I agree with the above posters about your curls or coils keeping the oils from traveling all the way down the hair shaft. I also belive the amount of oil your scalp produces varies from person to person.