Does coconut oil work to protect your hair from the heat of the flat iron?

If the question is simply if coconut oil works to protect your hair from the heat of the flat iron, then the answer is yes.

Coconut oil can be an effective barrier against the heat of the flat iron for your hair.

It works, but it isn’t the best method.

Do you want to know why?

 

I’ll tell you here

 

 

Why coconut oil could be a good heat protector for your hair

Check organic coconut oil price on Amazon

 

For those who are like I was years ago that flat iron their hair, you will know all the difficulties we go through with our hair.

Because in the search for the perfect straightness, in the end, and although take extreme measures to care for our hair, we always end up damaging the hair fibers.

The truth is that what I learned in all of these years is that to actually have healthy hair, you can’t have bleached it, colored it, flat ironed it, or dried it with a hair dryer.

 

But us women like change.

That’s why I love straight hair.

It allows me to have meticulous hair without frizz at any time of day.

Lately, the interest in knowing more benefits of coconut oil for your hair is growing considerably.

 

 I already knew that coconut oil was an excellent deep hydration treatment. 

Just as much if you leave it on all night in your hair, as if you do a nourishing treatment for a half hour.

I also knew that coconut oil works to protect your hair from the damage of chemical products that are used in bleaching.

But I didn’t know it worked to protect your hair from the heat of the flat iron.

 

And that, I discovered by coincidence.

It was two months ago, while I was starting to flat iron my hair and I discovered that I didn’t have a single drop of the heat protector that I usually use.

And if there is something that I will never do, it’s flat iron my hair without using that stuff first.

 

 When I was ready to run out of the house and buy more heat protector, my cell phone rang. 

It was Carla, one of my best friends who after I told what had happened, she told me very surely to use coconut oil to protect my hair before using the flat iron.

My first reaction was thinking that she was crazy.

 

I was terrified that my hair would end up fried after applying the coconut oil.

But she assured me that she used it for two years.

She insisted so much, that I decided to try it.

I knew my friend well enough to know that she would never destroy her marvelous hair.

And it never looked burnt.

After all, coconut oil is considered a transporter, which means that it is naturally less volatile and can be pressed cold or extracted with another oil.

Also, it is full of organic acids like oleic acid, palmitic acid and stearic acid which are excellent emollients that nourish and protect your hair.

 

Now, all that’s left is to know why coconut oil doesn’t fry your hair when you use the flat iron.

And that has to do with what the biochemists call the smoke point.

 

What is the smoke point of coconut oil?

The smoke point is what marks the maximum temperature that the oil can support before it starts to smoke.

Coconut oil lasts up to 177°C.

 

 That means that if you flat iron your hair up to that temperature, the coconut oil will work to protect your hair from the heat of the flat iron.  

But if you go beyond that temperature, the oil will end up being toxic for your hair.

But not only because you’ll end up burning your hair.

 

When coconut oil is close to the smoke point, and you go beyond it, it also gets to the point of inflammation which will start to produce gases which can be damaging to your health.

So, to sum it all up.

You can use coconut oil on your hair before flat ironing it, if and when the temperature of the flat iron doesn’t pass 177° C. 

 

How to protect the hair when the flat iron goes beyond 177°C

When faced with this alternative, you have two options.

 

Other alternatives to protect your hair from the heat of the flat iron

If you are an ultra defender of natural cosmetics and you need to use the flat iron at a temperature greater than 177° C, then your option is avocado oil.

But I’m warning you.

It’s an expensive product.

But it will protect your hair up to 271° C that your flat iron can reach.

 

The other alternative is silicones.

If you ask me, I prefer to use silicone based heat protectors.

 

Silicone based heat protectors

Silicones are one of those ingredients that is most used in hair products to protect hair from the heat of the flat iron and hair dryer.

 

This is basically because silicones, called polysiloxanes by biochemists, are made by combining silicon, the 14^th element on the periodic table, with oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon amongst other materials.

When silicon is combined with these organic substances, it turns into a true defense against heat, because it is unchangeable even when it’s put under high temperatures.

 

At the same time, it blocks the natural moisture of the hair which minimizes the damage to the cuticle and avoids the weakening of the hair.

 

Lately, I’ve been using Insta Natural Heat protector.

I like it because it adds natural ingredients like argan, castor and sunflower oil.

Also, it’s easy to apply because it comes as a spray.

 

How to use coconut oil before flat ironing your hair

That day that I ended up without silicone for my hair, I used coconut oil.

What I did was melt two or three tablespoons of the oil in a double boiler.

Remember that coconut oil is always best when it’s been cold pressed.

 

Since I had an empty spray bottle in the house, I put in ten tablespoons of water and I added the oil.

After dividing my hair into sections, I sprayed it with my sprayer.

Afterward, I softly dried my hair with a hair dryer and proceeded to use the flat iron.

 

When I finished, it was true that my hair ended up without frizz.

I didn’t notice any other damage.

 

 But the truth is that it wasn’t as shiny has when I use heat protectors with silicones. 

 

That’s why I use coconut oil as a heat protector for my hair when the silicone one is used up.

Because, in the end, it protects your hair from the heat of the flat iron and hair dryer.

 

How do you protect your hair from the heat of the flat iron?