Olive Oil Hair Benefits

We already know the innumerable health benefits of extra virgin olive oil, thanks to the benefitial properties of the elements found in its composition. But there is even more: For thousands of years olive oil has been used as a natural cosmetic for many uses, and among these are many remedies for hair.

The Mediterranean civilizations of the Ancient Age already used virgin olive oil not only as food, but also as medicine and cosmetics. The Greeks used it massively for personal hygiene and massage, and the athletes chose it as a muscle relaxant. In ancient Rome they used it for skin treatment: they produced perfumes, ointments and very varied creams. In Ancient Egypt it was used as an anti-wrinkle lotion and as an ointment to beautify hair.

Cosmetic brands of our days increasingly include olive oil as an essential element in many of their products. Olive oil brings benefits to our body as a nutritional product and as a beauty product. Whether used directly in natural form or as a cosmetic composition, olive oil undoubtedly improves the health of your hair and the health of your skin.

Main advantages of applying Olive Oil to our hair.

• For its high content of vitamin E is a great antioxidant, strengthens the hair making it grow strong and healthy.
• It contains regenerative and soothing properties that contribute to stimulate growth especially in damaged hair.
• Olive oil also contains vitamin C, which stimulates the formation of collagen (with less collagen, hair becomes thinner), as well as vitamin A to control cell regeneration.
• Reduces protein loss from damaged hair.
• It reduces frizz, as its molecular structure makes it easier to penetrate hair fibers.
• If your ends are damaged, open or dry, olive oil is the best option to treat them.
• Olive oil is known for its moisturizing and toning properties. The swimming pool, the beach, the dyes and the dryer, are only some of the elements that make our hair dehydrate. Olive oil is excellent to help you regain your natural moisture. 

From all of the above, five fundamental benefits result from the use of olive oil on our hair: 

1. It provides shine.
2. It nourishes and repairs the scalp.
3. It promotes hair growth.
4. It strengthens hair follicles to prevent hair loss.
5. It repairs brittle ends.

Olive oil is beneficial for all hair types

It is true that the benefits provided by olive oil for hair are especially visible in those cases where the treatment is done on a type of dry hair and mistreated, however, this product is appropriate regardless of the state of the hair or scalp. The only thing that will vary is the amount used and the frequency of application.

Olive oil for dry hair

Dry hair is usually fragile and brittle, and also has split ends, a sign that indicates that the hair has been mistreated, either by sun exposure or because it has undergone heat or aggressive treatments.

Olive oil represents the best treatment for dry hair as it is capable of hydrating and nourishing it, solving the problem of open ends in a few applications, although in this case, before starting the applications of olive oil is recommended to go through the hairdresser and help the regeneration of the hair with a good cut ends.

If the hair is very dry and damaged you can apply a night mask with olive oil once a week. However, if you want to make an application of shorter duration should be applied at least 2 times a week, leaving the oil to act for approximately 15 minutes.

Olive oil for curly hair

Curly hair usually presents a problem that is also quite common in dry hair, the frizz. Frizz prevents the curl look shiny and well formed. In this case olive oil can be an excellent option for wearing a curly mane with a radiant and healthy appearance.

Thanks to its nourishing and moisturizing action, olive oil is able to reduce and eliminate frizz, which gives the hair a great smoothness, in addition, olive oil also reduces the damage that occurs on curly hair to apply foam and then heat through the diffuser.

Other times when you have naturally curly hair you want to straighten it and sometimes this can be very complex. In this case the best product is also olive oil because of its multiple benefits allows the hair to be more easily manageable, reduces damage by the application of heat and also strengthens the keratin structure, which also facilitates straightening while improving the health of the hair.

To treat curly hair, olive oil can be applied once a week, leaving it to act for approximately 15 minutes, but if curly hair is also dry and damaged, this application can be done twice a week or opt for a night mask to be applied once a week.

Olive oil for greasy hair

Contrary to what olive oil may initially look like, it is suitable for greasy hair. Generally, due to the appearance that this type of hair acquires, the hair suffers an excessive hygiene and with very aggressive products, this produces a compensation mechanism on the part of the sebaceous glands, which end up causing an even greater presence of capillary fat.

This problem can be solved by applying olive oil to the hair once every 10 or 15 days. In this case a small amount of oil will be used (at most one tablespoon) and it will be distributed in the following way:

• The amount of oil used to massage the scalp should be minimal, although it is equally important to apply the oil at the root.
• Most of the oil should be applied to the ends, as it is common for oily hair to have very damaged ends, especially when dyeing periodically.
• To maximize the benefits of olive oil on oily hair the amount of oil used can be enriched with 5 drops of lavender essential oil, which has astringent properties and will also help regulate the amount of sebum secreted by the glands present in the scalp.

Application with essential oil should only be avoided when there are wounds or scabs on the scalp, as in this case a hypersensitivity reaction may occur.