3 ways to win with the best natural hair oil treatment options

You don't always need a formulated product for a hair oil treatment. When doing product research for the store, we found it was difficult to find natural hair treatment products that aren't heavily fragranced, even if those fragrances are natural. There's an abundance of sulfate free shampoo available for sensitive scalps. When sensitive noses and scalps are in play, sometimes it's best to ditch products made to a formula and step back to simple ingredients, some of which you may already have in your bathroom cupboard as a part of your skin care regime.

There's two major different ways you can do a hair oil treatment, either something light to leave in, or something heavier to wash out. If it's just a visual look for your hair, a leave in option is quick and easy and will moisturise and tame your hair. If you have deeper issues or scalp issues, taking the time to create a little ritual with something heavy that's a leave in and will also treat your scalp is the best option.

1. Hair Oil Treatment - the leave in option

Do you already have castor oil, jojoba oil or argan oil in your beauty regime? If you're already using them as a natural moisturiser or to remove your makeup, you can also use these oils on your scalp, hair and nails.

If you have a dry scalp, massage some jojoba oil in to your scalp. For those with dry ends, use it to rub in to the tips of your hair after your normal washing & drying routine. As long as you don't use too much, it's fine to leave in your hair and can reduce frizz and flyaway hair.

2. Hair Oil Treatment - the wash out option

Coconut oil and almond oil are heavier than jojoba oil or argan oil, so they are more suited to put in and wash out rather than to leave in the hair. Massage a good amount of coconut oil in to your hair and scalp, cover it up (if you don't want mess on your pillow in the morning) and wash it out with your favourite shampoo bar the following morning.

3. Hair Oil Treatment - for hair growth

With the addition of a new natural hair growth category to our store, while doing research, we discovered that many of the treatments to nourish the scalp and hair follicles to reduce hair thinning, growing finer hair and hair falling out prematurely are based around oils.

Products like Scalp Serum from Noosa Basics are a blend of pumpkin seed oil, castor oil, grapeseed oil, black seed oil and essential oils of rosemary, peppermint, thyme, cedarwood and spikenard, which are in there for their therapeutic benefits.

What you need to know about hot oil treatments

Wash out treatments can be supercharged by doing a hot oil treatment, and you can do it at home. The warm oil used in a hot oil treatment seals the cuticle and adds moisture to the hair follicle while repairing.

Start by choosing your oil. Plant based oils like olive oil, almond oil or coconut oil are perfect, and you might already have them in the kitchen. Then get 2 bowls (they need to be heat safe), one larger than the other. Put a small amount of oil in to the smaller bowl. Put hot water in to the larger bowl and then sit the smaller bowl inside.

The warmth from the water in the larger bowl will gradually warm up the oil inside the smaller bowl. It's similar to melting chocolate or using a double boiler in the kitchen, but we only want a gentle warm, so don't have the source underneath on constant heat. While it's called a hot oil treatment, it's really a 'warm' oil treatment.

Before you put the oil on your hair, test the temperature on your write to make sure it's not too hot. The last thing you want to do is burn your scalp. Massage the oil in to your scalp in small circles from the hairline to the back of your neck. Once it's all massaged in to the scalp, use a wide tooth comb or our hair detangling brush to distribute the oil through your hair.

Pop on a shower cap, leave on for 15 to 30 minutes, or longer if you have time and then shampoo your hair to wash the oil out.