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DIY Hot Oil Treatment For Curly Hair At Home:

Wanting to reap the benefits of all your essential oils on your scalp and curls? Well, let me introduce you to hot oil treatment. Curly hair is the most prone to damage due to it being the driest and most fragile hair type, but a hot oil treatment can repair and restore your dry ends.

Whether your curls are dry and frizzy or damaged, anyone can benefit from a hot oil treatment or using hair oil on curly hair

I personally love a good ol’ DIY hot oil treatment; that way, I know exactly what is in the ingredients, and I can customize the oils to benefit my hair individually.

Pure, organic, unrefined oils can help repair and restore your strands, fix split ends as well as improve the condition of your scalp, so your curls look luscious once again.

It’s easy to do a hot oil treatment at home!

Plus, if you make your own DIY hot oil treatment, you can guarantee that the ingredients are free of all the harsh chemicals like silicones, sulfates; all of these recipes are Curly Girl Method Approved, my friends!

Hot oil hair treatments are one of the future; stay tuned for my top tips!

hot oil treatment

What Is A Hot Oil Treatment?

A hot oil treatment is a treatment that is applied using oils that have been warmed up. This treatment helps to open the hair cuticle and allows the oils to penetrate deeply.

Hot oil treatments moisturize, strengthen, clarify, soften and even treat scalp problems like fungal issues, flaky scalp, or dandruff.

It can also help with hair growth as it deeply restores and repairs the hair and scalp; some oils can even help promote blood flow to promote healthier hair and a better environment for hair growth.

Hot oil treatments coat your dry hair and the entirety of your hair shaft so they can work to repair your hair from the inside out. There are some super benefits of a hot oil hair treatment.

There is a wide range of different natural oils and essential oils that you can use within this hot oil treatment, from coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, castor oil, and more.

If you want hair growth benefits, you can add lavender essential oil, peppermint oil, etc.

What Does A Hot Oil Treatment Do For Curly Hair?

There are some great benefits of doing a hot oil treatment on curly hair. For example, it is moisturizing, refreshing, helps with frizz, protects hair from UV damage, helps promote hair growth, etc, etc, etc…

So let’s talk about all the benefits of doing a hot oil treatment and, in particular, on curly hair.

Helps Moisturise Your Curls:

The key benefit of hot oil treatment is that it can bring your hair back to life. Hot oil treatments are often recommended in the colder months, but you can use them all year round.

In the winter, the dramatic change in weather can cause hair to become brittle and damaged; hot oil treatments act as a restorative spa treatment for your hair.

Since curly hair is already brittle, it is highly popular amongst those with curly hair in the winter. They help to strengthen your hair, prevent dry, brittle, and split ends, and help your curls retain moisture.

Hot oil treatments can be used once a week on curly hair to restore, hydrate, and repair damaged and fragile curls. It also protects curls and makes them more manageable.

Hot oil treatments can help restore natural oils back into your hair which can prevent dryness which can contribute to breakage; it can even help with hair elasticity and flexibility.

Helps Tame Frizz:

Doing a DIY hot oil treatment can also help those with frizzy hair any time in the year. It can moisturize your hair from within and prevent frizz and split ends.

Hot oil treatments can smooth the cuticle and create a barrier over the curls to retain moisture, so humidity-related frizz cannot occur. It also helps to smooth high porosity hair.

You can do a hot oil hair treatment when your hair is damaged as one of the top causes of frizz in natural hair is damage and dryness, so restoring both of them should help with frizz.

Hot oil treatments are brilliant for those with damaged hair!

Protects Hair From UV Damage:

Some oils can protect your strands from UV damage as it creates a protective shield that blocks the damage to your hair from excessive sun exposure, such as discoloration and weakness.

Coconut oil is brilliant at protecting the hair from sun damage as it creates a protective seal over the ends of your hair, which can seal your curls from the sun rays.

It will also treat your hair and restore your hair’s natural shine.

