My Hair Oil Blend for preventing winter dryness, frizz, hair fall, dandruff and other problems

Before I begin, just one very very major point everyone. Every oil is not same. Remember our hair lessons about hair layers and shaft from here?

Every Oil is not same: 

Now only a handful of oils can actually penetrate our hair that is can reach the cortex. The oil molecules play an important part in it. Most of the oils molecules are too big to penetrate hair, so when you are applying oil to your hair, they are just sitting there outside your hair doing nothing. So it is important that you choose a hair oil that will penetrate and work on your cortex.

Why?

Hair is dead by itself so nothing you do will make a permanent change (except chemical processing of course) but if regularly use oil that will penetrate the hair shaft, it will be less frizzy, dry, less prone to damage, fewer split ends etc.

So which oils can penetrate hair?

There have been numerous studies on which oil can penetrate hair and all of them concluded with three choices, coconut oil, olive oil and avocado oil. Remember, they need to be in their purest form for it to work, that is no perfume, no preservatives, nothing added.

For coconut and olive, it should be edible oils. Now edible olive oil is available everywhere here in Bangladesh but I couldn’t find cooking coconut oil or avocado oil anywhere (if you know where to find it, please let me know). I am going to order them from Amazon one of these days…

Other oils for scalp: 

As for hair fall problem, you will need to be concentrating on the scalp where almost all the oils can be used. So your main point would be to add sebum-like oil plus nutrient like vitamin E to enrich the scalp, reduce hair fall, increase hair growth, get rid of dandruff etc.  So I used both castor oil and almond oil for scalp. 

Castor Oil: 

Castor oil has proven hair fall counter-act, increase hair growth and induce new hair growth properties…I also wrote a post about my personal experience with castor oil if you want to check out. It can be too thick by itself hence I opted for an oil blend.

Almond Oil: 

Almond oil is highly enriched with vitamin E which is a must for reducing hair fall and overall hair and scalp care. Many people use vitamin E capsule oil which would also work.

Olive Oil: 

And ofcourse, olive oil so that it can penetrate the hair and take care of it from inside. If you want to know more about how olive oil or these other oil will help your hair, please do a Google search. I assure you I am not making this up. This blend is mentioned in numerous hair-care blogs and websites

Honey: 

So olive oil, castor oil and almond oil are the three oils I will be using in my oil blend. I will also be using honey because it is rich in nutrients and minerals as well as it is a natural humectants and my hair loves it …please go through my previous blog post about honey and hair care if you want to know more.

Hot Oil Treatment: 

So I will be using the blend as an hot oil treatment, because it penetrates scalp and hair better with higher temperature. Do not heat the oil in stove –top or microwave though, it can inevitably destroy the nutrient. You have to broil it. Anyway here are the steps

• Step-1: Take 3 tea-spoon of olive oil, make it is extra virgin olive oil with no added perfume (and edible, that is comes with calorie information, will be in the grocery section not on the cosmetic aisle). Put it in a small glass container

 

• Step-2: Take 1 tea-spoon of almond oil and add to your container

• Step-3: Take 1 tea-spoon of castor oil; add to the previous blend of the oil

• Step-4: Take 1 tea-spoon honey and add to the blend

• Step-5: Take another large glass container and fill it halfway with hot water. Place the container containing oil on the water. Use you finger to mix the blend. It should be warm but not hot. Keep it like this during the application so that it stays warm. Please be careful about the hot water though.

• Step-6: Use 50% of the oil blend on your scalp and roots and 50% on the rest of the hair, concentrating on the ends.

The above ratio was for my shoulder length hair…if you have longer hair or really thick hair, add .5 or 1 more tea-spoon of each.

Your hair might feel a bit sticky at first but it will wear off in an hour, so you should apply it 1-2 hours before bedtime. You can do a lose braid or bun too keep the hair in place. You can always wear a scarf or shower cap but the amount the oil should be enough so that it can cover your whole head and hair, not so much that it is dripping.

Duration: 

This hot oil treatment would work best if left overnight, but if you do not have time make sure it is at least 3 hours. The oil would need time to penetrate hair shaft and scalp. Heat will accelerate the process of if you only have 1-2 hours try to incorporate some steam. I recommend over steamers or sauna because otherwise would be really hard to get the steam all over your hair and scalp. After your treatment, wash it off with shampoo. You may need to use a bit more shampoo than your regular amount because of the additional oils. Use a mild conditioner as you have already conditioned your hair with oil you will not need any deep conditioning or anything.

Result: 

I do this 2-3 times a month during summer but in the winter season I am trying to make it atleast once a week because of the dry weather and everything. So if you are suffering from any kind of hair problem this winter, you can try this remedy. 

From the first wash, you will will see some difference. Your hair will look healthier, feel softer, shed less, will have less flakes and dandruff and will be far more manageable. Remember there will not be any instant solution  though but in 3-4 weeks you will begin to see an real improvements.

Let me know if you have any more question about the blend. And if you try it, share your experience with us.