DIY: Oil Infusions For Healthy Hair!
Hey everyone! If you’re looking to add a lil’ something extra to your oils for your hot oil treatments or scalp massages, you can make your own! There are plenty of easy ways to infuse oils with fresh or dried herbs at your own house. I just made a scalp oil that will help the hair in the front of my head catch up to the rest of my hair, and improve the general condition of my scalp. I infused olive and coconut oils with peppermint, chamomile, brahmi, neem, amla, rosemary, and lavender! It’s not at involved as you may think, here’s how you can make your own oil infusion:
What You Need:
base oils: Choose something that is healthy for your hair and scalp. Ideally, this oil should be able to be absorbed by your scalp, taking the nutrients from the herbs with it! Some ideas are jojoba oil, coconut oil, or olive oil. You can also mix the oils to your liking.
herbs and essential oils: You can use fresh herbs, dry herbs, or essential oils to make your oil infusion fancy! Pick herbs that are great for the health of your scalp. Honestly, the possibilities are almost endless here. Here are some ideas you may already have in your kitchen:
peppermint
rosemary
lavender
chamomile
sage
basil
If you’re into ayurveda, you may have some of these:
amla
neem
brahmi
bhringraj
again, the possibilities are endless. There are SO many herbs helpful to the scalp. You can see a list here (scroll to the bottom of that page).
Glass bottles with tops and/or a small crockpot (yes, a crockpot. lol!)
To Make The Oil
Okay, so now you’re ready to infuse! There are a few ways to infuse an oil, but I’m going to talk about two methods.
1. Warm infusion – Put herbs in a glass jar (fresh herbs will need to be torn/crushed, dry herbs can be crumbled), pour warm oil over the herbs, and close the jar. This will need to sit in a dark place for about two weeks. Every couple days swirl the oil around the herbs and put the jar back. When the oil is finished, strain into a container.
2. Quick Crockpot infusion – Lol! Crockpots make everything so much easier! Simply add your herbs to the Crockpot, add the oil on top, and let it heat on the LOWEST setting for 3-4 hours. (Note: if your oils get so hot they’re smoking, you’re doing it WRONG) You could technically let it go overnight if your Crockpot doesn’t get too hot, but 3-4 hours worked great for me. After the oil is finished and cool enough, strain into a container.
Here’s what my finished oil looks like, it’s VERY green from the ayurvedic herbs! I added some extra lavender to improve the smell, and used it as a pre-poo. It has a light tingly feeling from the peppermint, and it’s nice and silky! I love it! I hope you all try to make your own, good luck!
Quick tip: Use tea bags of the herbs you want (peppermint tea, chamomile tea, etc.) so you won’t have to strain! If you have powders you want to use, you can open up a tea bag, pour the powders in, and staple that thing back together. It’s much easier than straining with cheesecloth.
Have you all infused your own oils? Share your favorite recipes in the comments!
I'm Holly, a chemist, foodie, and natural hair enthusiast! Here I share product reviews, DIY hair recipes, the hair journeys of others, and my own journey! Whatever the texture, style, or length, I'm dedicated to bringing Healthy back! Welcome to Curl Rehab!
Very interesting article.I wasn’t aware of this before and I am very interested in exploring this.Couple of questions…
1.Does the oil need to be in a dark bottle while being infused or is a dark place sufficient?
2.Once infusion is done,is it then mandatory for the oil to be in a dark bottle.I know essential oils are stored in dark bottles.
3.Can I infuse ayurvedic powders and if so,how would I go about doing that?
4. What do you think about infusing at least 4 herbs at a time (rosemary,horsetail,lavender and burdock root)?
Anxiously awaiting your response.Thanks
Hello!! Okay, let’s get into these questions.
1. So while infusing, it’s not necessary to keep the oil away from light unless you’re using an oil that is photosensitive (meaning it may form compounds that are toxic to humans when exposed to light). Citrus essential oils (orange, lemon, lime, etc.) and bergamot oil should be kept away from light. If you aren’t using these oils, you can feel free to use a clear bottle, and even sit the oil in the windowsill to help move the infusion along!
2. I think the above answer takes care of #2, but no, you don’t have to store infused oil in a dark bottle (unless it contains photosensitive ingredients). Essential oils usually come in dark bottles to ensure that the chemical composition of the oil isn’t compromised in any way over time.
3. Yes you can! I used powders in my recent oil. You can just add the powder (I use about a teaspoon in 1 cup of oil) directly to the oil and then filter with cheesecloth afterward, or you can use a teabag. For my oil, I opened up the chamomile teabag I was using, poured my powders right in, then closed the teabag up again. That method worked really well, and I didn’t have to strain later!
4. Girl, I put all sorts of herbs in my oils! I think my last one had like 7 herbs (O_O). Of course, you should do a bit of research to make sure there are no reactions between the herbs, but the mix you mentioned sounds like it will be fine, and really great for your hair and scalp!
Hope that helps, good luck!
Thanks for responding in such a timely manner.Greatly appreciated. Please tell me if I used too much herbs: I used 2 tsp burdock root and 3 teaspoon each of horsetail,rosemary and lavender.I also used 1 tsp of amla powder per 1 cup of olive oil.
well it sounds like that will be pretty concentrated, but all that means to me is that a little will go a long way! I think those measurements are fine, especially since I added 2 whole teabags of peppermint along with other herbs to one cup of oil recently and it turned out fine! it all depends on preference. If you find that you don’t like that amount of herbs (because of smell, color, whatever), then you know to include less next time!
cool thanks.Wow so much peppermint,that scent is overwhelming.
Thanks Holly! I may just have to give this a shot. I’ve never prepared infused oil before, and love it when my hair smells good.
yes, definitely try it! It’s really quick (relatively) and easy!
Love the site
How long does a an infused oil last? I totally forgot I infused Amla and Brhami months ago, and now I’m afraid to use it.
Hey Anne! How long the oil will last depends on the shelf life of the oil you infused the herbs into. Oils like olive or castor oil are good for about a year.