What Is the Best Hair Oil? Well, that Depends on Your Hair Type

The question “what is the best hair oil” comes up time and time again. Rather than giving you an intimidating list of different products that you should try, I'm going to explain the different types of oils that are used for the hair, the purposes they serve, and then provide a recommendation based on your type of hair.

To know which hair oil is truly the best for you, first, you have to ask yourself what you’re looking to get out of the product. So, what benefits are you looking for in your hair oils?

Are you looking for the best hair oil for dry hair? How about the best hair oil for hair growth? Dry scalp? All oils aren’t created equally, which means that different oils provide certain benefits for certain hair types.

Now with that in mind, we’d love to share with you our favorite 5 hair oils that you can use for your specific hair type.

• Avocado Oil
• Olive Oil
• Haitian Black Castor Oil
• Argan Oil
• Coconut Oil

These hair oils can be used to help with

• Hair Growth
• Dry Hair
• Fizziness
• Dry Scalp
• Fine Hair

Read on to see how these hair oils can be used to help your hair.

Avocados are known to be a superfood but did you know that avocado oil can also be great for your hair? The fatty, rich fruit has several vitamins and minerals that can help tame frizzy hair while promoting growth and shine.

Avocado Oil is rich in antioxidants, minerals, essential fatty acid, biotin, vitamin A, vitamin B-5 and vitamin E.

According to Healthline, biotin, vitamin B-5, and vitamin E promote hair strength. Avocado oil also helps stimulate blood flow to the scalp and unblocks clogged hair follicles which helps fight hair loss.

Maintaining a healthy diet is the best way to keep your hair strong and healthy. Consider adding more avocado to your diet or swapping out cooking oils with avocado oil to get the best results.

There are different ways you can use avocado oil in your hair. For example :

• Conditioning; massage a nickel-sized amount of avocado oil into your scalp. Skin absorbs the oil easily, so don’t worry about it leaving a greasy residue, and if you use too much, you can always wash it out.

• Hair Mask; you can purchase avocado-based hair masks or create your own. Mix: 1 avocado, 1 tbsp avocado oil, 1tbsp coconut oil, and 1 tbsp honey. Mix in a blender to avoid lumpy texture. Apply the mask to your hair and let it sit from 20 minutes up to 3 hours. Wash with warm water.

• Detangler; run a dab of avocado oil through the tangled parts of your hair. Let it sit for a minute and brush your hair.

• Anti-Breakage Solution; use avocado oil sparingly on the tips of your hair to guard hair against split ends.

• Styling; for frizzy hair, apply a small amount of avocado oil on the tips of your hair to smooth out frizz or to lock curls in.

• Overnight Treatment; massage avocado oil into dry scalp and comb through hair. You can wear it overnight with a hair wrap or cap and wash out in the morning.

Avocado oil works well with fine, dry, and damaged hair. It helps lock curls in place and promotes hair growth. It’s compatible with different hair types and styles.

Olive oil is a liquid fat loaded with antioxidants. It’s normally used in cooking but olive oil is loaded with rich nutrients and works well almost every hair type (except very thin & fine hair).

Olive Oil is rich in essential fatty acids, antioxidants, vitamin A, and vitamin E.

According to Byrdie, olive oil works as a sealant to help retain moisture. The vitamins and healthy fats in olive oil make for the perfect scalp itch relief. It also helps fight bacterial infections while strengthening hair.

When and if you’re shopping for olive oil, look for organic extra virgin olive oil so you're not adding chemicals to your hair.

• On the day you wash your hair, try mixing honey and olive and massaging into your hair to help seal in moisture and reduce split ends. Add 3 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of honey and apply after shampooing hair. Let sit for 30-60 mins and rinse. Try once a week for optimal results.

• Tea tree "balances the hair by adjusting the ability to penetrate the strand.” Repeat steps from above but replace the honey with tea tree instead.

Olive oil is best used on dry thick hair, processed hair and split ends.

Castor oil is full of fatty acids and powerful antioxidants, such as vitamin E, that have been shown to have benefits for your scalp and hair.

Haitian Black Castor Oil is rich in omega-6 fatty acids, ricinoleic acid, anti-oxidants, vitamin E, minerals, and protein.

According to Kreyol Essence, Haitian Black Castor Oil is rich in ricinolein acid and can heal and carry moisture to the hair. It also increases blood circulation and hair growth. It’s antioxidants fight off scalp infections which help prevent hair loss.

