The Great Hair Oil Debate: Are Hair Oil Treatments Good or Bad for Your Locks?
An at-home treatment designed to add shine, smoothness and moisture to your locks, some argue that hair oiling can do more harm than good by weighing your hair down. So, what’s the truth? Here, our team of hair experts weigh in.
The Benefits of Hair Oiling
Used properly, hair oils offer some great benefits, including:
- Adding Shine: Unmoisturised strands can look lacklustre or limp. Hair oils help smoothen the cuticles to reflect more light, leaving the hair with a healthy shine.
- Soothing Dryness: Hair oiling imparts deep moisture to dehydrated hair, deeply penetrating the strands and sealing the cuticles down.
- Reduced Hair Shedding: With stronger hair comes less breakage. Hair oiling helps prevent and seal breakage for healthier-looking strands.
- Nourishing the Scalp: Light scalp massages in combination with hair oiling can help fight scalp dryness and boost circulation for healthy, new hair growth.
When Hair Oiling Becomes Problematic
While hair oiling has clear benefits, it can cause issues when overused or misused, including:
- Weighing Down Hair: Using too much oil or failing to properly shampoo it out after treatments can lead to weigh down.
- Irritating the Scalp: Oil residue left on the scalp can clog hair follicles, leading to possible irritation.
- Greasiness: Not washing out oils thoroughly after use can leave the hair looking oily or dirty.
With proper use, however, we can avoid these hair-oiling pitfalls.
How to Oil Your Hair Properly
Follow these steps to get the best results from your hair oiling routine:
- Prep Your Scalp & Hair: Knowing when to oil your hair is key to reaping the full benefits without causing buildup. We recommend oiling your strands on hair wash day or the night before for added moisture.
A great shampoo and conditioner to supplement your hair oiling routine is our best-selling HG Duo, which helps detoxify the scalp while supporting healthy hair growth.
- Applying the Oil: Time for the hair oiling! Start by warming two to three drops of your favourite treatment oil, like the Elixir Hair Oil in your palms. This will help the oil penetrate deeper into your strands.
Then, use your fingertips to gently massage the oil from mid-lengths to ends, targeting the most damaged portions that need some TLC. Slowly work up to a very light coat on your ends and roots for comprehensive conditioning.
Pro Tip: Take an additional drop, rub it into your palms, and massage it into your scalp. This way, you’re not only distributing the hair oil but also promoting blood circulation.
Then, add our Miracle Hair Mask to damp ends.
This is a solid recipe for promoting healthy-looking hair growth, we gotta say!
- Wrap It Up: Since it’s best to leave the oil in overnight, wrap your hair in a soft, microfibre hair towel. This will protect your pillow from getting all oily (gross!) and will allow body heat to further activate the oils’ restoring properties as you sleep.
- The Morning After: Make sure you have ample time to take a good hair shower the following day! To thoroughly wash out the oils, do a double cleanse, massaging the scalp to remove any build-up.
Pro Tip: For a deep double cleanse that fully removes impurities and refreshes the scalp, use our Scalp Salt Scrub and then shampoo!
Follow up with a conditioner and style as usual from there.
Make a habit of hair oiling treatments, and you’ll love how shiny and replenished your hair looks and feels!
