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Avocado Oil for Hair Health: How to Use Them Like a Pro
Avocado oil is packed with nutrients that help to strengthen and nourish your hair. Explore the benefits of avocado oil for hair and how to use them effectively.
Avocado oil, derived from the nutrient-rich fruit of the avocado tree, has gained significant attention in recent years. In particular, avocado oil for hair can do wonders. This oil is known for its remarkable properties in promoting hair health. It is high in vitamins, essential fatty acids, and antioxidants. These elements work in synergy to promote healthy hair growth, repair damage, and enhance overall hair vitality (1).
Here, let’s delve into the numerous other benefits of avocado oil, and explore its effectiveness in addressing various hair concerns. We will also provide you with practical tips on incorporating it into your hair care routine.
Benefits of Avocado Oil for Hair
Avocado oil has gained immense popularity in the world of hair care due to its nutrient content. Here let's discover how it benefits your hair.
Nourishing Nutrients
Avocado oil is packed with essential nutrients that can work wonders for your hair. Let's take a closer look at some of the key components found in this liquid gold.
1. Essential Fatty Acids
Avocado oil is abundant in monounsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic acid (2). This can deeply penetrate the hair shaft, providing intense moisture and preventing dryness (3). Therefore, avocado oil helps to reduce frizz, increase manageability, and promote a healthy shine.
2. Vitamins
Vitamins play a crucial role in maintaining hair health (1). Avocado oil is a rich source of various vitamins.
- It has vitamin E, which acts as a potent antioxidant. This protects the hair from damage caused by free radicals (1).
- Additionally, it contains vitamin B, which helps to strengthen hair strands, prevent breakage, and support healthy hair growth. This mainly includes riboflavin (vitamin B2) and folate (vitamin B9). The lack of these two vitamins can cause hair loss in many (1).
- They also have traceable amounts of vitamin C that can assist in the absorption of iron. Thus, it's essential for people who have iron deficiency-related hair loss (1).
3. Antioxidants
Vitamins E and C in avocados have antioxidant properties. So the oil extracted from avocado also contains powerful antioxidants like beta-carotene and lutein (4). They help to neutralize free radicals and reduce oxidative stress on the hair. This, in turn, contributes to improved hair quality, reduced brittleness, and increased elasticity.
Having observed the abundant nutrients present in avocados, let us now explore the advantages of avocado oil for hair.
Nurturing And Moisturizing Properties
One of the standout merits of avocado oil lies in its ability to profoundly nurture and moisturize the hair. Speaking of the importance of keeping the hair moisturized, our contributor Sarah Potempa, Celebrity Hairstylist and Co-Founder of The Beachwaver Co. says, “Keeping your hair moisturized is super important. Moisturized hair is generally easier to detangle and less prone to breakage. Ensuring that your hair is moisturized will also make it look shiner and feel healthier!”
The amalgamation of vitamins and healthy fats present in avocado oil aids in sealing moisture within the hair strands (5). This can effectively avert dryness and brittleness.
The regular usage of avocado oil can combat common hair afflictions such as split ends and frizz. This ultimately leaves your hair silky, smooth, and significantly more manageable.
Enhancing Hair Growth
If your aspiration is to boost hair growth and address concerns of hair loss, look no further than avocado oil as a potential solution. The enriching nutrients in avocado oil actively nourish the hair follicles, effectively stimulating robust hair growth.
Furthermore, avocado oil contains vitamin B complex which is renowned for its role in strengthening the hair (1). So it invariably aids in promoting hair growth.
Repair And Protection
Over time, your hair can undergo damage inflicted by various factors such as heat styling, chemical treatments, and environmental stress. Avocado oil possesses exceptional reparative properties that can aid in the restoration and fortification of damaged hair.
The vitamins and minerals inherent in avocado oil actively work to repair the hair cuticles, effectively reducing breakage and improving the overall texture of your hair.
It is shown that monounsaturated oils like avocado oil can penetrate the hair significantly better than regular polyunsaturated oils (5). Explaining more about monounsaturated oils, our contributor Sarah Potempa, Celebrity Hairstylist says, “Monounsaturated oils penetrate the hair follicle to both moisturize and create a protective barrier for your hair. Polyunsaturated oils can leave your hair feeling soft and moisturized but only at the surface of your strands.” Hence, they can give better protection to your hair and scalp.
Incorporating avocado oil into your hair care routine on a regular basis can rejuvenate your locks, leaving them looking and feeling remarkably healthier.
Soothing Irritated Scalp
If you struggle with an itchy or irritated scalp, then avocado oil can provide the much-needed relief that you need.
The oil's anti-inflammatory properties help to calm and soothe the scalp (2). This may further reduce itchiness and redness.
Additionally, avocado oil's moisturizing abilities can reduce dryness, a common cause of scalp discomfort. This again reduces the chance of scalp irritations. Thus avocado oil for hair can promote a more balanced scalp environment.
How to Use Avocado Oil for Your Hair
Avocado oil could be quite pricey than your regular oils. You may have wondered how to make avocado oil, even. Fortunately, making them at home is feasible and easy on the pocket. You just have to follow these four steps to make your own avocado hair oil at home.
DIY Avocado Oil
- Prepare the Paste - Take a ripe avocado to extract oil. The more mature the fruit, the more oil it produces. Now just mash it into a paste using a fork or hand masher.
- Dry the Paste - Spread the paste on a tray and let it dry naturally in the sunlight. Wait till it becomes dark brown and slightly oily.
- Extract Oil - Now scoop the dried avocado paste and manually press the oil out of it. You can use a cheesecloth for this process. Try to get every last drop of oil possible.
