Amla Oil Revisited

The last time I wrote about amla oil, Miracle Oil or Nightmare?,  I discussed its benefits and how to use it properly as a pre-poo. I had been using it as a daily oiling treatment and experienced increased shedding. After finding out that it was best used before shampooing, I decided to try it again and monitor my results. Below is my experience using the amla oil as a pre-poo.

 The first week I used it, I mixed my Jamaican Black Castor Oil with amla with coconut oil and rubbed it on my hair in sections. I left it in my hair for a little more than an hour and then rinsed out my hair for about three minutes. I shampooed with Shea Moisture for dry and damaged hair and conditioned and detangled with Shea Moisture’s anti-breakage masque. To me, it looked as if I had less shedding in my comb than previous weeks. However, while I was styling my hair, I noticed that I kept losing strands.  This concerned me, but I researched shedding and that it could actually be beneficial, paving the way for stronger and thicker strands. Click here Rogaine (Minoxidil) The Initial Hair Shedding Phase? and here  Staying Motivated: Why shedding is actually a good thing, to learn more about how shedding could actually be beneficial (more on this later).

 

To me, this does not look like a lot of shedding, I think it is pretty good and amla may not be so bad after all.  
 
After using it in my hair, I washed my daughter’s hair the same way and saw much better results with her. Her scalp is usually very dry, and even after I wash and condition it, I still see white patches and flakes on her scalp. However, after doing a pre-poo with the amla oil, her scalp was completely clear of flakes and the best I had seen it in years. She also had less shedding than usual and I was very encouraged by the results and decided to continue using the product.

My daughter always has a lot more shedding than this so this was actually very encouraging.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Next Week

The following week I pre-pooed using the amla oil then co-washed my hair. After the co-wash, I used a Deep Conditioner by Eden Body Works. When I was finished, it seemed I had barely shed at all.

This is good right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Although I had a lot less shedding during my detangling phase, I noticed that when I loosed each section of my hair to wash and condition it, I lost 4-5 more strands in my hands when I touched my hair. This was unusual for me. Even though my hair ball looks smaller than the previous week, when you add up the hair I lost in my hand from each section (5 strands for each 5 sections is at least 20 hairs) the ball gets a little bigger. As an aside, I want to say that I noticed increased length in my hair. I have been shampooing, co-washing, deep conditioning, oiling regularly for months now and wearing protective styles and I have definitely noticed an improvement in the length of my hair.

 
  Of course I was doing my daughter’s hair while doing my own, and I noticed a more drastic outcome with her hair. She had much more shedding than the previous week….

It looks kind of cute

 

And then this happened.

That's quite a few strands people!

I was detangling her hair, and literally without pulling or anything, about six or seven strands came away with a brush of my fingers from one spot.

 

Remember about what I said earlier about how shedding could be a sign of a good thing. Well I told myself that if it was just shedding the older strands and not the newer ones, then maybe it was not all bad. I looked back in the tub where I had washed my hair, at the much shorter strands that I assumed were from breakage, and wouldn't you know I saw the big bulby end of shed hair! My new growth was coming out!

 

Well, that was enough for me. When you see smoke, there is a fire somewhere. I had already suspected that it was increasing shedding in my hair, but my daughter seemed to have good results. However, I do not want to have an experience like Skills did in this article, Excessive Shedding: Could co-washing be the culprit? , so I will quit while I am ahead.

Amla oil is not for everyone. If you choose to use amla oil on your hair, pay close attention and do not ignore the warning signs. My scalp was very irritable this past week after I used it and it only calmed down once I smoothed some coconut oil on it.

 

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