Olive oil is the ancient Greek secret to natural hair care. We’ll give you some tried and true tips and tricks for how to use olive oil for hair.
Brittle and fragile hair after a long summer on the beach? Stressed ends from constant blow-drying or straightening? The cosmetics industry offers a wide range of products for dry and damaged hair. But you don’t really need most of them. Instead of using expensive hair treatments or shampoos, trying using olive oil for hair care.
Olive Oil for Hair: Benefits
Why is olive oil good for hair?
- Olive oil helps smooth brittle strands, and lends new shine to dull, damaged hair.
- The oil lays a protective film on top of your hair, which protects against the heat of styling tools, and against harmful substances in the air.
- Olive oil helps repair split ends, and make hair stronger.
Olive oil doesn’t work the same for way everyone; the particular effect that it will have depends on your individual hair structure, and your usual hair care routine. The oil will never hurt your hair, but you’ll have to try it out in order to decide if you like effect it has on your style.
Tip: If your usual hair-care products contain silicone, the olive oil will not be able to work properly. Silicone forms a film around your hair, which will prevent the olive oil from penetrating the strands, making it unable to impart any of its benefits.
Remember: When buying olive oil for hair-care use – or any use, really –, it is very important to only buy only the highest-quality, cold-pressed, and organic oil. The health of your hair is well worth the investment.
How To Use Olive Oil for Hair
Olive oil is great for your hair, but it must be applied properly. That’s why we’ve put together a short guide for how to use olive oil for hair, from a classic hair mask to quick, everyday use.
1. The Olive-Oil Hair Mask
Putting together an olive-oil hair mask is simple, easy, and requires no special ingredients.
All you’ll need is:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp. honey
- 1 tsp. olive oil
To apply:
- Mix all ingredients well.
- After shampooing, massage the mixture into towel-dried hair.
- Leave the hair mask in for one hour.
- Wash your hair with shampoo, and style normally.
Tip: Wrapping your hair in a warm towel while the hair mask is working will boost its effects. This will also help keep your hair neatly in place and out of your face.
It is also possible to use pure olive oil alone as a hair treatment.
- Start with towel-dried hair.
- Divide your hair into two parts.
- Work a handful of olive oil into each half of your hair, paying careful attention to make sure that each section of hair is coated evenly.
- Allow the olive oil to stay in your hair for at least one hour. You could also let the treatment work overnight.
- Wash hair well with shampoo.
Tip: If you find your have accidentally gunked up your roots, use a clarifying apple cider vinegar hair rinse, to get rid of any buildup.
Olive Oil Magic: Repairing Split Ends and Fighting Dandruff
2. Split Ends:
You can also use olive oil to treat split ends. Massage the olive oil carefully into the tips of your hair and leave in overnight. Don’t forget to wash it out with shampoo in the morning!
3. Dandruff and Itchy Scalp:
When doing a hair treatment, you would normally want to avoid putting product directly on your scalp, to prevent clogged pores and buildup. But if you have a dry scalp or dandruff, olive oil can help. Massage your scalp and the roots of your hair with high-quality olive oil, leave in for one hour, and then wash it out well with shampoo. This last step is especially important in this case –otherwise an oily film will remain, which will weigh down your hair and make it look greasy.
Tip: After shampooing the oil out of your hair, try following with homemade conditioner, to give your hair an extra boost.
This article has been translated from German to English by Christie Sacco. You can read the original here: Olivenöl für die Haare: so geht die natürliche Haarpflege
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