Hair oil is one of the most underrated products within a well-rounded hair care routine. Often relegated as a last step, most users aren’t even scratching the surface of the multiple benefits hair oil can offer for dry, frizzy hair. Especially with so many of us trying to streamline our routines, hair oil can be your versatile hair bestie if you know how to get the most out of it.
With the dry Fall and Winter seasons just around the corner, most of us will struggle with concerns like dry hair, frizz, breakage, and overall dullness. Hair oil is the answer to prepare and get through the colder, drier months.
Keep reading to discover how to use hair oil to achieve stronger, shinier, and smoother strands in your fall and winter hair care routine.
Why You Should Be Using Hair Oil in the First Place
The truth is… hair oil is so much more than just a finishing touch, and definitely shouldn’t be an afterthought.
FYI: Your hair is made up of dead cells and doesn’t have any way to keep itself moisturized. While the sebum that your scalp produces helps, it typically doesn’t make its way all the way down to your ends, especially if you have textured hair like waves, curls, or coils. This is why your hair care routine– and hair oil– does the heavy lifting in keeping your tresses looking and feeling healthy.
The main benefits of hair oil include:
Boosts hydration and prevents frizzy hair. Hair oil creates a barrier to hold in moisture and keep humidity out. This helps prevent your hair from drying out between washes and from any rogue frizz popping up.
Strengthens the hair. Hair oil increases your hair’s elasticity– essentially how much it can stretch before it breaks. The more elasticity, the less breakage you’ll see.
May support hair growth. Since regular use of hair oil can reduce breakage, your hair may appear to grow in more quickly with a fuller look and feel.
Protects from Heat Damage. Hair oil helps create a barrier between your hair and your heat tools, which can reduce damage from high temps.
5 Ways You Should Be Using Hair Oil This Season
The most common way we see people using hair oil is as a final step: adding shine and smoothing ends after styling. That’s great, but if it’s the only way you’re using hair oil, you’re missing out on so much of its deeper and long-lasting benefits.
Especially as the wind picks up, temperatures drop, and winter weather sucks the life out of our hair, try incorporating one to two other uses for your hair oil for enhanced results!
1. Pre-Shampoo Treatment: If your hair is feeling and looking dull, or maybe you’re seeing a lot of hair loss in the shower, try using hair oil as a pre-shampoo treatment. Apply oil through the entirety of your hair, avoiding your scalp but spreading through your ends. Use a wide-tooth comb to gently detangle your hair. Let the oil sit for 10 minutes before your normal wash routine. This will help prevent moisture loss and breakage while washing.
2. Post-Wash Detangling: Running some oil through your hair while wet before detangling can help your brush run through smoothly while reducing breakage. I’ve also found that this helps my hair air-dry more frizz-free.
3. Before Heat Styling: Hair oil will help prevent your hair from drying out when using heat tools, while boosting your shine and taming frizz.
4. Finishing Touch: Add extra moisture to the ends of your strands, help smooth flyaways, and increase shine as the last step in your styling routine.
5. Touching Up Between Washes: Adding a bit of extra hair oil to your ends between washes can help it stay looking and feeling healthy throughout the week.
What is the Best Hair Oil to Choose?
Here’s where most people get hung up on hair oil: there are so many to choose from!
I’ve personally tried more than I can count, and they are certainly not all made equal. Some weigh down my hair, some seem to only sit on top of it without lasting nourishment… So I’ll admit, I hadn’t been using it in my own routine for a while. That is, until I tried the new Haruharu wonder Black Bamboo Frizz-Free Hair Oil.
The Black Bamboo Frizz-Free Hair Oil actually penetrates the hair shaft to deliver deep hydration instead of just coating it. Some of the key ingredients include:
-
Black Bamboo Water & Shoots for deep hydration and all-day moisture retention.
-
Argan Oil & Squalane to create a moisture barrier while nourishing the hair with fatty acids.
-
8-Peptide Complex to repair the hair structure and protect weakened strands.
-
Hydrolyzed Plant Proteins to strengthen and repair damaged hair.
-
Amino Acids to improve elasticity and seal in hydration.
The brand checked all my boxes with this lightweight hair oil formula. The first thing you’ll notice is the ultra-thin, silky texture. It’s hard to find an oil for wavy hair that doesn’t end up weighing it down, but this absorbs quickly and leaves my hair looking fresh-out-of-the-salon shiny without feeling greasy.
Plus, it’s clinically proven to be safe for sensitive skin. Not many people realize that your haircare can cause skin irritation and acne because of how often your hair comes in contact with your face. As someone who’s acne-prone, the fact that it’s non-irritative is a huge plus for me.
The scent is refreshing, from a blend of natural citrus, herbal, and floral essential oils. It’s subtle and not overwhelming at all. Plus, the bottle is elegant but travel-friendly thanks to the leak-proof twist-lock cap.
I live in an incredibly dry climate year-round, and after only a week of regular use, I can already feel a difference in my hair. The ends feel soft and look smooth, and I have way less frizz despite being inside air-conditioned buildings all day. Overall, I feel like my waves look more polished and feel healthier.
If you do just one thing to update your hair routine for fall and winter, add hair oil. We know you’ll thank us.
Meet the Author
Miranda has been a trusted voice in the online beauty community since 2012, sharing her reviews, tips and tutorials on social media and her blog. Her expertise has earned her recognition as a repeat judge for the Glamour Beauty Awards and features in publications like Seventeen Magazine and Allure Magazine. One of Miranda’s main missions centers around uncovering the best bang for your buck in the beauty aisle, sharing budget-friendly beauty products that perform like high end options. When she’s not elbows deep in makeup, you can find her curled up with a book and her two cats, alongside her gamer husband. Find more from her on her YouTube channel, Slashed Beauty.
