"Mineral oil is an
colorless, odorless, light mixtures of alkanes from a non-vegetable
(mineral) source, particularly a distillate of petroleum. It is often a
liquid by-product of the distillation of petroleum to
produce gasoline and other petroleum-based products from crude
oil. It is related to petroleum jelly (also known as "white
petrolatum"). It is very cheap, and it is produced in very large
quantities. Some people may refer to mineral oil as melted wax, because the
substance obtained when melting paraffin wax is basically the same as mineral
oil."
Petroleum is a semi-solid substance that is
composed of non-polar, water-repelling hydrocarbons. It is used widely in the
cosmetics industry because it is cheaper to use as a filler ingredient than
other oils.
The film that mineral oil creates on hair and
and the use of petroleum or petroleum based products prevents
moisture leaving the hair but also prevents moisture from getting in. Mineral
oil despises water.
Hair deprived of
moisture leads to breakage.
Knowing what we do about black hair, we
know that moisture is important to our hair. The question is..."Why are
there so many black haircare products with mineral oil/petroleum in them?.
...COSTS CUTTING!!
Mineral
oil/Petroleum blocks
hair follicles, which makes the scalp dry (dandruff) and
dirty and blocks hair growth.
Practical-
Try it (or not):
After
washing your hands and whilst wet, try to moisturise your skin with petroleum
jelly, or petrolatum. Its just sits on the skin and doesn't rub in.
The
same thing happens with the scalp. It may hide dry scalp
temporarily and can cause the hair to shine, but will not allow the hair to be properly moisturised.
Some people use petroleum based-products to combat dry scalp but dry scalp is a
lack of moisture getting to the scalp. The ingredients will eventually
dry out and just sit on the scalp blocking hair follicles and more dandruff
will top what's already on your scalp.
Practical- Try it (or not):
Applying petroleum based grease to your hair for moisturisation, Keep applying it and you will find your hair will begin to
feel drier.
As the product builds up on the hair strands,
moisture is blocked and is unable to enter the stands and hence the dryness.
Beware of these in the products that you buy. Check the ingredients. Minerals oil, Petrolatum and petroleum can be found in Shampoos, conditioners, moisturisers and sealers. The only way to cleanse mineral oils from the hair is by washing your hair with sulfate shampoos. However, sulfate in our hair leads to another problem.
Use 100% pure natural oils: for example – jojoba oil, coconut oil, olive oil, Almond oil etc.
If you are starting out on your healthy hair
journey, take care. Do your research and don't follow all the fads around and don’t
believe the adverts on the bottles/cans/tubs or TV.
Links for information:
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