Aside from the fact that avocados can be incredibly delicious in meals, they are also popularly used in DIY hair treatments. Which begs the question:
Is Avocado oil good for hair?
Avocado oil has several benefits on hair and has become a favorite for those desiring to grow long and healthy hair. Avocado oil is packed with nutrients such as vitamins, magnesium, fatty acids, and antioxidants that makes it very good for hair.
In this article we will delve into:
- Benefits of Avocado oil on hair
- How to use avocado oil for hair
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Benefits of Avocado Oil on hair
1. Moisturizes hair
There has been a growing interest on avocado oil especially for cosmetic purposes over the years.
The oil is rich in monounsaturated and oleic acid.
Oleic acid is a great ingredient that helps control water loss in the strands and ultimately makes the hair to be more pliable and softer.
Avocado oil is one of the few hair oils available that penetrate through the hair shaft and moisturizes the hair. Most of the other oils just sit and coat the hair instead of moisturizing it.
The fats contained in avocado oil are very useful as they help strengthen hair shafts as well as prevent any hair breakage.
I prefer to use the Food Grade Avocado Oil just because I use it in my food too. But you can go for one made for hair and skin.
2. Helps prevent dandruff
Dandruff is one of the most common problems with hair and it can be very annoying to have to deal with it constantly.
It is caused by a dry scalp, lack of hydration of the scalp and can also be as a result of harsh products (shampoos and conditioners) that you use on your hair.
Avocado oil helps with the overall scalp health. The monounsaturated fats, antioxidants and the anti-inflammatory nature of avocado oil makes a perfect solution for anyone who suffers from sensitive or dry skin. (1)
The oil provides a deep moisturizing scalp treatment and keeps it healthy.
Avocado oil should be massaged into the scalp and applied before one washes and conditions the hair. When you apply avocado oil on your hair, the oil penetrates the scalp quickly, moisturizes it and helps prevent the dandruff.
An Avocado oil scalp treatment can easily be prepared at the comfort of your home by combining one table spoon of the avocado oil with a half teaspoon of honey and a tablespoon of plain yoghurt.
3. May prevent hair breakage
If your hair is dry and brittle, there is a high chance that your hair strands will break after a while. You can use avocado oil to treat the hair to prevent further hair breakage.
Once you coat your hair with some layers of avocado oil, the hair will be more flexible and this will help prevent significant breakage especially when you are brushing your hair or when you are styling it, which is when the hair is more susceptible to breakage.
Any form of hair manipulation can easily break your hair but using avocado oil before doing anything to the hair will help undo the severe hair damage by lubricating the hair strands which in turn prevents further hair breakage.
Avocado oil also comes in handy when detangling the hair. For hair, especially natural hair, it’s very easy to get tangled up and therefore necessary to detangle the hair occasionally.
For a seamless detangling process, apply avocado oil on the ends of the hair and along the length of the strands then proceed to run your fingers through the hair. This will make brushing smoother.
Fatty acids, biotin and Vitamin C available in avocado oil play a major role in conditioning the strands.
4. Promotes hair growth and strength
Avocado oil helps with hair growth as it contains nutrients such as Vitamin D which helps with the regeneration of new hair follicles.
If you want to encourage your hair growth and maintain your hair, using avocado oil and applying it on your hair and your scalp as well is very important.
Avocado oil is used as a carrier oil for some essential oils such as peppermint and lavender. When you mix a bit of avocado oil with some drops of lavender and peppermint oil, you create a great homemade treatment.
When you massage these oils into the scalp, it will help unclog the blocked follicles and also stimulate blood flow. This ultimately helps avoid hair loss.
5. It is very versatile
Avocado oil is great oil for hair as it is very versatile and can be used for both low porosity hair and high porosity hair
It’s a tad bit heavier than some hair oils but it is relatively light as well. It is a great choice for people with low porosity hair as it has the ability to penetrate into the hair strands easily and does not weight down the hair as some oils would do.
For people who have high porosity hair, avocado oil comes in handy because it easily penetrates through the hair shaft, significantly helps with lubrication of the hair shafts, reduces the fragility of the strands and finally fills all the gaps in the hair cuticles. This helps high porosity hair since the cuticles in this type of hair are more open.
6. Protect hair from external damage
Any type of hair is susceptible to external damage mostly environmental causes such as sunlight and chlorine which can easily dry out the hair shafts.
Applying avocado oil on the hair will protect the hair from some common effects of environmental damage.
Applying and coating your hair with avocado oil before swimming on sunbathing will protect it from any damage.
Avocado oil has Vitamin E which helps in healing and reversing the damage caused on the hair by sun rays.
It also contains carotenoid and lutein which are very powerful antioxidants which are very useful in defending the hair and the scalp against any damage that can be caused by environmental aggressors, pollutants and UV damage.
How to use avocado oil for hair
1. Use it in your hair mask
This is an easy way of getting the benefits of the avocado oil is to use it as a hair mask.
- You need to mix a mashed avocado with a teaspoon of honey, 1 egg yoke and 3-5 drops of avocado oil.
- Let the mixture sit on your damp hair for about twenty minutes then rinse it thoroughly from the hair. This will ultimately help your scalp and protect it from UV and other external pollutants and also give it a shiny and a healthy look.
- You can do this once in every two weeks to see the results.
2. Use it as a conditioner
Most of us have had one or two experiences of shampoos drying out our hair at one point after washing our hair with it.
The good news is that after shampooing your hair, you can use avocado oil as a conditioner as it helps with dry and damaged hair.
Apply avocado oil to your fingers and then run it from the roots of the hair to the tip as many times as possible and then rinse it our preferably with warm water.
Some people use it as a leave in conditioner as well as it helps lock in the moisture the whole day.
3. Use it for scalp massage
You can also massage your hair with avocado oil at least once a week.
You will need to combine some essential oils of your choice like rosemary and tea tree with the avocado oil and heat that combination either through a microwave or using hot water to make it warm.
Once it is ready, simply dip your fingers in the oil and the massage tit into your scalp gently and let it sit for about twenty minutes then ash the hair.
This will help get rid of dandruffs, promote a healthy scalp and help with blood circulation as well as strengthen the hair.
Conclusion
Avocado oil is good for your hair but you should not use it if you are allergic to avocado as it will have some associated risks. When using the avocado oil whichever way, ensure it stays in your hair for at least fifteen to about twenty minutes. This should be enough time for your hair to get all the benefits it can get from the avocado oil.
Before you leave, you may find this recommended products page useful. Here you will find the natural hair products that my friends & I have found to be very good for natural hair.