• Before drying your hair, apply a thin layer of Haitian Black Castor Oil to add volume and body as well as a lovely sheen.

• Apply to the itchy scalp for instant relief

• Apply a few drops to the ends of your hair to repair split ends

• Gently comb Haitian Black Castor Oil through damp hair and sleep with a shower cap on for the perfect leave-in-conditioner, best results on curly hair

Haitian Black Castor Oil makes it perfect for dense, coarse hair and styling curly hair. Ricinoleic acid helps promote hair growth but this oil is on the thicker side as far as hair oils go so it works best with thick hair.

Argan oil, otherwise known as “liquid gold”,  has smaller molecules than most hair oils, making it easier for it to penetrate hair cuticles. It is full of rich nutrients that have been shown to have benefits for your hair. Argan Oil is rich in fatty acids, anti-oxidants and vitamin E.

According to Ipsy, argan oil helps with dandruff. Apply a small amount to the scalp for quick itch relief. It makes your hair shinier because of the high concentration of fatty acids, protects hair against breakage and UV rays and detangles, and seals split ends.

• Argan oil works as a hydrating and refreshing hair mask. Apply a generous amount of argan oil on your hair. Let sit for 15-30 minutes. To remove excess oil, wash out with shampoo and then condition.

• Comb a generous amount of oil to damp, towel-dried hair from ends to your roots.

Argan oil is best used on medium to coarse hair.

Coconut oil is used as cooking oil, skin, and hair treatment, but did you know that coconut oil comes from coconuts? Coconuts are rich in nutrients and vitamins that promote hair health and growth. Coconut oil is rich in fatty acids and vitamin E.

According to Healthline, there are possible health benefits to using coconut oil in your hair such as lice prevention, protection against UV rays, dandruff treatment and it works as a hair loss prevention.

Coconut hair reduces hair damage and helps reduce hair loss.There are different ways you can use it in your hair but know that a little goes a long way, you don’t want your hair looking greasy by overdoing it.

• Coconut oil can be used as a conditioner. Shampoo your hair as normal and use coconut oil from the midsection to the ends.

• Rub coconut oil through your hair and let it sit overnight or a few hours to use as a hair mask.

• Apply coconut oil to your scalp before bed to use as a scalp treatment.

Haitian Black Castor Oil makes it perfect for dense, coarse hair and styling curly hair. Ricinoleic acid helps promote hair growth but this oil is on the thicker side as far as hair oils go so it works best with thick hair.

Babe Essential “Long Hair Don’t Care” is our favorite overall hair treatment. Not only does it moisturize your hair, but it also strengthens and is amazing for hair growth.

Shake the bottle well and cut the tip before use. By using the tip, start applying the oil all over your dry scalp making sure that the oil has spread all over.

Massage a fair amount of the oil mixture on your scalp for the oil to enter your hair follicles. Do not leave the oil on for more than 24 hours.

You may also use this oil treatment under the heat for 10-15 minutes. To remove the oil, shampoo, and condition hair as usual. For better results, apply once or twice a week.

This oil treatment is designed to support natural hair growth for hair loss or thinning hair. It promotes fuller hair growth and leaves your hair healthy, shiny, and more manageable.

I hope I was able to make this a little more clear. To recap, these are the best hair oils for these specific hair types.

• Hair Growth - avocado oil, Haitian black castor oil
• Dry Hair - olive oil, avocado oil
• Frizziness - avocado oil, Haitian black castor oil,
• Dry Scalp - avocado oil, olive oil, Haitian black castor oil, argan oil, coconut oil
• Fine Hair - argan oil, avocado oil

There are thousands of different products on the market that have all sorts of weird ingredients that are probably doing even more damage to your hair.

We did the homework for you so now you can make an educated decision for which oil is best for your specific hair type.

Have a friend or family member struggling with their hair? Share this post with them to make their day.

Help stop the loss

This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month and we have partnered with GCSS (Groupe de Support contre le Cancer), a non-profit organization based in Haiti that supports the fight against Cancer. Proceeds of the month will be donated to the organization ad a way to support and financially help people who need treatment. I had the pleasure of speaking to Pascale Liautaud Drouin, VP of GSCC on Wednesday October 7th, for Babe Essentials Wellness Wednesdays. If you missed it, you can view it here. Below is a Q & A with Pascale.

Tell us the story behind GSCC and how was it created?

