Coconut oil to prevent damage from peroxide/bleach

Thank you so much! I'll share my experiences (maybe it could be of use for someone 🙂 ).

First I melted the coconut oil by putting the bottle in some hot water for a while. Then I absolutely soaked my hair with oil, like.. soaked it. Put it in a bun an left it in overnight (put an old towel over my pillow). In the morning I started applying the dye to my hair, a permanent box dye with 20vol peroxide. My hair is naturally curly, so normally when i comb it through it becomes a frizzy mess, but with the oil both the combing and the sectioning became so easy! This made the dyeing process much easier, so that alone makes me want to never stop using coconut oil when dyeing my hair. 😉 It seemed like I had to use much less dye too. I left it in for about 40 mins, then just rinsed it out with water. The oil rinsed out easily (just like you said, ModifiedMomma, thanks!). I stepped out of the shower without using shampoo, conditioner or other products. The ends were a tad dry (but they've suffered loads of dyeing-abuse over the years so no wonder) but the rest of my hair felt super soft and supple. No damage done! Awesome!

So now I'm sitting here with my new hair-experiment in my hair, waiting 'till I can rinse it out: Directions Poppy Red and Dark Tulip. This all went swimmingly! Thanks!

The ends were a tad dry (but they've suffered loads of dyeing-abuse over the years so no wonder) but the rest of my hair felt super soft and supple. No damage done! Awesome!

glad it went so well for you. the proteins in coconut oil can be drying so a good moisturising treatment is advised after. the directions should contribute to this.

This might be in here already, but this thread is loooong D:
How do you all apply it? I found it very hard to apply it evenly 🙁
I microwaved it so it was completely liquid and then dipped my fingers into it and ran them through my hair, but some areas got more than others and I ended up with loads of oil on my neck and ears.
Do you think it would be possible to apply it with a tint brush? I imagine it might be easier, and I absolutely hate the texture of oil, so having it all over my neck was a nightmare.
Or is it possible to only melt it a tiny bit so it's kinda gel-like?

It worked amazingly though, never bleaching without it again!:3

Naomi, I melt it in my hands until it's soft enough to slather it on (when it's more of a gel consistency instead of fully liquid).  It doesn't take much since the melt point for coconut oil is 76 degrees F (about 24 degrees C).  Even when my house is cold and the coconut oil is seemingly rock hard.  I just put a bit in the palm of my hands and hold it until it's soft.  I use coconut oil on my eczema as well, so I do this nearly every day... works a treat!

Oh, this sounds really good, thanks! 🙂

I used to use coconut oil as a treatment before I knew of this amazing discovery.

I used to scoop out some of the oil and put it on a plate of some sort I pre-heated with hot water. This would just melt the oil without becoming to runny. Then I would rub it on my hands and start at my very ends, working my way up (often without adding more oil), as the roots didn't need as much. This way it wouldn't run down my neck but it still completely covered my hair. 🙂

Another way (but much less controlled and subtle 😉 ) would be to make a high ponytail and just pour some of the oil on the hair in the tail straight from the bottle. Keep you head upside down and above a sink, twist your hair so the oil spreads more evenly and put it in a bun. I would put the oil on my hands on my roots.

These two ways have always worked for me. 🙂

Hey! Did it ever happen to anyone that the coconut oil becomes weird?

After a long summer where it staid mostly in the liquid state and maybe me putting a few drops of water accidentally in the jar, now it seems kinda rancid, it's very hard when solid and smells different. I'm dyeing my hair tomorrow, so I already put it in my hair 🙁 But I'm kinda worried that it went bad because of the temperature flcutuations.

i know it can be denatured (not sure if thats the right word) if it gets too hot like if you microwaved it.

Sorry if this question already popped up somewhere, but how long before a BB can we leave coconut oil on for? I was thinking of putting in on my hair about 4 hours before so it would really soak in, or is that too long before?

You can have it in for a few hours before, if you'd like.  Most people tend to do a half hour minimum, but there's no problem with it being a longer treatment.

Lol, thank you again for answering my questions ;).

Have it in now, my hair is nice and oily and dripping all over the place! 😀

I would blot some of that out as some people have said it's made applying bleach harder.

I would blot some of that out as some people have said it's made applying bleach harder.

Before seeing your post I ended up putting a towel around my head, to remove some of the excess oil and to keep my head warm, so I guess that's a good thing then! 😀

Thank you for your input, as a total coco oil noob, it is nice to have people give you advice!

Yeah, I usually put coconut oil on my hair before I sleep and then top it up when I wake up and leave it a couple more hours 🙂

Just another happy coconut head reporting good things! I don't think I even used the right one but it still worked wonders. I used the small tub from Holland and Barrett as I couldn't afford the big one, but it doesn't smell of coconut whatsoever.

I totally slathered it onto bone dry and clarified hair, and left it on for an hour under clingfilm and a showercap before bleach bathing for an hour at 30vol.  My hair is VERY damaged in some areas from previously over-bleaching so I was expecting to lose some or see breakage, even just with a bleach bath (but I have a couple of inches going spare as I like to have a bob so I wasn't too bothered, heh).

Not only did I lose NO hair or feel any breaking or gumminess, but it feels in better condition than it did beforehand! will never bleach my hair without this ever again! Thanks so much for the tip and info!