Essential Oils for Hair Care

What Do I Need to Know About Essential Oil Hair Care?

First of all… Let’s talk about why people use essential oils for hair care. One of the main reasons is that most hair products contain so many potentially harmful chemicals like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate/Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLS), Triclosan, Polysorbates, or Polyethylene Glycol, all of which can cause a wide range of harmful reactions depending on the individual’s sensitivity and the level of exposure. To eliminate these chemicals, and for shinier, healthier, more full and nourished hair, adding essential oils to natural, chemical-free hair care products (store-bought, or homemade) is often considered the very best way to go.

Adding oils to your regular treatments can be a great way to help protect your hair from potentially harsh environmental conditions, the stress of daily washings, and heat damage from hair dryers, curlers, or straighteners.

How Do I Use Essential Oils For My Hair?

The amount may differ from oil to oil, but generally, 1-3 drops Davina Wellness essential oils blended with about 2 Tablespoons of hair product like shampoo or conditioner is plenty. There are several ways you can easily fit essential oil hair care into part of your regular beauty routine.

Simple uses to get you started:

• Add to your shampoo and conditioner
• Add to your regular oil treatment
• Spot treat receding hairlines
• Enjoy the oils incredible aroma and therapeutic benefits by combing a few drops through your hair before heating it up while drying your hair.

Which essential oils are best for hair?

It depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. For example, some oils are more nourishing, some help oily hair or dry hair, whereas others are great for hair loss or dandruff. Many oils cover several of these uses, however, and are also incredible to use for other purposes (stress, meditation, depression, memory, energy, acne, etc.) and you may find yourself using and loving your oils for far more than just your hair. Here’s a quick rundown of some of our most popular oils for essential oil hair care.

Tea Tree

Tea tree is a popular oil for cleansing because of its antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral properties, but it’s also an anti-inflammatory that is comforting and soothing to the skin and scalp. It has been found to kill head lice with 100% mortality and had an abortive effect on 50% of the eggs in 30 minutes with a 1:2 concentration at 4 days. When Tea Tree was blended 0.5% with 1% nerolidol, it produced the death of all head lice at 30 min and the abortive effect of louse eggs after 5 days(5). So if you’re concerned about lice, Tea Tree is essential to have around, especially while kids are in school. It can be added to shampoo and conditioner, combed through the hair, and added to a hot oil treatment. The most common way to use it to get rid of lice is to dilute it at 6-8 drops Tea Tree to 2-3 Tablespoons coconut oil, massage it into the scalp and through hair. Let it sit for about an hour, comb out dead lice and eggs using a lice comb, then wash it out with your regular shampoo.

Peppermint

Davina Wellness Peppermint is often used for essential oil hair care because can help with dandruff control and increase hair thickness and growth(4). This awesome oil is sure to give you an invigorating pick-me-up as it stimulates your scalp. Simply add a few drops to your shampoo in the morning to get a quick shot of energy while you rid yourself of dandruff and soothe and cool your scalp. Peppermint essential oil can be added to your regular oil treatment, but in smaller amounts of about 3 drops per 2 tablespoons coconut oil, though smaller amounts can be used. We recommend you try a small area first (as some are more sensitive to Peppermint) before applying it to your scalp.

Lavender

Lavender essential oil is one of the most popular oils for good reason. Davina Wellness customers love it because it’s so incredibly versatile and effective. For hair care, it has been shown to have a positive impact on hair follicle quantity and depth and exhibited growth promoting effects(3). This lovely oil is wonderful in its ability to soothe dry skin, help with dandruff and dry scalp, while it also has the added benefit of calming emotions as well. Try adding 2-4 drops to your conditioner, diluting 1:1 and massaging into the scalp, or combing a few drops through your hair.

Patchouli

Patchouli essential oil is an excellent choice to regulate and balance oily or dry hair, scalp, and skin. It’s soothing and gently calms inflammation while helping moisturize the scalp and clear dandruff. As an astringent, Patchouli can tighten tissues and skin, making it useful for hair loss prevention. You can make use of Patchouli by adding a few drops to your conditioner or dilute and apply a few drops topically to receding hairlines or add 8-10 drops to 2 tablespoons coconut oil for your usual hot oil hair treatment.

Rosemary

Rosemary essential oil has been shown to be an effective alternative treatment for hair loss (2). It stimulates and strengthens hair at the root, helps control oiliness, and is a popular oil to increase hair’s health and thickness. Davina Wellness Rosemary can be used as part of your regular oil treatment (6-8 drops in 2 tablespoons coconut oil), or to spot treat receding hairlines blended 1:1 with olive oil, then let sit 2-3 hours before washing.

Cedarwood

Cedarwood’s protective antifungal, astringent and antiseptic properties make it a valuable addition to any hair or skin care routine as well as an effective treatment for wounds. For those who suffer from anxiety and stress, cedarwood has a calming, sedative effect. Cedarwood essential oil is easy to use to help to reduce hair loss, treat alopecia(1), control dandruff, and to help balance oils in the hair. To help balance oils and reduce dandruff, Cedarwood essential oil can be added to your conditioner, or to your regular oil treatment by adding a few drops to 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. Massage this into the scalp and let rest an hour or two before washing it off.

These are just a few of our favorites. There are many others to choose from and many Davina Wellness customers enjoy blending several single oils to make their own unique blends and make their selections based therapeutic benefits as well as for their amazing scent.

Other Davina Wellness oils popular for hair care

• Ylang Ylang
• Wild Orange
• Clary Sage
• Roman Chamomile
• Tea Tree

References

1) Hay IC, Jamieson M, & Ormerod AD. (1998) Randomized trial of aromatherapy. Successful treatment for alopecia areata. Arch Dermatol. 1998 Nov;134(11):1349-52.

2) Panahi Y, Taghizadeh M, Marzony ET, Sahebkar A. (2015) Rosemary oil vs minoxidil 2% for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia: a randomized comparative trial. Skinmed. 2015 Jan-Feb;13(1):15-21.

3) Lee, B. H., Lee, J. S., & Kim, Y. C. (2016). Hair Growth-Promoting Effects of Lavender Oil in C57BL/6 Mice. Toxicological Research, 32(2), 103–108. http://doi.org/10.5487/TR.2016.32.2.103

4) Ji Young Oh, Min Ah Park, & Young Chul Kim. (2014) Peppermint Oil Promotes Hair Growth without Toxic Signs. Toxicol Res. 2014 Dec; 30(4): 297–304.
doi: 10.5487/TR.2014.30.4.297

5) Campli et. al., (2012) Activity of tea tree oil and nerolidol alone or in combination against Pediculus capitis (head lice) and its eggs. Parasitol Res. Nov; 111(5): 1985–1992. Published online 2012 Jul 31. doi: 10.1007/s00436-012-3045-0