Help Your Hair Grow With These Essential Oils

Therapeutic grade essential oils hold the promise for a great many people of stimulating the growth of bountiful healthy hair. Whether one is regrowing hair after hair loss, preventing the loss of hair, or just looking to make their hair more beautiful and lustrous than ever, essential oils and the carrier oils that comprise therapeutic aromatherapy formulas are very much worth investigating. While the factors affecting one's personal hair growth are very complex, including such things as nutrition, age, hormone balance and lifestyle factors, a customized aromatherapy formula using authentic pure essential oils and properly made base oils can have a dramatic affect. Here's a look at how you can create and use your own recipe made specifically for your scalp and hair type.

The essential oils used for healthy hair and hair growth fall into four main categories relating to how they affect they affect the dermis if the scalp and the hair follicles. These are: Stimulating, nutritive, balancing, and antibacterial/immune enhancing. Stimulating oils often contain ketones -- natural chemical 'signalers' that step up cellular metabolism. (Certain oils containing ketones have important safety guidelines, which we'll cover with each oil's description) Nutritive oils include vitamins, growth co-factors and/or fatty acids necessary for healthy growth. Balancing essential oils balance sebum (natural skin oil) and hormones on the cellular level. They can also reduce inflammation and be cooling to follicles (overheated follicles are thought to be the cause of some hair loss). Antibacterial and immune enhancing oils can help a variety of conditions where infections or auto-immune disease may be the source of hair loss or diminished hair growth.

Creating the most effective recipe for yourself is really easy to do. The essential oils can be thought of as the 'active ingredients' in your formula. Simply choose one or more of these to include, and add these in small amounts to your base formulation. The 'base' of any therapeutic aromatherapy formula is made of carrier oils similar to Olive oil. The base oils for hair growth stimulation will be selected from base oils known to have therapeutic effects for the skin and scalp. The essential oils will be added in what seems to be very, very small amounts, but this is one of the great things about therapeutic aromatherapy: it actually works best with the smallest portions of essential oils. The essential oils are very, very potent plant medicine -- and it's easy to use too much of a good thing. The essential oils work in a very different means than most conventional medicines in that they signal cell activity, rather than force it to change. By using them, you're like a conductor conducting an orchestra of biology -- just a flick of your wand is all it takes to make dramatic changes in scalp and follicle activity.

On to the specific essential oils--The stimulating oils signal cellular regeneration. They tell follicles to rev-up their engines and grow more hair! These are the oils that work mostly in that 'signaling' way. And at the same time, these are the oils that carry the most cautions with them. Some are very safe, and some should be carefully considered before using. Rosemary is the most popular of the stimulating oils, having been used in hair care remedies for centuries. There are three types of Rosemary commonly available, and it is the Verbenone type that is used for skin and hair care. While somewhat more costly than the others, it is the Verbenone within this type that signals cellular regeneration. Some therapists note that Rosemary should be avoided during pregnancy by young children (due to its ketone content) and by those with epilepsy (due to its stimulating action).

Sage essential oil, like Rosemary, is also highly regarded for hair care and stimulating hair growth. It is considered the most potent of the regenerative oils, though also the one with the most cautions. Like Rosemary, it should be avoided if pregnant, by children, and by those with epilepsy. Some therapists think it should be just generally avoided by the lay-practitioner, while others believe it is safe at therapeutic dilutions. Sage does have a long history in hair care, mostly as a tea from the leaves of common Sage. The essential oil is relatively new on the scene, and needs to be used in an entirely different manner than the hair-wash tea. The oil should only be used in very low concentrations in a carrier oil--at 1% or less. Kurt Schnaubelt in Advanced Aromatherapy includes it in a recipe for skin regeneration at .25%. This is only 2 drops per ounce of carrier oil!

Nutritive essential oils are just as important as the stimulating oils--what good would stimulating cellular metabolism do if the necessary vitamins and co-factors were not available for the follicles? The nutritive oils primarily supply growth co-factors and antioxidants to the scalp. The most effective of these for promoting hair growth contain high concentrations of carotenes and other carotinoids. These are molecules in the vitamin-A family, some of which have been shown to promote hair growth in controlled scientific studies. The most nutritive essential oils supplying these co-factors are Sea Buckthorn Berry and Helio-Carrot (or Carrot Root). Both these essential oils are actually made by a high-tech process called carbon-dioxide extraction, at a lower temperature than the steam distillation used for most essential oils. This process preserves the nutrients in the oils, and brings a broader spectrum of the therapeutic plant molecules into the oil. Both these oils should be used at about 1% of the overall blend.