The GSCC was founded in 1999 by a group of ladies and one Man , who had either survived Breast Cancer or been caregivers to a loved one battling Breast Cancer. These women had had the chance The Group started with the goal of providing moral support to Breast Cancer patients and working on bringing awareness about Breast Cancer and the importance of Early Detection. We had members who pledged a yearly amount, which helped us pay for flyers and educational material . We would organize talks in community centers in the Port au Prince area and partnered with local labs and international organizations to help fund mammograms for women. We quickly realized that we would need to enlarge our scope because once we encouraged women to do regular self breast exams and visit their gynecologist, many became faced with a financial dilemma. Those who found out that they needed treatment often did not have the means to do so. We originally made a call to our members and asked for a donation to help, but as the numbers of patients increased this became more difficult. So within 1 years we began organizing fundraisers to be able to help finance 25% of treatment (doctors visits, mastectomies, chemo and medication). We then started to receive calls from other types of cancer patients, we had made a commitment to focus on Breast Cancer and Cervical Cancer for our next 2 years, then because of the increase in calls we began helping patients with any cancer. Our awareness programs continue to focus mainly on Feminine Cancers but we have included Prostate cancer. 

How did you get involved? And what is your current position and responsibility?

When my Mother came back from her Breast Cancer treatment in the States , she was she kept asking herself how many women in Haiti must die of Breast Cancer because they simply do noy know they have it or the detect it too late. She went looking for the old League Contre le Cancer that functioned until the mid 1980's and found nothing. So she rounded a few women, myself included and Dr. Harry Borde and we started meeting to see how we could help women who did not have the means realize that having Cancer was not a death sentence. That early detection was the key.

What has been the most challenging part about working for an organization such as GSCC and what has been the solution to that challenge?

I would say there are two major challenges, The first has been dealing with our cultural beliefs. Finding the right way to explain the need for detection and treatment to a polpulation that often links sickness to mystic. I can say that we have definitely seen a change, and many cancer patients come to us earlier for help and follow through with the treatments til the end. The second challenge is the fact that we are a volunteer based organization and it is often difficult to find people to commit to long term or consitant involvement. We have great partners who are always ready to help us when we have our activities, however also we need people who can help us with the adminsitrative aspect which any organiztion needs.

Over the years how did you and your team create an impact in Haiti? How would you say you spread awareness and education to women who live in very difficult conditions?

I believe that the GSCC has opened up the dialogue about Cancer in Haiti. Often in the past people did not talk about "Le Grand Mal", but now not only do the have conversations about Cancer they often volunteer to help others going through the same experience.

We have awareness sessions where we send groups of doctors and medical students to the provinces and partner up with churches, schools , clinics or other organizations and we talk about Cancer, the risks , the ways to help prevent it such as healthy eating, and also teach self breast examinations.We then form local volunteers on how to teach self breast examinations and spread awareness as well. That way when we leave the word continues to be spread. When we do our fund raisers in PAP they are often coupled with radio talks where we talk about the GSCC and the importance of early detection. When we have our annual WALK-A-THON, we always have a group of volunteers giving out flyers and talking to the marchands or bystanders explaing the reason for the Walk.

What have you accomplished since the organization was created? Have you reached your goal yet?

I would say that the biggest accomplishment of the GSCC is that when we first started 20 years ago 9/10 patients who came to us for assistance were already at a very advanced stage of cancer, where as today I would say that 7/10 patients are at an early stage of the disease so the GSCC truly helps them survive. Have we reached our Goals ? No, we want 10/10 of the patients who come to us to be at an early stage so that the survival rate as well increases. We would also like to see Haiti have a complete Cancer diagnostic and treatment Center so that patients do not have to travel to the DR or only take part of the treatment for lack of funds to travel.

Can you share any future plans and projects?

We had dedicated 2020 to be an awareness year where we had planned several monthly sessions on the Radios ,talking about different cancers, their risk factors , Healthy eating and etc. Digicel had offered us a Hotline for Q&A as well as referrals. Unfortunately , COVID-19 but a halt to the campaign but we are planning to start it up again before December. We have had 2 difficult years due to the polictical unrest and Covid , 2 years where our teams could not go out to do any awareness and we unable to do any of our regular fundaraisers. So we are in the process of restructuring and modernizing our ways. We had a virtual Wellnees day in June and are looking at other ideas to get our message out and to raise funds.