- Store - Now that you got your avocado oil, store it safely. Place them in an airtight glass jar and keep them away from direct sunlight.
Using this avocado oil, you can create hair masks, and even oil treatments.
You can use avocado oil on a weekly basis. Let them soak for a few hours and wash them with lukewarm water for optimal benefits. Now, let's jump on to the various ways to incorporate this avocado oil into your hair care routine.
1. Avocado Oil Hair Mask
You can easily make a nourishing hair mask using avocado oil and other natural kitchen ingredients such as honey, aloe, or bananas. Let's explore each one in detail.
Avocado Oil + Honey - Nourishing Hair Mask
Prep Time: 4 - 5 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 avocado fruit
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
Steps to Follow:
- Take 1 ripe avocado and mash it smoothly.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of avocado oil, and 1 tablespoon of honey to it.
- Apply the mask to your damp hair, focusing on the ends and damaged areas.
- Leave it on for 30 minutes before rinsing thoroughly with lukewarm water.
Frequency of Usage: Once or twice a week.
Avocado Oil + Banana + Egg - Repairing Hair Mask
Prep Time: 5 - 6 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 avocado fruit
- 2 tablespoons of avocado oil
- ½ banana
- 1 egg yolk
Steps to Follow:
- Take 1 ripe avocado and slightly mash it with 2 tablespoons of avocado oil.
- Now transfer the avocado mixture into a blender along with 1 egg yolk and half a banana.
- Apply this thick mask all over your hair and leave it for 30 minutes.
- Then rinse it thoroughly with lukewarm water.
Frequency of Usage: Once or twice a week.
Avocado Oil + Aloe - Soothing Hair Mask
Prep Time: 3 - 4 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons of avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons of aloe gel
Steps to Follow:
- Mix equal amounts of aloe gel and avocado oil in a blender and blend it well.
- Now apply this mask all over your scalp as well as hair strands.
- Leave it for 30 to 40 minutes and rinse it with lukewarm water.
Frequency of Usage: Once or twice a week.
2. Avocado Oil Scalp Massage
When preparing a hot oil treatment, you can be as creative as possible. You can combine avocado oil with any other oil, like olive or coconut oil. Additionally, you may also add a few drops of essential oil, like peppermint or rosemary to stimulate hair growth (6), (7).
Avocado Oil + Coconut Oil
Prep Time: 2 -3 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 to 3 tablespoons of avocado oil
- 2 to 3 tablespoons of coconut oil
- A few drops of peppermint or rosemary essential oil (optional)
Steps to Follow
- Depending on your hair density and length, you can take 2 to 3 tablespoons each of coconut oil and avocado oil.
- Slightly warm this mixture and add 3 to 4 drops of essential oil (rosemary or peppermint).
- Now give your scalp some extra love by massaging this oil mixture directly onto it. Gently massage it into your scalp using circular motions for 5-10 minutes.
- This scalp massage will help improve blood circulation, promote relaxation, and nourish the roots of your hair.
Frequency of Usage: Two to three times a week.
3. Avocado Oil Leave-in Treatment
For a daily dose of hydration, consider using avocado oil as a leave-in treatment. After washing your hair, apply a few drops of avocado oil to your damp hair, focusing on the ends. Avoid applying it to the roots if you have a naturally oily scalp.
This leave-in treatment will make your hair look healthy and radiant. You can use them 2 to 3 times a week based on the dryness of your hair.
Hair Type Considerations
Avocado oil can assist in most of your hair problems. They work best regardless of your hair type or hair problem. Therefore, it is an ideal choice for all hair types. It is a non-clogging oil as it can easily penetrate the hair and scalp. That’s why avocado oil for hair is more efficient than other oils that clog or sit on top of the hair strand.
It won't cause buildup or rest on top of your scalp or hair strands. It is rather light, and quickly absorbs. Though they are light, they hydrate well. So it is beneficial for people with dry hair, thick, curly hair, or naturally wavy hair.
Although avocado oil is a natural substitute for commercial hair products, it can cause allergies to some (8). If you have concerns, it's advisable to perform a patch test on a small area of skin before applying it to your scalp and hair to ensure you're not allergic. Let’s further look at the risks and warnings associated with avocado oil.
Risks and warnings
Is avocado oil good for your hair? Indeed, in the majority of cases, avocado oil provides benefits for all hair types. However, it is important to note that there may be potential side effects too.
Consuming avocado oil can result in adverse reactions like vomiting in hypersensitive people (9). It can upset the stomach and irritate the gastrointestinal tract. Thus it should be consumed only in advisable amounts. Especially, if you have a vegetable oil allergy, then try to stay away from avocado oil too.
For some skin types, avocado oil might cause allergic reactions like itching, breakouts, redness, and eczema (8).
But it is quite different when it comes to applying avocado oil to your hair. Your hair is mostly comprised of dead cells. As a result, they are unable to absorb nutrients the same way as the skin does. Thus using avocado oil for hair may not be that dangerous.
Overall, avocado oils are safe to use and might cause allergies in rare cases. So it is better to do a patch test before you use them.
Contributor: Sarah Potempa, Celebrity Hairstylist and Co-Founder - The Beachwaver Co.
Conclusion
Avocado oil for hair is a true hair care gem, offering a wide range of benefits. Its extraordinary nurturing, moisturizing, and soothing properties make it an invaluable addition to any hair care regimen. Whether your aim is to promote hair growth, combat dryness, or repair damaged hair, avocado oil stands as an indispensable ally in achieving your desired results. Remember to select high-quality, cold-pressed avocado oil for optimal benefits. Incorporate avocado oil into your hair care routine through masks, scalp massages, or leave-in treatments, and experience the transformative effects firsthand.
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