My Recommended Hair Growth Oils
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If you’re anything like me, your hair is EVERYTHING! As a woman, I always like my hair to be flawless. Add in the fact that I’m a hair stylist and it becomes obvious that I take pride in my hair and I hold myself to a very high standard. I wear a lot of protective styles, but I also like the option of wearing my natural hair everyone occasionally. So it’s important to me to have a full head of healthy hair. Well in 2017, several months after giving birth to my son, I experienced postpartum shedding and boy was it a nightmare! One day I was admiring my lovely tresses that fell a little past my bra strap and the next thing I know, I’m literally crying in the shower as I’m washing my hair and watching it fall out in chunks onto the shower floor. It caught me off guard because I had my son on June 1st of 2016, so initially I thought I dodged a bullet but, NOPE! I tried saving it by keeping it oiled and braided under my wigs but that didn’t work. Every time I took down my hair to wash and condition, it still shed like crazy. I became so stressed and frustrated, I felt like I was literally going bald. I had had enough!
In April of 2017, I decided to go to another stylist to get a sew-in, which I hadn’t had done in YEARS! I was just tired of dealing with my hair. I figured maybe I should give my hair a break for a few months. So, I wore the sew-in through the end of June. After taking down the sew-in, I left my hair was worse than before. I toyed with the idea of the “big chop”, but that frightened me more than anything, so I decided against it. After another 2 months of shedding, I decided that I had to do something. So, I worked up enough courage to cut it. Not a trimming, but a true cut. One day I was sitting on the floor in my hair room. I had just washed my hair and was attempting to blow dry it in sections. It started to tangle so badly, and I became angry. After wiping the tears from my eyes (so that I could see straight) I reached for my scissors and I did it…. I cut off several inches! In fact, my hair was still in sections, so I literally cut each pony tail off. I couldn’t believe it, but I felt good, in a weird and twisted way! I braided the hair that I had left on my head, popped on one of my custom-made wigs and decided to throw myself into researching ways to grow my hair. I learned so much about essentials and carrier oils, so I decided to take that route. I thought about vitamins, but I’m terrible with pills and frankly, I had tried several different kinds before which didn’t yield the results I was looking for. After researching, making concoctions, and seeing significant hair growth, I decided to share my story and findings with the world in hopes to help someone else combat any kind of hair loss.
Before getting into the oils, let’s discuss my very first mistake. I had not been educated on mixing oils. I just figured that if I mixed a bunch of oils together that were known for hair growth, I’d achieve the results that I wanted. Boy was I wrong. Once I started researching, I learned about carrier oils and essential oils.
Essential Oils vs Carrier Oils
Essential Oils are extracted from plants. They tend to take on the fragrance of the plant that it was extracted from. Essential oils have many purposes but in this post, we will only discuss its use for hair growth. Essential oils are very popular for scalp treatments. They can be a bit pricier than other oils, but a small bottle can last a long time as a little goes a long way.
Carrier oils are vegetable oils extracted from the seeds or nuts of plants. These oils are best used to “carry” essential oils into the scalp for a better penetration of the essential oil. Carrier oils are great for moisturizing, conditioning the hair/scalp, and sealing a cream conditioner into the hair. For optimal results, carrier oils should be used in conjunction with essential oils.
Now let’s discuss the oils that I used to grow my hair (they worked well on my daughter’s hair also). I will start with the essential oils. I also included the links (in each title) to where the oils can be found on Amazon. Some of them were harder to find in stores.
Disclaimer:I am not a doctor. The information provided in this article came solely from my experience with hair loss due to postpartum shedding. If you are pregnant or have a serious skin/scalp condition, please consult a doctor or follow a regimen at your own risk.
If it wasn’t obvious already, the shedding I was experiencing had me completely stressed out. For this reason alone, I decided to add this oil to my concoction because I knew that stress is known to increase shedding. Besides and soothing and refreshing aroma that Lavender oil provides, it also helps with blood circulation when massaged into the scalp. I added about 10-12 drops into my concoction.
Peppermint Essential Oil
This oil is very powerful with its cooling sensation and minty fragrance. Like Lavender oil, it helps to increase blood circulation and repairs hair follicles to promote growth. A few drops can be added to your shampoo, I just added about 10-12 drops to my oil concoction.
Rosemary Essential Oil
This oil has a very powerful with its woodsy/leafy scent. It is great for stimulating hair follicles for hair growth. I also added about 10-12 drops.
Cedar wood Essential Oil
Cedarwood oil has a very powerful woodsy scent as well. Cedar wood oil is good for increasing stimulation to the hair follicles to promote hair growth. I also learned that when used with the other essential oils that I mentioned above, it has been known to reverse the effects of alopecia. While I do not have alopecia, I used it to enhance the hair growth results that I was looking to achieve. I figured if it was powerful enough to combat alopecia, it would for sure help grow my hair… and it did!
Jamaican Black Castor Oil (JBCO)
JBCO is known for the many benefits that it has on natural hair. As a carrier oil, it helps moisturize, condition, and “carry” the essential oils into the scalp for a deep penetration. Many people use this as a part of the LOC method to seal a cream conditioner into the hair. Coconut oil is just as popular. I chose JBCO because of the thicker consistency. My hair soaks up oil and can become dry very quickly. I have noticed that JBCO lasts longer on my hair (and edges). If prefer a thinner oil, coconut oil will work just fine.
My Concoction
- You will need a pointed tip, squeeze bottle. I purchased mine from Sally’s, but I included a link to amazon.
2. Pour 2-3 oz of JBCO into the bottle.
3. Add 10-12 drops of the essential oils mentioned above (in no order).
4. Mix well.
I use this oil on my scalp and edges every night/every other night because I wear protective styles, so my hair is always braided. If you do not wear protective styles, you may decrease the amount of use. For my daughter, I use these oils on her hair less often. I wash her hair once a week (due to weekly swimming lessons) so after each wash I oil her scalp and edges, as well as once in between washes.
Once again, these oils helped me in my hair growth journey. I saw a huge difference in my hair once I did the proper research and learned about each kind of oil and its use. I also use this concoction for my daughter and her hair is down to her butt! For pictures and updates, follow my social media.
Have you battled with some form of hair loss? Please share your hair growth regimen below!