Updated: March 31, 2021
If you have a natural hair regimen, or you’re looking to build one — you probably now recognize the benefits of using a great quality oil in your hair. A good oil could be the difference between lubricated, moisturized, tangle-free hair, and the opposite of that.
In this article, I’m going to be talking about avocado oil and all its benefits for natural hair. I’ll also be talking about why I personally think this is the perfect oil for natural hair. Especially hair that’s thick, dense, and coily — 4C girls, this one is for us!
Whether you choose to use it as a sealant, hot oil treatment, in your deep conditioners, or on your scalp, avocado oil might just be what your hair needs to reach its maximum potential!
How to Make Avocado Oil for Natural Hair
Avocado oil is rich in monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acids (oleic acids) which have so many benefits to the hair. Avocados are also rich in vitamins like A, D, and E as well as minerals like potassium and lecithin.
Avocado oil is made by cold-pressing the flesh of the avocado. You can find a detailed video showing how to make avocado oil by yourself at home by extracting it from the fruit.
What are the Benefits of Avocado Oil for Natural Hair?
1. Penetrates the hair strand
Avocado oil is one of the few oils that can really penetrate the hair shaft and nourish it from the inside out. As a result, this oil tends to actually increase the hair elasticity and prevent breakage, rather than just sitting on the hair strand.
2. Fights dandruff and flakiness
Avocado oil is able to easily penetrate the skin on the scalp. As a result, it is easy for the oil to transport nourishment and fight dryness on the scalp that causes flakes.
3. Ensures scalp health
Avocado oil is anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial. It also promotes faster wound healing because of its high linoleic, oleic, and general monounsaturated fatty acid content. As a result, if your scalp is currently irritated, inflamed, or injured for any reason – avocado oil might just be what you need to fight this.
4. Offers UV protection
Avocado oil is rich in vitamin E which can help repair sun damage to the hair. It is also rich in beta-carotene, protein, lecithin, vitamins A and D can also protect the hair from UV rays.
5. Promotes hair growth
Avocado oil is rich in vitamins, essential fatty acids, minerals, and biotin. If you’ve been in the natural hair community or have listened to anyone in the industry, then you are no stranger to the benefits of biotin for hair. Biotin is said to actually be able to improve hair growth rate! Though further research is still needed to prove this, using avocado oil with all these ingredients can only provide benefits for your natural hair!
6. Adds slip to hair
Avocado oil provides amazing slip when it comes to detangling natural hair. This is because it is a perfectly balanced oil that can penetrate the hair strand, as well as lightly coat it. As a result, it reduces friction and allows your hair to glide easily.
7. Prevents breakage
Similar to the point above, coating the hair strand with avocado oil tends to reduce friction and increase its elasticity. As a result, you are more likely to retain hair better by preventing unnecessary breakage during normal day to day manipulation of your hair.
8. Neutralizes free radicals
Avocado oil is an oil that is able to protect against the effects of harmful free-radicals and toxins. This is another way it ensures scalp health – by neutralizing toxins on the hair and scalp.
How Can You Use Avocado Oil in your Natural Hair Regimen?
1. Using it as a Hot Oil treatment
One of the easiest ways to get the most benefits of avocado oil in your hair is by using it as a hot oil treatment. To do this, simply heat the oil by placing a bottle of it in hot (not boiling) water for about 5-10 minutes. Once the oil is warm, coat your hair from root to ends with it. Then, cover your hair with a plastic cap for 10-15 minutes and rinse it out. You can read more about the benefits of hot oil treatments here.
Some people get the most benefits from either using it before or after shampooing their hair, so feel free to experiment to see what works for you!
2. Adding it to your Deep Conditioner
To add a boost to any deep conditioner, you can add a tablespoon of avocado oil to it! This can impart some of the vitamins and minerals from the oil. It can also make your deep conditioner richer, and creamier for an even better deep conditioning treatment on washday!
3. Using it as a base for your Ayurvedic Oil Recipes
Most of the Ayurvedic oil recipes we infuse here on Hibiscus Roots will call for either olive oil, coconut oil, and/or avocado oil as a base. Avocado oil is a great carrier oil that, as we’ve shown, benefits natural hair in countless ways! Have fun using it in your Ayurvedic oil recipes, some of which you can find here!
4. By using it as a Detangler
On washday, right before shampooing your hair in mini-twists, you can use avocado oil as a great detangler! You can spray your hair with aloe vera juice and run avocado oil through it to make your detangling process so much easier!
5. Using it as a Pre-poo Treatment
Similar to using it as a detangler, you can simply detangle and coat your hair in avocado oil and let it sit in your hair before shampooing it. It’s a great way to ensure that your hair doesn’t get stripped of all its natural oils and nutrients during the shampoo process.
6. As an Oil Rinse
You can decide to use avocado oil as the last step of your wash day process. After shampooing, deep conditioning, and rinsing all of that out of your hair, apply the avocado oil to your hair strand while it’s still wet and massage it into the strands. Cover the hair for about 5 minutes and then do a final rinse to get rid of the excess oil on the hair strands.
For more details on the benefits of oil rinsing, see this post.
Finally, there are tons of different carrier oils you can use in your natural hair regimen. And since you’re here, we know you’re trying to use more all-natural and Ayurvedic products!
If you do decide to try out avocado oil, please let us know in the comments what your hair profile is, how it works on your hair and if your hair liked it.
Read Next: I Tried Cardi B’s Avocado Recipe on my 4C Natural Hair and I’m SHOCKED!
