in what ways are the oils "essential" to the well being of your hair? I will like to invest in some good oils. So if you can give me your top five recommended essentials....that will be nice. :)
"An essential oil is a liquid that is generally distilled (most frequently by steam or water) from the leaves, stems, flowers, bark, roots, or other elements of a plant. Essential oils, contrary to the use of the word "oil" are not really oily-feeling at all. Most essential oils are clear, but some oils such as patchouli, orange and lemongrass are amber or yellow in color.
Essential oils contain the true essence of the plant it was derived from. Essential oils are highly concentrated and a little goes a long way." ( Quoted from aroma web here )
Why use essential oils in your hair care regimen?
Well the reason why I incorporate essential oils into my hair care regime is because of the particular benefit each one gives. I guess using essential oils is like using a certain hair cream or lotion because you want to get a certain result. In the sense that if I have dry and itchy scalp then instead of using a commercial hair product I could turn to something like eucalyptus oil or tea tree oil to help with that. So essential oils are beneficial depending on the result you are looking for and which one can give you that result. A little drop can go a long way so a bottle of an essential oil can last a really long time. I like that.
How do I use them? I use essential oils in 3 ways:
1.) In my prewash treatment. This could consist of mixing my essential oils with olive oil, jojoba oil then putting the mixture in my hair for a while. I allow it to soak into my hair for about 15 minutes or more then wash it off.
2.) As a leave in spray. So that would consist of water, a carrier oil, one or two essential oils, glycerine all mixed together in a spray bottle. I use this spray daily especially when I'm wearing twists or braids.
3.) I add some essential oils to my shea butter for scent.
As for me here are a list of 5 essential oils that I’ve used over the years and really appreciated:
Chamomile is the most soothing of the essential oils for the hair and scalp. Chamomile helps to retract skin cells that have been inflamed from chemical procedures, the sun and helps with those that have scaly scalps in including a lot of white flakes or psoriasis.
Rosemary essential oil works great for dry hair and dandruff as well as itchy scalp!
Tea Tree essential oils works to purify the scalp. It works extremely good for those that suffer from scalp psoriasis and scalp dandruff.
Peppermint helps to stimulate blood flow to the root of the hair. This helps the hair to receive proper nourishment and to grow correctly. Peppermint makes the scalp tingle and this is what stimulates the blood flow to the hair.
Lavender is great for soothing the scalp and calming the hair.
I also currently use Eucalyptus. It can be used to treat dry, itcy scalp and dandruff.
I got the profiles for the above oils here at aromatherapy at home
Motown girl also has a write up on essential oils
You can learn more about other essential oils on Aroma web
I would recommend that if you are using essential oils for the first time then read a lot of the literature available online about them.
Motown Girl has recipes that incorporate essential oils here
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