How useful is Rosemary Essential Oil for your Hair Growth?

Rosemary essential oil and hair

Rosemary is a herb, found mostly in the Mediterranean region, which is used for the medicinal and culinary purpose for centuries. Similar to peppermint, oregano, and cinnamon, rosemary is also frequently obtained in the form of essential oil. Essential oils are highly distilled and concentrated extracts of volatile herbal compounds. These are usually used for different purposes like cleaning, cooking, and making health and beauty products.

Rosemary essential oil is often used as a home remedy as this oil has several health beneficial properties. It is a good antioxidant and anti-inflammation agent. Apart from these, it is observed to have memory enhancement properties also.

Of late, there have been certain claims which support the use of rosemary oil to be excellent for hair growth. As evidence, people put forward the fact that Mediterranean cultures have used rosemary essential oil for centuries to promote their hair growth.

Is rosemary oil effective in treating hair loss?

There is no doubt that rosemary essential oil has many basic health benefits. For example, this oil is found to improve blood circulation and nerve growth. It also has anti-inflammatory properties.

As rosemary oil promotes blood circulation, it can assure to promote blood supply to your hair follicles and help to prevent them from drying off and causing hair loss. Apart from stimulating hair growth, this oil is also found useful in treating itchy and dry scalp, dandruff and premature graying.

What do the studies reveal about rosemary oil?

According to various studies conducted, rosemary oil seems to be beneficial for nerve tissues. This is because, carnosic acid which is an active ingredient in the rosemary plant, shows healing properties and is seen to help to cure nerve damages. This means, by applying rosemary oil, the nerve endings on your scalp will get rejuvenated which in turn can improve hair growth.

In one of the studies conducted in 2015, the hair protecting properties of rosemary oil was compared to minoxidil, a popular hair growth agent. In this study, both these oils were used on different groups of people with androgenetic alopecia. Interestingly, this study revealed that rosemary oil was just as effective as minoxidil as far as hair growth was concerned. Not only that, rosemary oil was found to treat the itchy scalp associated with the disease more effectively than minoxidil.

There was also another study conducted on rosemary leaf extract which also showed to stimulate hair growth. However, this study showed positive results when the pattern baldness associated was triggered by the male sex hormone testosterone. Another thing to note is that this study was performed not on humans, but on mice.

Then, there were two separate clinical reviews conducted on the year 2010 and 2011 both of which also confirms rosemary oil’s hair growth potential. The former review mentioned here was about the positive role of rosemary essential oil in hair regrowth in people who had alopecia.  In the latter, rosemary essential oil was found to have hair restorative properties due to its blood circulation-improving effects.

How to apply rosemary oil for hair loss?

There are various ways in which you can use rosemary essential oil on your hair. That is, either as a hair thickening agent or as a hair restoring agent. At first, only use it one or two times per week. Once you are comfortable with its usage, you can use it as desired. Three ways for application is described below.

Massage the oil directly into the scalp

In this application method, about five drops of rosemary oil are taken and massaged firmly and evenly into the scalp after having a shower. You can also mix rosemary oil with any of the carrier oils such as jojoba oil or coconut oil before applying if needed. Make sure the oil sits on your scalp for at least five to ten minutes before you rinse it off. Rinsing it off is optional. There is no harm in leaving it on your scalp and hair.

Mix the oil with your shampoo and use

You can mix rosemary oil with shampoos, lotions, conditioners, or creams as per the availability. Make sure not to add more than five drops of the oil per ounce of the product you use for mixing and use the product as usual. You can also take a spoonful of any hair product on your palm and add 2 to 3 drops of rosemary oil directly to it and use.

Add rosemary oil to your homemade shampoo

You can get many shampoo base recipes on the internet which you can try out and add rosemary essential oils to them for achieving the desired beauty and health benefits. Most of these may include a mixture of coconut oil, baking soda, and possibly other essential oils.

Things to know before applying rosemary oil

a. Always avoid getting the oil into your eyes. If the oil gets into your eye, rinse your eyes quickly with cold water.

b. Make sure not to apply too much oil to your scalp because rosemary essential oil may irritate the skin sometimes. Even though this may cause you some discomfort, it poses no danger to your health. In order to avoid such possible skin irritation, always make sure to dilute it with a carrier oil or other products before applying it.

c. Use of rosemary essential oils while you are pregnant or breastfeeding is not recommended even though it is applied only topically because we are still not sure of its consequences in this regard.

Conclusion

Rosemary essential oil is a simple solution you can use at home to promote hair growth. It is very safe and has very few side effects. There is scientific evidence to support the fact that rosemary essential oil is an excellent remedy for hair loss related to alopecia or male and female pattern baldness.