Essential Oils for Stimulating Hair Growth

Q: I have received many inquiries from friends (men in particular) regarding the possibility of restoring/preventing hair-loss through the use of essential oils, massage, etc. Will you kindly let me have any suggestions and comments on how to use essential oils and carrier oils for stimulating hair growth and thickening hair? Thank you!

A:   Thank you for your question concerning hair loss/growth and essential oils. Several essential oils have a reputation for stimulating hair growth and helping to slow its loss and these oils may be helpful to some extent. They include Rosemary, Geranium, Lavender, Cypress, and Juniper. In fact, the simple act of massaging the oils into the scalp could be beneficial since it stimulates blood flow to the hair follicles. 

There's been some really promising research into using essential oils for stimulating hair growth.  In one study out of Scotland, one group used a combination of essential oils that included Thyme, rosemary, lavender, and Cedarwood in a base of jojoba and grapeseed carrier oils.  They massaged this blend into their scalp daily for two minutes.  The control group massaged only the carrier oils (no essential oils) into their scalps daily. The results showed that 44% of the essential oil group showed improvement as compared to only 15% of the control group.  (Source:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9828867)

We've created a hair blend (under our Massage Oils) if you're interested out this combination of essential oils. To use, massage about 1/2 to 1 tsp of the blend into the scalp for a minimum of two minutes. If you want to make your own oil blend for hair loss, you can try the following recipe: 

DIY Blend for Hair Growth:

Mix Cedarwood, Atlas (20 drops), Lavender (30 drops), Rosemary (30 drops), and Thyme (20 drops) essential oil in 8 ounces of Jojoba and massage gently into the scalp for at least two minutes daily.

To more about how to use essential oils for hair loss, check out our blog post.