Slugging may not sound like the most glamorous skincare and haircare hack you’ve ever heard of, but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming popular. It started with a simple approach to nourish dry skin: Apply a thick coat of oil and let it sit to lock in moisture. From there, skin slugging has given way to the popularity of hair slugging, the practice of combatting dry or damaged hair with the same oil treatment. Dermatologists say it’s a safe and effective practice, and it’s one that’s been used around the world for generations.
So, if you’re curious about how you can use a simple oil you might already have in your pantry or medicine cabinet at home to achieve softer, smoother, more lively hair, here are seven steps you can adapt to your specific needs:
1. Determine if it’s right for you. Start by deciding whether hair slugging makes sense for your hair, particularly depending on the time of year. If you have course, frizzy, brittle hair, then slugging would help moisturize your strands, especially in the winter months when the air tends to be dryer. But if you have an oily scalp, then slugging could cause a breakout around your hairline, and if you have especially fine hair, you could end up with an oily buildup that is difficult to wash out. (If you do have finer hair and still want to give it a moisturizing boost, pay attention to the next step.)
2. Choose your oil. Not all oils will be the right fit. A heavier oil like coconut oil or olive oil will work well to penetrate the shafts of thicker hair. If you’ve got finer hair, you want to go with a lighter choice like argan oil or grapeseed oil, which won’t weigh your hair down.
3. Prepare your hair. Prepare your hair for slugging by conditioning it and towel drying it (without any applied heat), leaving it slightly damp but not wet.
4. Apply and wrap. Apply the oil to your damp hair but be careful about the amount you use. You want your hair to be generously and evenly coated but not dripping. Once you’ve finished applying it, wrap your hair with a towel or scarf, or you can cover it with a bonnet or shower cap.
5. Let it sit. It’s usually best to slug hair right before you go to sleep, so you can give your hair a full eight hours to lock in moisture.
6. Style as needed. The next morning, take off the wrap and remove any excess oil. This can typically be done with a toweling and brushing, but if there is a lot of leftover oil, you may need a light shampooing. Style your hair afterward the way you usually do.
7. Repeat as needed. You don’t need to (and probably shouldn’t) slug your hair every night. Stick with once a week to begin with. If your hair is very dry, you may need to repeat the process twice a week, and if you find your hair is prone to oiliness, you can cut back to every other week or even once a month.
