Oiling Scalp is one of the old traditions that seems to be lost. Remember the times of our childhood, the mischief, and carefree heart. Well, then you would also remember the Sunday ritual. When mom used to grab you, make you sit forcefully and slather your whole head with melted coconut oil. This would be followed by a good head massage. We never really had to worry about our hair, but as we grew up this ritual seemed to be lost somewhere. Today we will decode the ‘how’s’ and ‘why’s’ of oiling your scalp and why that Sunday ritual should be reckoned in our lives again.
Benefits of oiling your scalp
This one is basically a no-brainer. We have been hearing about the benefits of oiling scalp daily from mothers and grandmothers for ages. But just in case you need a revision of sorts, here it is for you:
- We cannot outlaw the fact that we use various hair care products to make our hair look pretty and healthy on the outside. In this attempt, we end up damaging hair roots and scalp. This may cause your scalp to turn itchy and flaky. This, in turn, may cause dandruff and rashes. To save us from this havoc, oils come in handy. Oiling scalp works the same as moisturizing skin. The oil hydrates your scalp to keep flaking and itching at bay.
- Oiling with essential oils provides nourishment to your scalp. Various oils like olive, tea tree, jojoba, rosemary are known to impart health to your hair & scalp.
- An oil massage or champi after oiling is very essential. In Ayurveda, it is known to relax and release tense muscles. Champi activates vital points in and around the head and helps relax your body.
- An oil massage done with warm oil is the best remedy for a headache. A headache is a result of stressed muscles around your head, which get relieved by warm oil massage.
- When you are oiling scalp every day, the oil basically forms a barrier between your scalp and outer bacteria. This prevents bacteria and microorganisms from colonizing and causing fungal infections. It rids your head of dirt and unclogs pores, thus preventing bacteria and fungi from breeding and allowing the scalp to breathe.
- Blood circulation is also increased while getting an oil massage with warm oil. Increased blood flow aids in better hair growth, strengthening the hair follicles and increased blood flow to the face, making it appear more radiant and banishing impure blood-related problems like acne.
- When you are Oiling scalp, the oil spreads down to the hair and penetrates through the hair shaft, thus providing moisture to the inner cells of the hair. This compensates for all the harsh chemical treatments that strip hair of its natural oils and makes your hair healthy and lustrous.
- A regular champi helps regulate and maintain the pH of the scalp, making the scalp healthy, thus aiding in regularizing secretion of natural oils of the scalp known as sebum. Sebum is known to nourish hair and prevent it from becoming dry and brittle.
The right way to do it
Now we know what to do, but it doesn’t help unless we know how exactly to do it!
Though there is no particular technique on how to do it, you should be sure of getting these points right for oiling scalp for hair growth.
- The oil should be lukewarm and not hot or cold. Cold oil will not penetrate properly and hot oil will only give you scalp burns.
- The best way to apply oil is by partitioning our hair into sections. This way the oil spreads properly and you can be sure that you have covered all the regions.
- Dip your fingers in oil and apply the oil to the scalp. Do not just pour the oil on the head. Using more oil doesn’t mean more benefits. And too little will also do no good. See that you use oil in an adequate quantity.
- Gently massage the scalp with your fingertips. Do not press against your scalp. The message should be done in circular motions. Though any direction is fine, however, going in circular motions from the forehead to the nape of your neck is ideal.
- The message should be done for around 10 to 15 minutes. This ensures proper distribution and absorption of oil into the scalp and increases blood circulation in your scalp area.
- Never rub your hair in between your palms. This can cause them to develop split ends due to friction and in the worst case cause it to break. Rubbing also causes hair to tangle and ultimately break in the process of detangling.
- Now, this step is optional. To experience excellent results, steam your hair with a hot towel. For this, just dip your towel in hot water for some time, squeeze out the excess water and wrap it around your oiled hair for 15 minutes.
- After this, you can directly wash the oil off. However, it is always better to leave the oil on the scalp for a long time, but not more than 24 hrs as it will start attracting dirt and in turn make the hair weak and brittle. You can leave it on overnight and wash it off the next morning. This will give you optimum results.
- Oiling once a week is ideal, but for the drier hair, you can oil more than once. The point to note here is to make sure you don’t wash your hair more than thrice a week for oilier hair types, and twice a week for dry-haired people, as over washing will strip your hair of its natural oils and disturb the natural cycle of your hair.
Be sure to follow these tips and you will always have Instagram ready hair.
