Welcome back to the home of Long Beautiful Hair!
Introduction
For women, our hair is the eternal pursuit of perfection. Maybe is something we inherited from old ancestors; in Ancient Greek society women that were free citizens used to have long and thick hair. Short haircuts was a sign of mourning or growing old.
In our days, healthy natural hair is positively recognized as a reflection of the personality.
Taranath, a UW professor, sees hair as a signifier of culture, race, social pressures, and belonging. Her Speakers Bureau presentation “Tangled: Why Your Hair Matters To Society” examines how we express ourselves through our hair . Let's not get into politics but...
"We just have to look at Michelle Obama’s trajectory,” Taranath says. “How she groomed her hair said a lot, and how she was not able to groom her hair said a lot.”
In our pursuit of continuous hair improvement, we are always looking for the best products for our hair. Sometimes we need to pay more for some products we consider are the best and other times we find very accessible products we can use without paying the premium of the top brands.
In this article, we would like to provide some references to help you create your own opinion about what is best for you and your family.
What is mineral oil?
Mineral oil is a clear, odorless liquid; its a by product of oil refining and distiliation process applied to obtain petrol and others petroleum products.
As per wikipedia, - "The name mineral oil by itself is imprecise. Other names, similarly imprecise, include white oil, paraffin oil, liquid paraffin (a highly refined medical grade), paraffinum liquidum (Latin), and liquid petroleum. Baby oil is a perfumed mineral oil." Mineral oil is made from highly refined, purified and processed petroleum.
Uses of mineral oil
Mineral oil is an accessible and versatile product used on:
- Cooking.
- Conditioning leather materials.
- Wood conditioner and sealant.
- Laxative.
- Oil-stain remover.
- Unrefined mineral oil find uses in Cars
Highly refined mineral oil is a cost-efficient, moisturizing product that is used in many different cosmetic formulations.
While mineral oil works well as a protective, glossy coating for the hair, it can’t penetrate the hair fiber and therefore won’t be effective at treating existing hair damage.
Advantages of mineral oil
When used in hair treatments, mineral oil can restore shine, reduce tangles, and prevent split ends.
Is a versatile product, easily accessible.
No research had been found to prove is dangerous to health.
Concerns?
People worry about mineral oil, untreated or lightly treated mineral oil is a known carcinogen, but highly refined cosmetic grade mineral oils (and other liquids distilled from petroleum) used in beauty products are not dangerous.
In fact, they’re safe enough that physician-researchers recommend both mineral oil and petroleum jelly as safe, effective treatments for babies’ diaper rash.
Allure - "The biggest problem with these products is whether there is a potential to clog your pores (probably not)."
Sometimes negative effects reflect in our bodies after many years, it's not easy to daily track if our favorite product is causing us any harm. We all have seen famous cases where people exposed to contaminants found consequences and side effects reported only after many years of being used.
If despite all the wide uses of Mineral Oil, you are not sure about incorporating this synthetic product as part of your hair routine, check all your product labels as you might be alreay using it already; if you would like to know about natural options...
Please keep reading.
Any Natural options?
There are plenty of options for synthetic products. "There are many oils out there that are good occlusive agents, these are natural elements with the capability to trap moisture. Examples include coconut oil, avocado oil, and olive oil between others.
Specifically, look for oils with larger molecules that don't penetrate the skin easily to replicate the effect of mineral oil. They include castor oil, avocado oil, and grape seed oil. Beeswax is another good alternative as it creates a barrier on the skin.
1.- Organic Oils
If you are looking for an oil that will be more effective at preventing the loss of essential hair proteins, then we suggest looking for conditioners or leave-in products containing Organic oils instead, as plant oils generally offer far more additional benefits than mineral oil.
Rele and Mohile in 2003, studied the properties of mineral oil, coconut oil and sunflower oil on hair. "Among three oils, coconut oil was the only oil found to reduce the protein loss for both undamaged and damaged hair when used as a prewash and postwash grooming product."
2.- Avocado Oil
Healthline - "You can use avocado as the fruit or oil for your hair. The oil itself is rich in: antioxidants, minerals, essential fatty acids, biotin, vitamins A, B-5, and E"
Avocado oil is extremely rich in oleic acid and monounsaturated fats, making it one of few oils that can actually penetrate the hair shaft and moisturize your hair, rather than sitting on top and coating your hair.
3.- Olive Oil
In a 2015 study published on PMC on mice, researchers found that "applying olive-tree derived ingredients stimulated hair growth. ...Oleic acid has antioxidant qualities, which might help slow the effects of hair loss. Olive products may also have antibacterial properties, which could potentially play a role in a healthy scalp.
Olive oil has shown potential for helping to reduce and prevent split ends. So while we may not have concrete evidence that olive oil promotes hair growth, we know that it has protective and nutritional qualities that might make your hair look and feel healthier.
There’s very little scientific evidence to support olive oil’s popularity in haircare. But some research on the effect of olive oil shows that it can have a major moisturizing effect.
A final word...
How can you incorporate all these natural options or at least use some of them?
All is dependent on proper formulation, optimum mixtures between oils will allow our scalp and hair to absorb the nutrients needed for a consistent natural hair growth. At FC Lifestyle we promote the use of natural products; we consider the best approach is to find replacements in 100 % natural products for most of these components with a complex refining process.
’It might be a little more expensive sometimes, but the final outcome will be worth it.
Whichever is your choice, we suggest always read product labels, check reviews on social media for any products you may choose to use; direct references from real users is the best insurance against the latest advertising techniques, and to help us select the best options for our family.
Have you read the ingredients on the label of your favorite products for a big surprise?
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