Hair oiling is back in vogue, and brands are redefining the ritual

What took a back seat a few years ago is in the spotlight again. We attempt to find out what propelled the change 

From coconut and almond oil to sesame and castor oil, there is a natural oil prevalent in the traditional beauty culture of every part of India. The ritual of oiling hair dates back to over 5,000 years ago, and finds mention in Ayurvedic texts too. “Hair oiling originates from an Ayurvedic practice known as snehan. In Sanskrit, the word snehan means both ‘to oil’ and ‘to love’, and this is no coincidence, as oiling the hair is truly an act of love, whether as self-love or as a sign of compassion for your loved ones,” shares Dr Taruna Yadav, senior Ayurvedic doctor at Forest Essentials. 

While most of us have a unique memory associated with hair oiling from our childhood, it’s fair to say that many distanced themselves from the ritual as they were growing up for various reasons. However, in the recent past, hair oiling has made a comeback. It is perhaps an outcome of the increased awareness towards self-care and all things natural—both popularised during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, not just Indians but people across the globe are gravitating towards hair oils championing Ayurvedic ingredients. We speak to some change-makers in the space to understand how the ritual has  become cool and cosmopolitan.

What begot the indifference?

Hair oiling plays an integral role in the memory bank of your school days. The slick pigtails were incomplete without a dash (read: wash) of hair oil. But let’s admit it, oiling was the equivalent of ending up with flat, greasy and off-putting hair because back then, what we used was either heavy coconut oil or adulterated almond oil—the two most commonly available options on the shelves of supermarkets. Moreover, an excessive concentration of thick and comedogenic oils has been linked to the exacerbation of acne and pustules, with dermatologists today asking people struggling with the said concerns to refrain from oiling their hair.

“Over the last few decades, life had become fast-paced, and everything was  interchanged with rapid solutions and alternatives. People preferred quick fixes for everything, until the recent global health crises struck,” says Yadav, echoing the impact of the pandemic on slow beauty-first rituals—hair oiling being one.

“Traditionally, hair oil took a long time to make, and I think that’s why it took a backseat,” says Akash Mehta, co-founder, Fable & Mane. “You would have to boil the oil overnight, add herbs, massage it into your hair and leave it overnight and then wash it out. Ayurvedic ingredients can also be quite strong, heavy and pungent, leaving your hair feeling greasy,” he furthers. “No one was proud to oil their hair and it wasn’t spoken about much.  But then the global pandemic hit, and during the lockdowns, people started investing in self-care at home. But we needed a modern solution with a Western approach, which is why we used the best of Ayurveda, but made it in a lab in the US with a French perfumer, to make the oil desirable and cool.”

So what rekindled the spark?

While the pandemic did set the tone for self-care’s dominance, brands who reinvented the idea, as well as the look and feel of hair oils, globalised the act of hair oiling like never before. Case in point: brands like Fable & Mane, Anomaly, JVN Hair, Ranavat, Squigs Beauty, Purearth, and UMA Oils. Today, the hashtag #hairoiling gets a whopping 515.9 million views on TikTok and features over 52,000 posts on Instagram.

However, getting people in the West to oil their hair was far from a cakewalk; it was a completely alien concept for Western consumers, shares Mehta. “We faced the challenge of education surrounding hair oiling and Ayurvedic ingredients. When we launched the brand, we knew we needed to sell the concept via a leading beauty retailer (Sephora) that really believed in the culture and the ritual of oiling and understood that consumers in the West were seeking natural alternatives to growing healthy hair,” says the co-founder, who used fables and analogies to educate the international consumer about Ayurveda.

“Consumers are now looking for a holistic approach and turning to Ayurveda for long-term solutions to everything, including hair care,” states Yadav. “And, when it comes to Ayurvedic hair care, oiling is the first and the most integral step to incorporate,” she adds. To make hair oiling pleasurable and practical, “Forest Essentials offers highly potent, light-textured, and non-greasy oil preparations,” says Yadav. “We have completely followed the guidelines mentioned in Ayurveda. The oils are made following the ancient ‘Tel Pak’ process, using the recipes documented in the Vedas, which include black sesame and virgin coconut oil infused with goat’s milk and fresh herbal extracts as per the different formulations. We go a step ahead by warming and storing the oil in copper vessels, which impart their own nutritional properties to the oil.”

“Hair oiling has become really cool in the West; it’s become a new category–everyone’s doing it, even non-Indian brands. We’re seeing so many trends go viral, think hair slugging or rosemary oil. It is possible for someone from India to see an American content creator make a video about hair oiling with the HoliRoots Hair Oil on TikTok and be inspired to go back to their roots,” says Mehta. The new generation of hair oils put convenience and experience at the forefront of the formulations, rendering them a prime spot in everyone’s beauty arsenals, including Gen-Z. 

Why should you oil your hair?

“Oil application, also called abyangam in Ayurveda, is one of the important techniques to keep the body cool and maintain the hair roots intact,” informs Dr GN Lakshman, Ayurveda lifestyle consultant with Soneva Soul. According to Lakshman, oiling the scalp and hair is like watering a plant, “just like water provides the plant with nutrition, oiling the hair helps to strengthen the roots, maintain lustre and prevent the thinning and splitting of hair,” he says. “Our grandma would visit us and give us amazing champis, using a handcrafted blend of Ayurvedic oils. We still swear by it [hair oiling]; not only does it help with healthy hair growth, softness and hydration, but when paired with a champi, it alleviates stress and tension too,” shares Mehta.

“As a general health practice, applying oil to the scalp and hair, if not every day at least once or twice a week, can help cool the body and promote better sleep. People suffering from insomnia can try this simple exercise of oil application one hour before bedtime for quality sleep,” says Lakshman. To make the best of your hair oiling ritual, Yadav recommends warming the oil using a double-boiler technique before application. “Immerse the container of oil in a bowl (preferably made up of copper or Kansa) of hot water such that the oil gets heated indirectly. This ensures the ingredients of the oil remain intact, thereby lending maximum efficacy to the massage that is to follow.” As her concluding tip, Yadav suggests, “For better penetration of oil into the hair and scalp, using a hot towel on the hair after oiling can be done every two to three weeks.”

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