How To Use Oil for Hair Growth

One of the BIGGEST mistakes we see in the Natural Hair Community that stunts growth, is incorrectly using natural hair products.

 One of the most misused products is hair oil which can be detrimental for the health and hydration of hair. So lets talk about how to use oil correctly for the hair growth you desire!!!

Lets start by clearing up a few misconceptions about hair oil...

This might be controversial, but there is no such thing as a "hair growth oil". Don't get us wrong, oil is very beneficial for natural hair and has been used for hundreds of years on textured hair types, but the way oils are marketed in today's industry give a false impression.

Based on propaganda, many believe simply using one particular oil daily will grow your hair no matter what, and that is simply not true. Hair growth depends on way more than just using one oil. There are a lot of different factors that go into the growth of our hair including low manipulation, wash day routines, regular trims, etc.

Another huge misconception is that oil is a moisturizer for natural hair. If you look at the ingredients of any hair oil on the market, you will see that none of them contain water. Therefore oil cannot hydrate or moisturize because it lacks that ingredient.

Also oil is hydrophobic. This means that water and oil do not mix as seen in the image below. Therefore when we use oil on dry hair to "moisturize it", not only is it not moisturizing our hair, but the oil will make it difficult for hydrating products to actually penetrate your hair because it creates a barrier. This leads to continuously dry hair which can break and reduce growth.

 Here are a few ways to use Oil for Hair Growth

1. Apply Oil as a Sealing instead of Moisturizing Product. Like we discussed earlier, applying an oil first to your hair creates a barrier that prevents hydrating products from reaching your hair strand to moisturize your hair. If we reverse this process by applying an oil AFTER a hydrating product, the oil will seal the hydration into the hair. This leads to hair that stays moisturized for longer periods of time leading to length retention and growth.

2. Do a Hot Oil Treatment. A hot oil treatment is the process of heating up oil and applying it all over your hair and massaging it thoroughly on your scalp. Then the product is left on the hair for 90 minutes with heat before being rinsed out. This treatment is typically used as a pre-poo so it is something done before washing your hair. A hot oil treatment helps to soothe a dry, itchy scalp as well as make your hair softer and easier to work with for wash day, leading to less breakage. Check out our YouTube video below for a tutorial!!!

3. Add oil to deep conditioner. We all know that deep conditioning is an extremely important step in our wash day routines as it adds moisture back to the hair after being cleansed. Adding your favorite oil to your deep conditioner can help to increase the benefits of the treatment since certain oils have nutrients that are very beneficial for the health of hair. Also, as we discussed before, oil is great at sealing moisture into the hair, so it can help seal the moisture in from your deep conditioner even after you rinse it out. Your hair will stay softer and more moisturized long after your wash day!!!

Check Out This Hot Oil Treatment Tutorial!!! 

Recap

Oils can be our greatest friend or our biggest enemy depending on how we use them. It is important that we do not believe the marketing ploy of 'hair growth oils" and use oil correctly to grow our hair. Using oils as sealants instead of moisturizers, doing hot oil treatments, and adding oil to our deep conditioners can greatly benefit our long-term growth!!! Make sure to check out our Soothe & Strengthen Oil Blend to give you the benefits for your hair growth!!!

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