A hot oil hair treatment may be just what your “thirsty”, dry hair needs to bring it back to its natural beauty and vitality – and they are both easy to use and inexpensive.
Hot oil treatments are ideal to help your hair heal from dryness and damage.
There are many benefits of hot oil treatments for damaged hair. These include healing dry scalp, removing dandruff, returning shine, making hair full of body, and sealing the hair shaft which helps to smooth split ends and heal the hair overall. There are several kinds of hot oil hair treatments – including homemade, store bought, specialty treatments and silicone treatments.
Homemade Hot Oil Hair Treatment
Homemade hair treatments with hot oil consist of olive oil, mayonnaise and essential oils including jojoba oil and jasmine oil. Other oils can be used for a light scent and relaxation such as lavender and chamomile. Rosemary and similar herbs can be helpful for both soothing hair and adding a light fragrance – plus some herbs have healing and moisturizing properties. Sometimes an egg can be used for adding body and shine to your hair.
Heat up the mixture to a warm temperature (microwaves work wonders here) and then apply to your hair and let it settle for 20 to 30 minutes. Rinse thoroughly. Repeat as necessary.
Store Bought Hot Oil Hair Treatment
The store bought hot oil treatments are usually heated in hot water for several minutes, and then applied to your hair. It is essential to keep the mixture on your hair for the prescribed amount of time (read the box to find out what that time is for that treatment), and then follow with a solid rinsing using cool water. Do not use warm or hot water to rinse following a hot oil treatment (and this advice should be followed for all types of hot oil treatments.) Store bought hot oil treatments vary in price and in ingredients, with those made of better ingredients typically being a bit more expensive. Some of these ingredients, however, may be well-worth the extra cost, as they may be essential in treating the damage.
Specialty Hot Oil Hair Treatment
The specialty hot oil treatments are more high-end than the typical store bought treatments. The silicone-based treatments are ideal for extremely damaged hair. It is best to rub these treatments into the scalp, throughout the hair, and to let it soak for 30 minutes (or longer) under a shower cap. If possible, heat the shower cap for more intense moisturizing power.
Silicone-Based Hot Oil Hair Treatment
The silicone-based treatments are the most effective but most expensive type of hot oil hair treatments; however, for very dry or damaged hair, these treatment work wonders. Silicone-based hot oil hair treatments should be used once a week, and never more than that, to ensure maximum potency but not overdoing it.
Tips for Using Hot Oil Hair Treatments
Following each hot oil treatment you should rinse your hair in cool water. Do not shampoo your hair. Do not use another conditioner or treatment, and avoid over-styling your hair post-treatment. Ideally, you should let you hair air dry most of the way before using a hair dryer. Some women prefer to use a shower cap when conditioning their hair with a hot oil hair treatment, which seems to maximize the conditioning effects by trapping in heat.
There are a multitude of options for hot oil treatments and between homemade and purchased treatments, there is bound to be an ideal treatment for you and your damaged hair.You should experiment and try several treatments to best assess what works for you and what helps your hair the best.
