Glycerin for natural hair, or often called rather glycerol, is a colorless, scentless, and thick liquid carbon compound found in most skincare and hair care products.
You can extract it from multiple natural sources like plants and animals, from which you can obtain triglycerides.
This trendy sticky fluid is conditioning alcohol with three hydrophilic groups, making it more soluble in water than other conditioning alcohols.
Here is all you need to be informed about glycerin for natural hair, including its benefits, safety, recipe, and where you can buy it.
8 MAJOR BENEFITS OF GLYCERIN FOR NATURAL HAIR
1). Promotes water absorption and retention
Usually, for your hair to maintain its optimum balance, it needs to have a certain amount of water.
Glycerin can help support this balance because of its hygroscopic properties.
Therefore, it can draw moisture from the surroundings and channel the required dampness to your hair strands.
Then, its humectant property helps it lock-in the humidity within your cuticles, keeping your hair hydrated.
2). Enables curly hair
Glycerin absorbs moisture from the surrounding and locks it to the cuticles.
Besides being a good humectant and moisturizer, its viscidity and high boiling point enable hair to be curly.
Glycerin for hair is also a good frizz minimizer; thus, preventing the curls from getting damaged easily.
3). Stops split ends from developing
Factors like dryness and brittleness predispose your natural hair to develop split ends due to frizz.
However, using glycerin will stop your strands from being frizzy.
Instead, they become firm and well hydrated; hence, eliminating split ends.
4). Eradicates dry scalp-related conditions
During certain seasons like winter, the scalp tends to be dry, and it can lead to issues like itchiness and dandruff.
Glycerin has moisturizing and anti-inflammatory effects.
Therefore, its regular application will eliminate these dry scalp-related conditions.
5). Prevents hair breakage and promotes hair growth
Dry hair is more vulnerable to breakage, which limits its progression.
Glycerin for hair growth works by moisturizing your strands, preventing them from being dry.
As a result, hair breakage will reduce, creating an optimized and smooth environment for change to occur.
6). Repairs hair and scalp damage
Some products that you use habitually can damage your hair and scalp without your knowing.
At times, heat styling tools or pollution can also damage your hair. But if your hair is already damaged, how can you treat it?
Well, because glycerin has good conditioning properties, it helps to repair weak and damaged strands.
Besides, it aids in the regeneration of new cells, keeping your hair follicles well-nourished, strong, and healthy.
7). Removes hair color
Glycerin is a suitable solvent for many molecules.
It is capable of dissolving unbound dye molecules found in the outer hair shaft.
Therefore, you need to be exceedingly careful when using glycerin on hair with a semi-permanent dye because it will fade quickly.
For freshly colored hair with permanent dye, the cuticle may not be re-sealed completely. Glycerin will cause it to lose some colorant molecules, just like what any other harsh shampoo will do.
8). Slippage
Glycerin has a thick and sticky consistency.
Products that contain this carbon compound allow strands to slip past each other easily, making detangling easy.
Slippage also helps to lubricate hair strands minimizing friction between them; hence, reducing hair breakage.
IS GLYCERIN SAFE FOR YOUR HAIR?
Like any other product, there are pros and cons of glycerin for natural hair.
With all the above benefits that come along with this compound, is glycerin terrible for hair?
Let’s dig further on the side effects of glycerin for natural.
The high molecular density of the three hydrophilic groups makes glycerin an extremely hygroscopic molecule.
If you apply it in a highly concentrated state, it will strip all the hair’s interior moisture.
However, in diluted form, it will serve as an excellent moisturizer and humectant. So be careful how you use it.
Also, be sensitive about different climates. In hot and humid regions, there’s a lot of moisture in the environment.
Therefore, glycerin will absorb too much water causing your cuticles to swell; hence, making your strands frizz, become coarse, and disrupt their pattern.
On the other hand, in icy and dry environments, glycerin tends to draw moisture from your hair cuticles to the surrounding.
The result will cause significant dehydration to your hair strands.
Therefore, you should understand the best environment to use glycerin. We recommend settings with moderate humidity.
Vegetable glycerin is a good heat conductor.
When you use it together with heat styling tools like curling irons, it may seriously harm your hair if you use a liberal amount.
Therefore, always use it in small amounts and in diluted form to protect your natural hair.
Now, is glycerol safe to use?
Well, that depends on how you apply it.
Correct application will yield great results.
Always check the level of humidity, dilute it before use, and use it in small quantities.
Finally, instead of synthetic glycerin, opt for the natural ones because they are free from chemicals and toxins.
HOW TO USE GLYCERIN FOR HAIR
We have an uncountable amount of glycerin for natural hair recipes.
You can use glycerol with a spray water bottle, rosewater, castor oil, aloe vera, coconut oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, among other natural oils.
How can you use aloe vera with glycerin for hair?
Aloe Vera has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties.
Therefore, it helps to keep your scalp healthy and prevents scalp-related conditions.
For best results, mix one tablespoon of glycerin with one tablespoon of fresh aloe vera gel.
Apply the mixture to your strands and scalp evenly, and leave it for 15-20 minutes before rinsing it out with lukewarm water.
WHERE CAN YOU BUY GLYCERIN FOR NATURAL HAIR?
You can find glycerin for natural hair anywhere in retail shops, wholesale shops, supermarkets, and online stores.
If you want to avoid using glycerin in its raw form, you may buy commercially-made products like shampoos containing glycerol.
FAQs DOES GLYCERIN THICKEN HAIR?
We realize that other than being a good moisturizer, glycerin also strengthens hair strands and prevents split ends from developing.
It therefore reduces/prevents hair breakage.
If you use this product for a while, you will notice an improvement in your strands, especially if you are a hair thinning victim.
This improvement does not mean that glycerin thickens hair.
Hair thickness does not change, but its progress will make you think so.
CAN I LEAVE GLYCERIN ON MY HAIR OVERNIGHT?
Yes. The longer glycerin stays in your hair, the greater it penetrates to the hair cuticles, and the more your hair will benefit.
I find it best to also use a plastic cap during application for the best results.