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Want To Stimulate Hair Growth? Make Your Own High End Botanical Extract Formula At Home

By: Caroline Ashton

Read More About Hair Loss & Hair Care

Essential oils are fast becoming recognized as important natural therapeutic ingredients to personal care products. Extracts of many plants, including Rosemary and Sage (now popular hair care essential oils) have long been used to stimulate hair growth, and promote truly healthy and beautiful hair. Here's a look at creating a personal formula specifically for stimulating hair growth for both men and women. The recipes are easy to make at home, with readily available ingredients.
So What Essential Oils Have The Greatest Potential To Stimulate Hair Growth?
The oils used for hair growth are also those used for skin care in general -- the health of the follicles is of course closely related to the health of the scalp and skin. