Mineral Oil May Not Be The Devil?

Hmm.... After reading an article comparing mineral oil and coconut oil on Naturally Curly, I'm a little on the fence about how maliciously I view mineral oil. Before I read how bad it was, it never hurt my hair, personally. I mean after all, back in the day, most of our moms used mineral oil based products on our hair and it looked great and was long. Me and my sister's was anyway. Mineral oil does have good benefits, now. It's great for blocking moisture from hair which can be a good and a bad thing. Example: it can be a great thing when your hair is already properly moisturized and you apply it on top to seal in the moisture and block out any extra in the air that would create frizz. It can be a bad thing if your hair is very dry and you apply it on top; now additional moisture is blocked from getting to your hair. You see? It's all in understanding mineral oil and how to use it your advantage.

It now makes sense why mommy pressed our hair with pressing grease that had mineral oil in it. Looking back, I realize that our reversion and frizz rates were very low. Our hair also didn't dry out as fast. At least for the first 2 weeks or so, we were guaranteed soft, frizz free hair. I could probably extend that as an adult now. Back then we were busy kids who didn't really care if it reverted too fast or not. Our hair was well moisturized underneath so the mineral oil held that in thus keeping our hair soft.

I encourage you all to take a look at the article and come to your own conclusions about it. Still don't think I'll go out recommending it to folks but hey, to each his own.

I guess my thing is still, how eco-friendly is mineral oil? I'd also like to find an article/research that compared it to castor oil. Guess I've got some research to do. I will report back with any findings I encounter for those that are interested or maybe I can inspire Jc over at The Natural Haven to share her thoughts on mineral oil vs castor oil (I'd better double check her site. She may have an article up on this already). Hehe. I know you're reading! :D