Next, the balancing essential oils -- balancing oils should make up a part of everyone's blend. Even if you just add a little bit of Lavender, you're hair will be happy! The balancing oils bring about a balance of the scalp's natural oil production, and/or cool the scalp and reduce inflammation (inflammation at the cellular level is directly implicated in hair loss). Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia) is the premier balancing oil for skin, scalp and hair care, and has many helpful properties -- it is antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and regenerative all at the same time. If needed to balance scalp oils, Green Myrtle is an excellent choice, also with antibacterial and regenerative properties. Myrtle can reduce excessive oil production (which has been implicated in hair loss and slow hair growth) and can help a flaky, itchy scalp. For women, Clary Sage can be especially balancing, particularly where regular hormone production is the source of hair loss or slow hair growth. Proper estrogen metabolism on the cellular level is critical for beautiful hair, and older women in particular may really benefit from one-half of one percent Clary Sage included in their personal recipes.

For some folks, slow hair growth is due to mild infections of the scalp and follicles. Others, in the case of Alopecia Areata, may even have subtle immune disorders that lead to patchy hair loss. If the scalp is over-oily and irritated, with general thinning or slow hair growth, a gentle antiseptic oil should be included in your formula. This may be as simple as a small amount of Tea Tree, Myrtle or Cedar. Alopecia Areata has been treated specifically with a combination of Thyme, Rosemary, Lavender and Cedar (wood) essential oils in Jojoba and Grapeseed carriers. Each essential oil was effective at approximately one-quarter of one percent concentration.

To make a topical formula using these aromatic oils, they should be based (dissolved or diluted) in carrier oils, also known as 'fixed' oils. Carrier oils differ from essential oils in that they are in-fact fatty acids, do not easily evaporate, and have relatively little aroma. Olive oil is an example everyone is familiar with. The carrier oils we'll look at have distinct therapeutic properties themselves. First is Evening Primrose -- Evening Primrose has two primary actions: It is nutritive in that it supplies excellent amounts of vitamins for hair growth, and offers a very high amount of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids. These should be exceptional for any scalp and hair condition where growth is limited by inflammation (use at up to 100% of the base). Next is Rosehip Seed: this oil has been widely studied for its anti-aging effects, reducing scar formation and wrinkles, plus stimulating regeneration (use at up to 30% of the base). Jojoba oil has a long history of use in hair care, particularly for dry hair, or where one would like their hair to be more shiny and lustrous (use at up to 100% of the base). Coconut oil is highly regarded in cases of hair loss, as in it nutritive and anti-inflammatory. Coconut and Sesame (also anti-inflammatory and nutritive) are used in Ayurvedic medicine to stimulate hair growth (use Coconut at up to 50% and Sesame at up to 100%). Finally, Grapeseed oil is an excellent choice for a 'light' oil base, with slightly astringent qualities for oily scalp and hair.

To make and use your personal hair growth formula, select a group of essential oils, and choose the base oils you'd like to use. (It is very strongly recommended you get your oils from a reliable, high-quality source, as oils can be mis-labeled or adulterated -- having other products added or substituted for the real thing -- when the price is to good to be true. Add the essential oils at the recommended concentrations (1% is 8 drops of essential oil per ounce of your total mixture). DON'T overdo it, as too much essential oil can possibly irritate the scalp; smaller amounts tend to have the most beneficial effects, and keep the cost of your blend very reasonable. The final blend can be massaged into the scalp at any time of day, and it may be best to start with a scalp that's just been washed and is warm (the pores are open) and wrap the head with a warm moist towel for 20 minutes after application to increase absorption. If using before bed, be sure to cover your pillow as to not leave oil stains -- leaving the formula on overnight may be the best way to receive the most therapeutic penetration of all the healing oils.

So there you have a beginner's guide to making a hair-growth stimulating, hair loss preventing aromatherapy formula. With the many resources available on the internet, you can further investigate each oil to determine its value for your personal condition. With careful selection and dedicated use, you're almost certain to see a dramatic change in the health and growth of your hair.