The best essential oils for grey hair are Rosemary, Sandalwood, Clary Sage, Thyme, Chamomile, Lavender, Black Cumin Seed, Argan, Bergamot, Amla. Graying of hair can result from genes or may be caused by nutrient deficiencies, stress, harsh hair treatments, unhealthy scalp, frequent hair coloring, and so on.
Many types of essential oils have yielded promising outcomes in the management of gray hair. Their use can result in the darkening of graying hair overtime or preventing graying altogether. Here are some of the essential oils for grey hair.
The 10 Best Essential Oils for Gray Hair Review
The following are our top picks of the best essential oil for gray hair. They help manage graying hair by reducing stress, stimulating hair follicles’ growth, and inducing melanin production.
- Rosemary Essential Oil
- Sandalwood Essential Oil
- Clary Sage Essential Oil
- Thyme Essential Oil
- Chamomile Essential Oil
- Lavender Essential Oil
- Black Cumin Seed Essential Oil
- Argan Essential Oil
- Bergamot Essential Oil
- Amla Essential Oil
1. Rosemary Essential Oil
It is obtained from the roots of a herb known as Rosmarinus coronarium, and it is very popular as an essential oil because of its incredible medicinal benefits.
It contains compounds like limonene, camphor, camphene, bornyl acetate, borneol a-pinene, etc. It gives it a distinctly sweet and refreshing scent and contributes strongly to its anti-anxiety effect on the user. Long term use of rosemary oil can lead to the darkening of gray hair.
Rosemary oil can be used to prepare a hair rinse or scalp massage oil mix that can darken an already gray hair or prevent the graying of natural hair altogether. This essential oil is not recommended for people with blonde hair as it darkens their hair color.
Pros:
- Has strong anti-inflammatory properties
- Dyes hair overtime
Cons:
- It can cause the darkening of natural hair color in blondes.
2. Sandalwood Essential Oil
Sandalwood essential oil is extracted from sandalwood by steam distillation. It has always been used as an aromatherapy tool for stress reduction because of its relaxing scent.
It moisturizes and revitalizes damaged hair when used on the hair, therefore, helps to slow down graying caused by exposure to harsh conditions and stress.
It is one of the best essential oils on the list because, in addition to the black pigmentation the sandalwood essential oil gives to the hair, it also possesses antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, thereby helping to fight other hair infections.
Pros:
- Has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties
- Heals damaged hair
Cons:
- May cause irritation in some people.
- The scent may be too intense for some people.
3. Clary Sage Essential Oil
The clary sage oil is extracted from the leaves and buds of a plant known as Salvia sclera. This oil has always been used in the past for its therapeutic properties. It is now a primary ingredient in various beauty products like soaps, shampoos, detergents, creams, etc. for different purposes, including hair treatments
The smell of the clary sage essential oil plays a significant role in reducing stress. Besides, it has antibacterial and antioxidant properties, which help prevent premature hair graying by slowing down hair follicle cells’ aging. It improves the hair color and makes it shiny and silky to touch.
Another benefit of the clary essential oil is that it boosts blood circulation in the scalp, improving hair nourishment and stimulating hair growth.
Pros:
- Has antioxidant properties
- Improves hair growth
Cons:
- Not price friendly
4. Thyme Essential Oil
Thyme essential oil is another essential oil that has proven to be very potent and effective in managing graying hair. It is usually used in combination with a carrier oil and mixed with other essential oils for better results.
It has very potent antibacterial and anti-microbial properties, enabling it to fight off bacteria and other parasites that damage the scalp and hair, resulting in renewed hair shine and color.
Thyme oil also promotes hair growth by stimulating the scalp and preventing hair loss and damage. It is common to believe that new and healthy hair will replace gray hairs with normal black hair.
Pros:
- It has antibacterial properties.
- Helps to treat hair loss
Cons:
- It needs a carrier oil.
5. Chamomile Essential Oil
Chamomile essential oil, also known as English Chamomile, is one of the best essential oils for gray hair. It possesses a very soothing scent that helps to improve the mood and reduce stress.
It contains active compounds that help heal damaged hair follicles, thereby stimulating increased melanin production in the hair follicle cells. The chamomile essential oil also helps slow down the graying process by strengthening the hair follicles and preventing the premature aging of hair follicle cells.
Pros:
- Prevents premature graying of hair
- Improves hair sheen
Cons:
- Can cause severe allergic reactions in predisposed people
6. Lavender Essential Oil
Lavender essential oil is distilled from the lavender plant and is a popular essential oil used in pain relief therapy and gray hair treatment. Lavender oil can be used with a carrier oil or added to hair care products like shampoos and hair conditioners to either darken the hair color or prevent graying hair.
Lavender oil is famous for its fantastic scent, and it is instrumental in reducing anxiety or stress, which is one of the major causes of graying. It has antibacterial properties, which help it to eliminate the bacterial causes of change in hair color.
Lavender oil also improves the healing and strengthening of hair follicles, thereby promoting new, healthy and black hair.
Pros:
- It is Inexpensive
- Has antibacterial properties
Cons:
- May cause scalp irritations in rare cases.
7. Black Cumin Seed Essential Oil
It is also commonly known as the Black seed oil. It is obtained from the seeds of a plant known as Baraka or Nigella sativa. It can be used in combination with any other carrier oil for handling grey hair. The black cumin seed oil has antibacterial properties, and its use also promotes the healing of damaged hair, which will bring back the natural hair color and get rid of unwanted grey hairs.
This essential oil boosts hair growth and eliminates gray hair by stimulating new and healthy hair follicles. It also protects and promotes melanin production by hair follicle cells, which results in retaining the natural hair color and reducing gray hairs.
