What is a hot oil treatment? Don't be fooled by the "hot" in "hot oil treatment". A hot oil treatment involves using a mixture of warm (not hot) oils to give your hair moisture and shine. This helps to strengthen your hair follicles and keep both your scalp and hair healthy. It doesn't matter if you have dry or already-moisturized hair, a hot oil treatment will leave your hair feeling protected, hydrated, and at its best. And if you happen to have color-treated hair, frequent hot oil treatments can restore your hair health and add shine to it.
Why Should You Do A Hot Oil Treatment?
If you're experiencing any of the hair issues below, then you should think about getting a hot oil treatment:
- A dry scalp
- Dandruff
- Low moisture
- Frizziness
- Split ends
However, you can still do a hot oil treatment even if you're not experiencing any of these hair issues, your hair will thank you for it.
What Are The Benefits of A Hot Oil Treatment?
Here are some benefits of doing a hot oil treatment on your natural hair.
1. It helps to moisturize your hair and scalp
Natural hair is easily prone to dryness especially when it's exposed to harsh weather conditions. If your hair doesn't get enough moisture, this can result in hair breakage, split ends, or in worse cases, full hair damage. Similarly, if your scalp is dry or low on moisture, it can result in hair damage.
A hot oil treatment helps to restore and maintain moisture in dry hair and scalp. It also keeps hair ends moisturized by strengthening them and preventing them from breaking off easily. To keep your hair and scalp adequately moisturized, I advise that you do a hot oil treatment once a week or biweekly.
2. It helps to get rid of dandruff and itchy scalp
For anyone, dandruff can cause severe discomfort on your hair. The itching and flakes that fall on your shoulders from constant scratching can be an embarrassing situation, especially in public spaces. No doubt, managing dandruff on natural hair can be a struggle, however, many naturalistas have found that doing a hot oil treatment consistently (once in a week) helped them get rid of dandruff and itching. It is also a preventive technique for keeping dandruff and itchy scalp at arm's length.
3. It is great for prepooing
You can use hot oil treatment to prepoo as well! The word prepoo is gotten from the "pre" in "prepare" and "poo" in "shampoo". Prepooing is the process of coating your hair with oil to strengthen it before shampooing. Hot oil treatment also helps to protect the hair and scalp from getting stripped off its natural oil due to shampooing (which can happen even if you're using no-sulfate shampoos).
4. It helps the scalp with blood circulation
To stimulate hair growth or increase your chances of hair growth, there has to be a good flow of blood to the scalp. While massaging your scalp helps to increase blood circulation, you can get extra bonus points when you add a hot oil treatment to the mix. After washing your hair, apply the hot oil treatment to your hair, and then massage it into your scalp, this will increase the flow of blood to your scalp and help with hair growth.
5. It serves as a great detangler
Most times, you find it hard to detangle your natural hair because it is dry, brittle, and lacks moisture. A hot oil treatment done after washing your hair can help make the detangling process easier for you. This is because the hot oil treatment provides your hair with the added moisture it needs and makes detangling your hair easier.
6. It adds shine and strengthens your hair
Consistent use of the hot oil treatment will add more shine to your hair strands and strengthen your hair over time. The oils used for a hot oil treatment contain moisturizing nutrients which absorb into the hair follicles through frequent application and then results in shiny, healthy hair.
Is A Hot Oil Treatment Good For My Hair?
Before you do a hot oil treatment on your hair and scalp, you should first do a patch test on your skin to see how your skin reacts to the treatment. This is because naturalistas with sensitive skin may react to some oils. Now, hot oil treatments are great for anyone with normal or dry hair. However, if your hair is thinning or your scalp is damaged, you may have to skip this treatment.
When Should I Do A Hot Oil Treatment?
Should you do a hot oil treatment before you wash your hair or after? I advise that you do it on washed hair to enjoy its full benefits. Hot oil treatment done on washed hair fully penetrates the scalp to provide it with moisture. On the other hand, if it is done in dirty hair, it may just sit on the top of your hair and do no actual work. Still, some naturalistas prefer to use the hot oil treatment as a prepoo. If you want to do this, you should first cleanse your hair with a conditioner.
What Do You Need To Do A Hot Oil Treatment?
- Any two or three oils of your choice
- A coffee mug
- Hot water
- A small bottle
- A small funnel
- Scalp massager (optional)
- A shower cap
- A scarf
- Headwrap
- Your shampoo and conditioner
How To Do A Hot Oil Treatment
I have selected this short tutorial by Mel's Avenue to show you how to do a hot oil treatment at home:
Step 1: Mix the oils
- First of all, place the funnel in the mouth of your bottle.
- Next, gently pour some quantity of each oil you would be using, into the bottle through the funnel.
- Then, shake the bottle to mix the oils thoroughly.
Step 2: Warm up the oil mixture
- Pour hot water into your coffee mug and then put your bottle of oils into the hot water.
- Allow it to sit for five minutes so your oil mixture is warm enough.
Step 3: Apply it to each section of your hair
- Start by applying the oils on sectioned hair from tips to roots. Apply this thoroughly to ensure that your hair strands come out well moisturized.
Step 4: Massage the oils into your scalp
- After applying the oils to your hair, the next thing to do is massage your scalp.
- You can do this with either your fingers or use a scalp massager.
Step 5: Allow it to dry overnight
- You can do Bantu knots or twists on all the sections of your hair and wear your shower cap over it.
- After this, tie a scarf over your shower cap and then tie a head wrap around your head for a final finish.
- You can let it dry overnight or leave it for three hours.
Step 6: Wash it out the next day
- The next day, wash the treatment out of your hair with your shampoo and conditioner.
- Now, your hair should feel soft, shiny, and healthier after this.