How To Oil Your Hair: Step-By-Step Guide To Apply Hair Oil For Hair Growth And Conditioning
chaitra krishnanMA (Journalism & Mass Communication) Experience: 5 yearsChaitra has a triple main bachelor’s degree in journalism, communicative English, and economics from St. Aloysius College, Mangalore, and a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication from St... more
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Soft, thick, and silky hair is every girl’s dream. Sadly, this merely a dream for many of us. The kind of lifestyle we lead with lack of proper nutrition and physical activity definitely takes a toll on our hair. Throwing in frequent episodes of stress and environmental pollution, we’re just glad we still have at least a few strands of hair on our heads. And, if there’s one thing that can help you improve the growth and health of your hair, it’s regular oil massages. Yes, it doesn’t sound like a fancy hair spa treatment, but it does work pretty well if you do it right. Many of us oil our hair once in a while, but are you sure you’re doing it the right way? Read this step-by-step guide on how to apply oil on your hair so that you can make the most out of it.
Step-1: Choosing The Oil
There are two types of oils— career oils and essential oils. While essential oils like tea tree, cedarwood, and lavender can make your hair lustrous and beautiful, they are too concentrated to be used without a career oil. So, the job of a career oil is to dilute the essential oil. But do not mistake the career oil as something that’s not good at nourishing your hair and scalp. Applying just the career oil can also do wonders to your hair. Coconut oil, almond oil, and olive oil are some of our favorite career oils.
You can break open a few Vitamin E capsules and mix the oil with your career oil. Also, making your own oil at home with ingredients like neem, amla, henna, tulsi, shoe flowers, bhringraj, and onions is quite beneficial for your hair. Grandma’s DIY recipes are sometimes better than most of the over-the-counter hair oils.
Step-2: Preparing Your Hair For The Oil Massage
Comb your hair well and make sure all the knots are sorted before you start applying the oil. Now, partition your hair from the top of your forehead till the back of your neck in equal parts. Use a small spoon to pour some oil throughout the line of the partition and spread it with your fingers evenly. Now clip one of the sides separately, so that you can apply oil to the scalp on each side one by one.
Step-3: Application Of The Oil
Take another spoon of oil in your palm and rub your palms together to spread them evenly. Now, with the help of your fingertips, slowly apply the oil on your scalp in a circular motion with gentle pressure. Once you’re done applying oil to the entire scalp of one side, repeat the same process for the other side as well.
Step-4: The Massage
Once you’re sure the oil has covered every inch on your scalp, use your fingers to gently massage your scalp. Massaging helps to stimulate the blood flow in your scalp, which results in better and faster hair growth. Work the oil into your scalp with consistent pressure and motion. Remember to cover the area behind your ears and the one near your temples. These are the areas that we often neglect while applying oil otherwise. Take only one spoon of oil at a time so that you don’t end up pouring too much oil on your head. Too much oil can make your oil massage a drippy and messy one. Also, you’ll have a tough time getting so much oil out of your hair during the wash.
Step-5: Application On Hair
Once you finish your scalp massage, apply the same oil throughout the length of your hair. You don’t have to drench your hair in oil. Always remember that your scalp needs more oil than your hair strands do. Rub the oil between your palms and run it through the length of your hair. Do not forget to pay a little extra attention to the tip of your hair, since that’s where the strands tend to split. Make sure you apply oil to the tips WITHOUT RUBBING them against each other. Rubbing your hair strands against each other is a very common habit among women. This is very dangerous since the friction that occurs while doing so can damage your hair.
Step-6: Leaving It On
Comb your hair so that the oil spreads evenly to every inch of your hair and scalp. Now, tie your hair into a bun and leave the oil on for at least one hour before you wash it off. You can also keep it overnight and wash your hair the next day. Another option is to dip a towel in hot water and wrap your head with it. Leave it on for ten to twenty minutes and wash with a mild shampoo.
A few pointers to remember: Do not leave the oil on for more than 24 hours since it will attract dirt and sweat. Also, do not overuse the shampoo in order to get rid of the oil (shampoo twice with small amounts of the product). Have you always been oiling your hair this way? Do you have any other tips or tricks to share with us pertaining to the topic? Let us know in the comments section below.