Other additional advantages include; moisturizing the hair, fighting off dandruff, preventing split ends, etc.
Pros:
- Acts as a hair moisturizer
- Promotes hair growth
Cons:
- Needs carrier oil
8. Argan Essential Oil
Argan oil is one of the most effective essential oils for grey hair. It is a common constituent of many hair shampoos and other hair care products. Argan oil is famous for its incredible, refreshing, and potent scent, which helps manage stress.
It contains active compounds that promote melanin production in hair follicle cells by healing and strengthening the hair follicles. Exposure to the sun can cause gray hair, and argan oil has been shown to protect against sun rays’ damaging effect on the hair. It also contains nutrients that help to replenish deficient hair nutrients.
Pros:
- Protects hair from damage
- It strengthens the hair.
Cons:
- Can cause allergic reactions
9. Bergamot Essential Oil
Bergamot essential oil is obtained from the fruits of the Bergamot tree. It is used for several medicinal purposes, which include; treating acne and food poisoning. Its wonderful fragrance has made it a very useful tool for stress reduction, which helps prevent hair graying.
Bergamot oil improves blood circulation all over the scalp, thereby ensuring adequate nourishment of the hair follicles. This boosts hair growth and replaces gray hair with natural hair. Its moisturizing and nourishing properties help repair damaged hair and clear the discoloration caused by free radicals’ damaging effects on the hair follicle cells.
Pros:
- Acts as a hair moisturizer
- It improves blood circulation to the scalp.
Cons:
- May cause skin irritation in some people.
10. Amla Essential Oil
Amla essential oil is extracted from a fruit known as the Indian Gooseberry or Emblica Officinalis. It contains several essential vitamins that nourish and boost hair growth. It is one of the best oils for gray hair, and you will always find it in many of the popular hair conditioners. The oil is massaged into the scalp and applied all through the hair.
Amla oil acts as a natural dye with no potential adverse effects on the hair. It also has antioxidant and anti-fungal properties, which enable it to eliminate dandruff and promote the hair’s health. Its antioxidant property helps it eliminate free radicals that contribute to the damage of hair follicle cells.
Pros:
- Doesn’t need a carrier oil
- Acts as a hair conditioner
Some Essential Oil Recipes for Gray Hair
Here are some recipes for some of the best essential oils for gray hair.
Black seed oil, and olive oil recipe.
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon of black seed oil and one tablespoon of olive oil
Procedure:
- Mix the oils in a bowl.
- Apply the oil to your scalp and massage it in.
- Apply to the rest of your hair
- Leave to rest for an hour
- Wash it off with warm water
- Repeat every day for a week and then use only three times a week in the following weeks.
The black seed oil has several great effects on the hair, and the recipe is a very common one. It can also be combined with lemon juice, honey, and coconut oil to treat other hair conditions.
Recipe for Argan oil conditioner
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons of Argan oil, two tablespoons of Shea butter, 1 tbsp tea tree oil, 1 tbsp amla powder, I tbsp coconut oil
Procedure:
- Add the shea butter and argan oil to a bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Add the tea tree oil and coconut oil to the mix and mix well.
- Add the amla powder to the blend and mix well.
- Wash your hair properly with a mild shampoo.
- Apply the argan oil conditioner to your hair, using a fair amount of it to massage your hair and scalp.
- Leave the conditioner on for 15-20 minutes.
- Wash off with warm water.
FAQs on Essential Oil for Grey Hair
1. How Do Essential Oils Help Grey Hair?
Firstly, it is essential to note that essential oils are obtained from purely natural sources. They contain potent chemical compounds like aldehydes, ethanols, ketones, and several other great nutrients, all of which are notable and effective remedies for hair treatments.
Gray hair essential oils have been proven to nourish the hair and provide nutrients that strengthen the hair follicles. They help to darken gray hair over time by reducing stress and act as a natural dye to slow down melanin’s degradation.
In addition to the nourishment of hair follicles and stimulation of the melanin pigment, most essential oils have anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial agents that fight bacteria and fungi that could cause potential hair loss color and other damages.
2. How To Use Rosemary Essential Oil For Grey Hair
Rosemary oil is a popular essential oil used to treat common hair conditions like dandruff and hair loss. It has been shown that this essential oil causes darkening of hair with long term use, making it a perfect option for handling gray hair.
The rosemary oil can be used in hair rinse and scalp massage oils used for gray hairs. For hair rinse, it can be added together with sage oil to a cup of hot water, allowed to cool, and used to rinse off the hair after washing.
It can also be used in combination with sage oil and coconut oil to massage the scalp thoroughly twice a week to treat grey hair.
3. Which Essential Oil Is Good For Grey Hair?
There are many essential oils for handling gray hair, and they are readily available in the market. They are a preferred option because they are obtained from natural sources and have fewer potentials to cause serious adverse effects. They also provide additional advantages like moisturizing, anti-inflammatory effect, strengthening hair follicles, boosting hair growth, etc.
Some of the best essential oils you can use for gray hair include; Rosemary oil, Argan oil, Amla oil, Black seed oil, Sage oil, Thyme oil, Sandalwood oil, Chamomile oil, Lavender oil, etc.
CONCLUSION
Graying is inevitable. You can’t stop the natural process from occurring. However, for aesthetic reasons, you can continue to enhance the gloss and black color of your hair by using the essential oils listed above. The essential oils come with dual functionalities, darken the hair, and slow down the graying process.
You should know that essential oils can only play its part, and your hair will still lose its dark color with time; therefore, continual use of the essential oils for grey hair is your best bet.