Benefits of Oils for Your Hair/ 14 Oils and Their Uses

Oil is so vital for your hair; it makes De-tangling easy, it conditions and repairs the strands, it provides nutrients and strength for the hair. Oils make the hair shiny and soft, reduce breakages and split ends as well as promote hair growth.

Knowing that oil is good for your hair is not the same as knowing when to use it! It is very important to know when to use which oil to get the desired effects and benefits from that oil.

The following table shows some vital contents of the 14 oils featured in this article.

Although several oils can be used for the same purpose, some are more effective for that very purpose than others. You may want to test and compare the effectiveness of different options of oils on your hair for same purpose. Here are the 10 uses of the featured oils:

#1 Sealant

Oils that serve as sealants are daily used to prevent moisture from escaping from the hair. Of course your hair has to be moisturized (with water and leave-in conditioner) before you apply oil to seal in that moisture. The ideal sealants would “sit” on the strands and not penetrate into it. Great sealants in no particular order are castor oil, canola oil, jojoba oil, almond oil, sunflower oil and flax-seed oil (also called linseed oil)

#2 De-tangling

Almost any oil can be used to make detangling a breeze, but what you intend doing after detangling should determine the oil to choose. If you want to shampoo or condition your hair immediately after detangling, you  may  want to  use oils like monoi, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil (not palm oil). Should you want to rock your detangled hair, then go for sealants.

#3 Pre-pooing

This is done prior to shampooing to protect the hair from the harsh effect of the shampoo, to reduce breakage and to restore luster to the strands. It’s good to get the hair prepared by coating the hair with oil and wrapping with plastic cap/bag (applying heat) for about 20 minutes. The oil known for doing  justice to this pre-pooing job is pure coconut oil. Palm kernel oil (not palm oil), canola oil and olive oil are also options.

#4  Oil Rinse

After washing and conditioning your hair, you may want to use oil to rinse the hair. After rinsing with oil, rinse with water. Remember to avoid pouring the oil on your scalp when doing the oil rinse. Olive oil, almond oil, sunflower oil and flax-seed oil are  recommendable for this purpose.

#5 Hot Oil Treatment

For hot oil treatment, you need some set of oil that can penetrate the hair to condition and repair it. For this, combine some of these oils: coconut oil, castor oil, palm kernel oil, canola oil, sesame oil, sunflower oil, monoi oil and almond oil.

#6 Oil Based Conditioner

When your hair is straightened or you have some curls on that you want to maintain without water or water-based conditioner, you’ll need some oil to keep your hair healthy and looking stunning. The sweet smell of monoi oil makes it my favorite for this purpose. Other suitable oils are olive oil, avocado oil and flax-seed oil.

#7 Receding Hairline Treatment

Massaging your edges with oil is found to be very helpful in growing back receding hairline. Some oils that suit this purpose are: tea tree oil, sesame oil, lemongrass oil, and castor oil.

#8 Dandruff Treatment

This severe case of dry scalp indicated by white flaking can be treated with oils containing anti-dandruff agent such as tea tree oil, coconut oil, canola oil, sesame oil  and palm kernel oil.

#9 Fungi and Lice Treatment

A good number of oils contain anti-fungal agents as shown in the table above, but  the two best are lemongrass oil and tea tree oil.  In the case where lice have invaded your hair and you’re  wondering if any oil could be of help, yes, tea tree oil, coconut oil, sesame oil  and  palm kernel oil can help fight against lice infections.

#10 Itchy Scalp Treatment

One of the methods to solve itchiness is by massaging the scalp with some oils. To solve itchiness, use tea tree oil, lemongrass oil and olive oil.

Temperature has a lot to do with the nutritional value of oils: while some oils (e.g coconut, palm kernel, canola oil)  retain their nutritional value and aroma when heated to high cooking temperatures, heating some others (e.g avocado oil and linseed oil) would result in the loss or reduction of their nutrients. It is advisable to buy cold pressed oils and extra virgin/pure oils as the nutritional value as well as the flavor and aroma of these should be intact.

Furthermore, essential oils (tea tree oil and lemongrass oil) are quite powerful that only little quantities should be used at once. Don’t use them alone but rather dilute in any carrier oil like almond oil, castor oil, avocado oil, olive oil, jojoba oil, etc

How your hair looks and feels will significantly improve when you learn to use oils regularly and appropriately.

By Shiny Tresses