Promotes Blood Circulation:

One of the brilliant things about hot oil treatment and using essential oils like lavender essential oil or peppermint essential oil is that it promotes blood circulation to your scalp.

This can help promote healthy hair growth as it stimulates the blood flow to the scalp. The nutrients from this then strengthen your hair follicles to promote healthy hair.

Helps Combat Dandruff:

During winter, your curls tend to be much drier than any other time in the year because of the lack of moisture in the hair; this can lead to dandruff and flaky scalp.

Applying a hot oil treatment is a simple way to help combat this dandruff issue. Many essential oils like peppermint have anti-fungal properties, which can also help with this.

Just applying a hot oil treatment and massaging it into your scalp for a few minutes can help stimulate the scalp and help nourish and rehydrate the scalp.

why do hot oil treatment

Which Oils Are Best When Doing A Hot Oil Treatment?

Doing a DIY hot oil treatment is extremely beneficial for natural and curly hair as you can customize the ingredients used within this treatment to benefit you the most.

You can use olive oil, avocado oil, castor oil, lavender essential oil, whatever suits your hair type. I also love tea tree oil to help stimulate hair growth.

But which oils should you use when doing a DIY hot oil treatment on curly hair and why?

Olive Oil:

Olive oil is a brilliant oil to use for a DIY hot oil treatment as it deeply moisturizes and nourishes your hair from the inside out while providing many nutrients and antioxidants.

Olive oil deeply penetrates the hair cuticle so that moisture and nutrients can efficiently be absorbed, leaving coarse, natural, or curly hair smoother and healthier.

It can also improve the blood flow in your scalp, prevent dandruff and even help promote growth as it creates the perfect environment. It even prevents hair loss!

Olive oil works to strengthen the hair from within and add shine. It also creates a water/oil barrier to help lock in moisture and prevent the cuticle from swelling from humidity.

You can also use sweet almond oil or avocado oil if you want to replace normal olive oil, as they are slightly more lightweight and better suited for low porosity hair.

Coconut Oil:

Coconut oil is the holy grail of oils for curly hair; it penetrates the cortex deep into the hair shaft to add moisture and nourishment to the entire hair shaft.

There are some superb benefits of using coconut oil on curly hair.

Coconut oil can help heal protein loss, add moisture and make the hair feel stronger over time. It can help increase shine, softness, and manageability as it promotes healthy hair.

It is perfect for curly hair as not only does it improve the overall appearance, health, and feel of the hair, but it also massively decreases frizz. It is perfect for high porosity hair as it creates a seal over the cuticle to prevent moisture loss.

It even helps promote elasticity and strength from the inside out of all hair strands. It is perfect for those with damaged hair as it helps to restore the life of your curls again.

However, if you have quite fine, low porosity curls, then coconut oil as a DIY hot oil treatment may be too heavy and weigh down your curls. But for thick, coarse hair, coconut oil may be the perfect match.

Castor Oil:

Castor oil is perfect for dry, damaged, frizzy curls. It is thick in consistency and can treat a range of issues within your hair, so you’re left with silky soft hair.

It is loaded with nutrients like Vitamin E, Omega 3, ricinoleic acid, and six essential fatty acids, as well as protein which nourish dry strands and repair curls.

It can stimulate hair growth, improve flexibility as well as deeply moisturize from within. It soothes the scalp and leaves your curls in better condition overall.

Lavender, Peppermint, or Tea Tree Essential Oil

I personally love essential oils for my scalp within a DIY hot oil hair treatment; these essential oils help to stimulate blood flow to the scalp, which promotes hair growth.

Lavender oil can also help calm the scalp and help with scalp irritation. It can make curly hair look fuller and thicker and even help promote healthy hair growth.

Peppermint oil is loved by many curlies out there to help stimulate curl growth as well as maintain a healthy scalp. It encourages blood flow which helps the hair follicles promote healthy curls. It is even antifungal, so it can help with scalp irritation like dandruff.

