A bottle of hair oil can feel a bit intimidating at first: too little and it does nothing, too much and you're stuck with a greasy mess until the next wash...
Get the amount and the method right, though, and it's genuinely one of the simplest ways to transform how your hair looks and feels.
The benefits of hair oil
Hair oil is a plant extract, obtained by cold pressing, maceration or other extraction methods designed to preserve its active properties.
Rich in nutrients, vitamins and essential fatty acids, it offers a genuine range of benefits:
nourishing and moisturising
protecting and strengthening
adding shine and softness
taming frizz and flyaways
helping prevent split ends
supporting scalp comfort, particularly when massaged in
offering some antioxidant protection, thanks to their vitamin content
acting as a light heat protectant before styling with hot tools
How do I choose my hair oil?
Whatever your hair's dealing with, there's genuinely an oil out there formulated to help, dryness, oiliness, dullness, frizz, even a stubborn scalp. The trick is matching the oil to the actual problem, rather than reaching for whatever's on the shelf.
Dry, damaged hair
Rich, nourishing oils work best here. Organic coconut oil, organic baobab oil and Organic argan oil all penetrate deep into the hair fibre, providing intense hydration and helping repair damaged-looking hair.
Here are a few nourishing hair oils to use:
Coconut Oil: nourishing and protective
Baobab Oil: repairing
Argan Oil: regenerating and nourishing
Haircare Oil With 7 Precious Oils: repairing and hair strengthening
Dry Oil With Precious Oils: protective and nourishing
Grape Seed Oil: protective and repairing
How often: once or twice a week is usually plenty for an oil bath on very dry hair.
Oily hair
Lightweight oils are the way to go for greasy hair. Organic jojoba oil or organic hazelnut oil helps without weighing hair down, jojoba in particular is close enough to the scalp's own sebum that it can help regulate oil production rather than add to it.
Here are a few oils that will purify your scalp:
Jojoba Oil: protective and purifying
Nigella (Black Cumin) Oil: purifying
Hazelnut Oil: a genuinely light texture, well suited to oilier hair types
How often: once a week is generally enough, focused mainly on the lengths rather than the roots.
Dull, lifeless hair
Organic broccoli oil is a genuine standout here, it's naturally rich in a compound that mimics the smoothing effect of silicone, helping flatten the cuticle for real shine without the buildup.
A few oils to help perk up tired hair:
Broccoli Oil: conditioning and smoothing
Yangu Oil: smoothing
Satin Gold Dry Oil: nourishing
Kukui Oil: conditioning
Ximenia Oil: conditioning and strengthening
How often: once a week, applied to damp hair before styling, works well.
Frizzy and curly hair
Sapote oil is particularly well suited to defining curls and taming frizz without weighing them down.
Here are a few oil options worth trying for curly hair:
Sapote Oil: protective and nourishing
Karanja & Raspberry Protective Hair Oil: protective
Chebe Infused Oil: strengthening and nourishing
How often: it can be used more frequently here, every wash day, as curly and textured hair typically needs more regular nourishment.
Hair oils for specific concerns
Hair loss: Organic castor oil has a long-standing traditional reputation for supporting hair growth, usually applied directly to the scalp. We've put together a dedicated guide on using castor oil for hair if you want to go deeper, and our guide on growing hair faster naturally covers more ground too.
Dandruff, itchy scalp: Organic nigella (black cumin) oil is traditionally valued for calming an irritated scalp.
How do I use hair oil?
There's more than one way to work hair oil into a routine, here are the main ones:
Oil mask (bath)
For an oil mask, apply generously all over the hair and leave on for at least 30 minutes, or overnight for a more intense treatment, before rinsing and washing with a mild shampoo.
Added to a mask or shampoo
A few drops mixed into your usual hair mask or shampoo reinforces the moisturising and protective effect, without committing to a full oil bath.
On the ends only
A small amount worked into the ends after washing helps prevent dryness and split ends. Organic Coconut Oil or Organic Argan Oil both work well for this.
Fancy going further? Our guide on hair care with carrier oils goes into more detail, and our hair routine assessment can help match a specific oil to your hair in under 2 minutes.