Why Hair Oil Deserves a Bigger Role in Your Fall & Winter Routine
Hair oil is one of the most underrated products within a well-rounded hair care routine. Often relegated as a last step, most users aren’t even scratching the surface of the multiple benefits hair oil can offer for dry, frizzy hair. Especially with so many of us trying to streamline our routines, hair oil can be your versatile hair bestie if you know how to get the most out of it.
With the dry Fall and Winter seasons just around the corner, most of us will struggle with concerns like dry hair, frizz, breakage, and overall dullness. Hair oil is the answer to prepare and get through the colder, drier months.
Keep reading to discover how to use hair oil to achieve stronger, shinier, and smoother strands in your fall and winter hair care routine.
Why You Should Be Using Hair Oil in the First Place
The truth is… hair oil is so much more than just a finishing touch, and definitely shouldn’t be an afterthought.
FYI: Your hair is made up of dead cells and doesn’t have any way to keep itself moisturized. While the sebum that your scalp produces helps, it typically doesn’t make its way all the way down to your ends, especially if you have textured hair like waves, curls, or coils. This is why your hair care routine– and hair oil– does the heavy lifting in keeping your tresses looking and feeling healthy.
The main benefits of hair oil include:
Boosts hydration and prevents frizzy hair. Hair oil creates a barrier to hold in moisture and keep humidity out. This helps prevent your hair from drying out between washes and from any rogue frizz popping up.
Strengthens the hair. Hair oil increases your hair’s elasticity– essentially how much it can stretch before it breaks. The more elasticity, the less breakage you’ll see.
May support hair growth. Since regular use of hair oil can reduce breakage, your hair may appear to grow in more quickly with a fuller look and feel.
Protects from Heat Damage. Hair oil helps create a barrier between your hair and your heat tools, which can reduce damage from high temps.
5 Ways You Should Be Using Hair Oil This Season
The most common way we see people using hair oil is as a final step: adding shine and smoothing ends after styling. That’s great, but if it’s the only way you’re using hair oil, you’re missing out on so much of its deeper and long-lasting benefits.
Especially as the wind picks up, temperatures drop, and winter weather sucks the life out of our hair, try incorporating one to two other uses for your hair oil for enhanced results!
1. Pre-Shampoo Treatment: If your hair is feeling and looking dull, or maybe you’re seeing a lot of hair loss in the shower, try using hair oil as a pre-shampoo treatment. Apply oil through the entirety of your hair, avoiding your scalp but spreading through your ends. Use a wide-tooth comb to gently detangle your hair. Let the oil sit for 10 minutes before your normal wash routine. This will help prevent moisture loss and breakage while washing.
2. Post-Wash Detangling: Running some oil through your hair while wet before detangling can help your brush run through smoothly while reducing breakage. I’ve also found that this helps my hair air-dry more frizz-free.
3. Before Heat Styling: Hair oil will help prevent your hair from drying out when using heat tools, while boosting your shine and taming frizz.
4. Finishing Touch: Add extra moisture to the ends of your strands, help smooth flyaways, and increase shine as the last step in your styling routine.
5. Touching Up Between Washes: Adding a bit of extra hair oil to your ends between washes can help it stay looking and feeling healthy throughout the week.
What is the Best Hair Oil to Choose?
Here’s where most people get hung up on hair oil: there are so many to choose from!
I’ve personally tried more than I can count, and they are certainly not all made equal. Some weigh down my hair, some seem to only sit on top of it without lasting nourishment… So I’ll admit, I hadn’t been using it in my own routine for a while. That is, until I tried the new Haruharu wonder Black Bamboo Frizz-Free Hair Oil.
The Black Bamboo Frizz-Free Hair Oil actually penetrates the hair shaft to deliver deep hydration instead of just coating it. Some of the key ingredients include:
The brand checked all my boxes with this lightweight hair oil formula. The first thing you’ll notice is the ultra-thin, silky texture. It’s hard to find an oil for wavy hair that doesn’t end up weighing it down, but this absorbs quickly and leaves my hair looking fresh-out-of-the-salon shiny without feeling greasy.
Plus, it’s clinically proven to be safe for sensitive skin. Not many people realize that your haircare can cause skin irritation and acne because of how often your hair comes in contact with your face. As someone who’s acne-prone, the fact that it’s non-irritative is a huge plus for me.
The scent is refreshing, from a blend of natural citrus, herbal, and floral essential oils. It’s subtle and not overwhelming at all. Plus, the bottle is elegant but travel-friendly thanks to the leak-proof twist-lock cap.
I live in an incredibly dry climate year-round, and after only a week of regular use, I can already feel a difference in my hair. The ends feel soft and look smooth, and I have way less frizz despite being inside air-conditioned buildings all day. Overall, I feel like my waves look more polished and feel healthier.
If you do just one thing to update your hair routine for fall and winter, add hair oil. We know you’ll thank us.
Meet the Author
Miranda has been a trusted voice in the online beauty community since 2012, sharing her reviews, tips and tutorials on social media and her blog. Her expertise has earned her recognition as a repeat judge for the Glamour Beauty Awards and features in publications like Seventeen Magazine and Allure Magazine. One of Miranda’s main missions centers around uncovering the best bang for your buck in the beauty aisle, sharing budget-friendly beauty products that perform like high end options. When she’s not elbows deep in makeup, you can find her curled up with a book and her two cats, alongside her gamer husband. Find more from her on her YouTube channel, Slashed Beauty.