Which Hair Oil Works Best By Hair Need and Why

Many hair oils can add shine to your locks and work to give you healthy hair, but each functions differently as some hair oils like argan have molecules that can penetrate the hair shaft while almond oils work on the outside.

The different oils have different nutrients and chemical compositions, which means you need to identify any underlying problem you are facing and the cause of it before selecting a hair oil as a treatment.

If you eat a low protein diet, coconut hair oil can help prevent breakage since the molecules can penetrate your hair shafts and help lessen protein loss for stronger hair while almond oil being used as a mask will only work on the outside of the hair shaft and not aiding the protein loss.

Choosing the right hair oil is not as complicated as it sounds. This post breaks down how each of the top five work and how to decide which is right for your hair needs. Here’s a quick cheat sheet before we jump into the detailed description of each.

None of the hair oils will speed up hair growth or prevent hair loss on their own because hair growth and hair loss is largely based on your genetics. No oil or supplement will overcome what is built into your DNA, so talk to your doctor if you’re noticing hair falling out more than normal, it may be a different condition.

Fun fact: Dirty hair does not grow faster.

To choose the list of the best hair oils, we factored in the ones that include:

• Healthy fats and fatty acids like omega-3 which can be applied topically and omega-6 which have been shown to stimulate hair growth when eaten.
• Antioxidants including vitamin C and vitamin E to help with strength and promote growth.
• Antibacterial and antifungal properties to fight inflammation and bacteria.

Argan Oil

Argan oil is one of the best and most complete oils to help with growing thick, beautiful hair, and you can use it no matter which of the 4 hair types you have.

Argan oil has a mixture of different fat types that allows it both to penetrate your hair shafts and coat them from the outside.  Because it can get past the cuticle and work from the inside out, it can help protect against the protein loss that leads to premature breakage and ultimately thinner hair across your head.

Argan oil’s heavier fat molecules remain on your hair to seal down your cuticles helping prevent frizz and tangles. When your hair isn't frizzy and you're not detangling, there's less pulling and friction which means less hair loss from breaking strands.

It also contains antioxidant vitamin E to help fight the effects of oxidative damage, and if you use argan oil in your cooking, you’ll get the hair growth stimulating benefits of the omega-6 content.

For oily hair, argan oil might be the best choice for you since it helps regulate your body’s sebum production. With less sebum causing a dirty look you may need to wash your hair less often which means less pulling out and damaging hair from the expanding and contracting hair shafts as water gets in.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is another option for all hair types and has vitamin E to fight oxidative stress. It also contains antibacterial and antifungal properties to help maintain a healthy microbiome on your scalp and reduce inflammation which may lead to hair thinning and loss.

Coconut oil is almost all saturated fats so cooking with it won’t do much for your hair, but these same fats that may be bad for your diet also make it easy for coconut oil to penetrate your hair strands and protect them from protein loss which may reduce breakage.

Olive Oil

Olive oil is largely made up of monounsaturated fats that allow it to penetrate and protect your hair shafts similar to argan and coconut oil. Olive oil is rich in the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, so whether you put it on your hair or use it in your diet, olive oil will help keep your hair growing thick by fighting off free radicals and oxidative stress.

And while pure olive oil comes from pressing the seeds, eating the actual flesh of olives (black olives specifically) can add a hair healthy dose of vitamin A. This helps regulate your hair growth cycle to make sure your follicles start growing new hair when old ones come out. They also contain iron which your body needs to bring oxygen to your hair follicles and scalp so they can breathe.

Almond Oil

Almond oil is a heavier oil and can’t penetrate your hair like the first 3 oils above, but it can coat your hair as an emollient to seal in moisture. It also helps fill in gaps in your hair’s cuticle layer to make your hair more elastic while helping to prevent breakage.

The emollient property makes it a great hair oil for type 4 coily hair as the texture of coily hair is irregular and changes as the hair grows making it harder for your body to distribute sebum along each hair strand. Without sebum protecting the strand, it get gets dry and is more prone to breakage.

To avoid making your hair too greasy with almond oil, avoid overlapping almond oil on sebum if you already have buildup closer to the roots. A curved brush may help distribute the oils more evenly.

Almond oil has the same antioxidant properties as the others thanks to its vitamin E content, but it’s unique in that it’s the only one of these oils that contains biotin, an important nutrient that your body needs to produce the keratin that is the building block of hair.

Rose Hip Oil

Rose hips and oils help keep hair thick and strong through its rare combination of both omega-6 fatty acids that have been shown to stimulate hair growth, and omega-3 which gives this oil potential anti-aging effects.

It’s also the only oil on the list that has vitamin C, which is an important antioxidant that has a role in hair growth due to how it interacts with iron in your body. And when you use rose hip oil on your head, massage it into your scalp to get the maximum impact since vitamin C absorbs more easily through your skin than through your diet.

As a bonus, much like olives, eating the fruit of rose hips will give you an added benefit to help grow thick hair, namely its high fiber content.

Each hair oil has similar benefits, but they all work in different ways. Choosing the right one for you will depend on your hair type, hair needs, and the benefits you want to gain. If this guide helped you choose the right one, subscribe to our blog below for more content just like it.