Grapes and grapeseed extracts have been used for centuries for their different medicinal benefits, such as to cure diseases like cancer, cholera, constipation, sore eyes, smallpox, kidney, and liver diseases. In fact, their usage can be traced back to as early as the Egyptian civilization.
However, the use of quality grapeseed oil products topically or orally is relatively new; probably a matter of a few decades only. Grapeseed oil, a by-product of the wine making process, is mainly produced in Italy, France, Argentina, and Spain. It is a light-colored oil that has a thin consistency with a sweet smell and nutty flavor.
Grapeseed Oil Benefits for Hair
As you can see, grapeseed oil has many health benefits to offer, here in this article, we will mainly discuss about why you should use grapeseed oil for hair care and how to do that.
In short, we will mention –
a) Nutritional factors of grapeseed oil
b) How grapeseed oil could benefit your hair
c) Grapeseed oil recipes for healthy hair
Nutritional Factors of Grapeseed Oil
Of the different nutrients grapeseed oil has, ones that are especially beneficial for hair are:
- Vitamin E and F (Essential Fatty Acid)
- Minerals
- Lipids
- Carbohydrates
- Proteins
- procyanidolic oligomers (PCO’s)
Benefits
1. Acts as a hair moisturizer
Grapeseed oil contains a high level of fat that can keep your hair and scalp moisturized for a long time. This is the reason this oil is commonly used in so many cosmetic products today. Since its regenerative properties allow your scalp to retain moisture, this helps prevent dried, brittle and frizzy hair, and split ends.
2. Regenerates hair growth
This cold-pressed oil has large amounts of oleic and linoleic acid. Linoleic is actually an omega 6 fatty acid that is known to promote hair growth, which has been proven by researchers. One tbsp of grapeseed oil contains 2.2 grams of monounsaturated fatty acids, 9.5 grams of polyunsaturated fatty acids, and 3.9 milligrams of vitamin E – essential ingredients to keep your scalp safe from free radicals. What’s even better is that you would never have greasy hair if you prefer grapeseed oil hair growth.
3. Fights dandruff
Grapeseed oil is effective in reducing dandruff, and itching or flaking scalp. In order to get these benefits with enhanced growth of skin cells, you have to use it as a hot oil hair treatment and mix it with such essential oils as lavender and ylang-ylang. However, it’s important to remember that you won’t find any positive results from grapeseed oil if your dandruff issue is caused by dermatitis, psoriasis, eczema, seborrhea, and eczema.
4. Strengthens hair
It has been known for centuries that grapeseed oil has the ability to strengthen weak hair and prevent breakage. The fatty linoleic acid present in the oil easily gets absorbed into your scalp, strengthening the roots of hair.
5. Fights against hair loss and hair thinning
Antioxidants play a crucial role in fighting against hair loss and thinning issues like male pattern baldness, and grapeseed oil is a great natural source in this regard because it is full of antioxidants that fight the free radicals effectively.
6. Keeps your scalp free of infections
Many people do not know that grapeseed oil has antibacterial properties that has been proven in a study, making it an essential component to treat a large number of harmful bacteria found in the human body, including the scalp. Also, if your hair follicles are already infected, you can still try grapeseed oil because this will help reduce the extent of the damage.
7. Makes hair shiny
The light texture of grapeseed oil allows hair cuticles to absorb it well without weighing down your hair. This makes your hair shiny and glossy, unlike coconut oil or olive oil that often leave your hair feeling grainy and gritty. Grapeseed oil is definitely a go-to product to be used as a natural hair moisturizer for healthy and shiny hair.
How to Apply?
Now that you know the grapeseed oil benefits for hair, you need to know how to make the best use of it. Probably you already use grapeseed oil for salad dressing, but the process of grapeseed oil application on your hair and scalp is totally different. Here is a guide on how to apply grapeseed oil on hair to reap all the possible benefits.
Grapeseed oil for deep conditioning:
Ingredients:
- 4-6 tbsp of grapeseed oil
- 4-6 tbsp of almond or jojoba oil
- 8-10 drops of ylang-ylang or lavender essential oil
Directions:
- First put all of these oils in a bowl and mix them oil
- Then heat the bowl over a bowl of hot water that is boiling
- Now apply to your hair and leave for 30-45 mins
- Shampoo your hair with warm water afterwards and don’t forget to deep condition
Grapeseed oil for scalp massage
Ingredients:
- 4-6 tbsp of grapeseed oil
- 8-12 drops of rosemary, tea tree or peppermint essential oil
Directions:
- Mix grapeseed oil with any of your preferred essential oil
- Heat over a bowl of boiling water
- Massage onto your hair scalp for 10 mins or so and do this once every day
Grapeseed oil as a heat protectant
Ingredients:
- Grapeseed and coconut oil
- 5-8 drops of vitamin E oil
- 1 4 Oz plastic squeeze dispensing bottle
Directions:
- Pour the same amount of coconut and grapeseed oil into the bottle
- Then apply vitamin E oil
- Close the bottle and shake for some time
- Apply on your damp hair before flat ironing or blow drying your hair
Warnings
You already know grapeseed oil is a byproduct of the wine making procedure where wine is prepared by squeezing juice out of the grapes; leaving the grape seeds behind. Then the oil is extracted by crushing these seeds.
But you need to pay attention to the way the oil is extracted. There are mainly 2 grapeseed oil extraction procedures – cold pressed and chemical refinement. Cold-pressing involves pressing the seeds with a steel press that helps retain the authentic nutrition, flavor, and aroma of the grapes.
On the other hand, chemical solvents like hexane are also used in the extraction process and some manufacturers even heat this oil to very high temperatures that actually destroy its beneficial properties by turning its good fat into bad fat and changing its molecular composition.
Choose a grapeseed oil product that has been not been chemically processed; preferably the organic, cold pressed version. Check the bottle to see how the oil has been extracted.
Also, we don’t recommend too much application of grapeseed oil so you are able to avoid its high levels of fat. This also includes saturated fat that could be harmful to your cardiovascular health and omega 6 fatty acids that could cause inflammation if consumed in excess. Moreover, you need to be careful about how your body would react to this oil if you have allergic conditions.
To sum it up, there are numerous grapeseed oil benefits for skin and hair that cannot be underestimated when compared to those of olive, almond or coconut oil. You can try this cheap yet effective oil product for your hair care anyday, anytime.