Tea tree oil can massively help when fighting dandruff as it helps promote a healthy scalp. Adding this into a hot oil hair treatment can help strengthen and promote the natural curl shape.

coconut oil

How To Do A Hot Oil Treatment On Natural Hair:

My personal favorite hot oil treatment is mixing all of the oils I have suggested to use above so you can reap the most benefits. But you can really use just one of these oils, depending on what suits you and your hair type best.

For those asking “what is hair porosity?” I created a full article so be sure to check it out so you can have ultimate hair goals!

This hot oil treatment is best for high porosity hair, but you can use lighter oils if you have finer, low porosity hair; I will give some suggestions, don’t worry.

Here’s what you’ll need for high porosity curls:

  • – 3 tablespoons of olive oil (use argan oil for low porosity hair)
  • – 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (use jojoba oil or avocado oil for low porosity hair)
  • – 1 tablespoon of castor oil (leave this out if you have LP hair as it may turn your curls frizzy!)
  • – 10 to 20 drops of your chosen essential oil (I listed some recommendations above!)

If you have very thick coarse curls, you may need slightly more than this, I have very thick curls, so I tend to double up, but this is ideal for normal thickness.

You want enough so that it generously coats your curls from the roots to the tips.

Step One: Prepare The Ingredients & Hair:

The first thing you’ll want to do is get everything prepared. Give your hair a comb through and detangle all the curls. If your hair is full of products, wash beforehand.

If your curls have grease or product buildup, this will stop the oils from penetrating the hair, and it will limit the juicy benefits of this treatment, so you’ll want clean curls.

Warm up the oils in a boiler, put olive oil, coconut oil, and castor oil (or the alternative for low porosity hair), and heat the mixture until it is very warm but won’t burn your skin.

Once you’ve warmed the mixture, stir in your chosen essential oil and stir well.

Step Two: Apply To Hair:

You can either apply the DIY hot oil hair treatment to wet or dry hair, but for best results, it is best on slightly damp hair; your curls should never be completely wet as this can stop the oils from fully penetrating into the hair.

I like to work in sections to ensure even coverage; starting with underneath, I will apply to the root and scalp and then work through to the ends working through each section.

I then focus on the scalp and massage the oils into the scalp for 5 minutes so all the goodness can really get into the hair follicles, then cover with a shower cap and wrap it in a warm towel.

Leave the oils on your hair for roughly 30-45 minutes and occasionally change the towel to a warmer one, or heat your hair with the hairdryer, so the cuticle stays open and the goods can be sucked into your hair and scalp.

Step Three: Rinse and Condition:

For most DIY hot oil hair treatments, you don’t want to shampoo afterward as it will strip the oils from your scalp, instead give your head a good massage under running water.

This should help reduce the greasy residue without stripping the benefits of this treatment. If your hair is super greasy, you can shampoo the following day.

But you can shampoo if you really need it, but if you have the time, I’d recommend just rinsing and conditioning; your hair will thank you later.

How Often Should You Do A Hot Oil Treatment On Curly Hair?

It is recommended to do a hot oil treatment every week or two, depending on your preference. This can help deposit oil back into your hair and prevent dryness which contributes to breakage.

Since curly hair tends to be fragile and dry, hot oil hair treatments can seriously benefit curls as they can store the oils that have been lost.

It can help with frizz and split ends and gradually repair heat, UV, mechanical and environmental damage by restoring moisture and repair from within.

If you’re not doing a hot oil treatment, you seriously should!

olive oil hot oil treatment

Summary:

Who knew you could reap so many benefits from doing a hot oil treatment? Using enriching oils like coconut, jojoba, avocado, castor oil, and essential oils like lavender essential oil can offer deep conditioning and restoration for all hair types, especially curly hair.

This oil mixture can work to benefit different areas of your hair, whether that is strengthening, offering anti-fungal properties, repairing, or just hydrating.

Doing this once every week or two is extremely beneficial for curly hair so give it a go today!

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