Welcome to NaturAll Club’s latest Ingredient Spotlight! Today, we’ll be exploring essential oils. We include them in almost all of our natural hair products, and you might use them yourself in your home. What are these essential oils? What makes them “essential?”
Essential oils are concentrated plant oils, either distilled or pressed from the plant itself. They are highly aromatic and volatile, which is why they are often used in aromatherapy (they quickly diffuse from liquid to gas state, filling the room and quickly reaching your nose)! They are called “Essential” because they are the pure derivative (or “essence”) of the plant they come from. This means that essential oils are completely natural and safe to use!
There are over 3000 known essential oils, all of which are known to be effective in stress reduction, pain alleviation, combating infections/inflammation, improving circulation, and even in sleep improvement. However, each essential oil has specific properties. And within those 3000 known essential oils, there are a few that have specific benefits to healthy hair growth.
We use lavender, orange, and lemon essential oils in our hair products (all our Fresh Avocado Deep Conditioners contain lavender essential oil, and we make Jamaican Black Castor Oil Growth Serum varieties with Lemon, Orange, and Lavender.) Before we explore each oil’s properties, let’s find out what they have in common!
First, all three of these oils help stimulate hair growth. This is due to the calming, stress-relieving effect essential oils have on the body. Hair loss and hair thinning is often attributable to stress, anxiety, bad circulation, infections, or inflammation. Rather than providing a chemical treatment for these conditions, essential oils go to the root of the problem. By reducing stress, they can reverse the toll stress takes on your body- even reversing hair loss!
Secondly, all three of these essential oils help with dandruff and scalp irritations. Dandruff is just a buildup of dead skin on the scalp, often caused by hair products that irritate the scalp! Essential oils soothe and heal the scalp, reversing this problem.
Finally, all three of these oils help control sebum production (sebum is the natural oil produced to moisturize your scalp.) By controlling sebum, essential oils are a great cure for an oily scalp, but can also moisturize dry scalps- in either case, leaving your hair healthy and shiny.
Now, let’s learn about the essential oils used in NaturAll Club’s products!
Lavender
While all of our essential oils can promote hair growth by addressing the issues behind hair loss and hair thinning, lavender essential oil is especially effective. One notable study found that topical application of lavender oil on mice increased both the number and depth of hair follicles!
Lavender essential oil is also a known moisturizer and conditioner for hair. It is antimicrobial, combating bacteria and fungus, and it can even heal minor injuries (such as scratches on children who scratch their scalps.)
Lemon
Lemon essential oil is antiseptic and microbial, making it a great clarifying oil. It is also especially effective at treating dandruff and scalp acne, as well as improving blood circulation. Note that lemon essential oil comes with a mild risk of phototoxicity, so we don't recommend applying it to your hair right before sunbathing!
Orange
Orange essential oil is a natural cleanser, since it is antifungal and antibacterial. Using orange essential oil contributes to healthy-looking hair, and is especially known for uplifting your mood!
We hope you’re as excited as we are about the power of essential oils in hair care. Not to mention, they smell amazing! Studies on the effect of essential oils note that many people don’t see significant results for up to 6 months of consistent use, so don’t get discouraged. Hair care takes time, patience, care, and consistency, as well as effective ingredients. We don’t advertise quick or magic fixes at NaturAll Club- we’re about real, long-term solutions that leave you and your hair as healthy as can be.
Essential oils are extremely potent, so they are most effective when mixed with a carrier oil such as jojoba, coconut, or olive oil. This is why we mix them with jojoba oil in our Growth Serum. We encourage you to try using different essential oils in your personal care routine, but make sure you read up first on the best methods for applying them.
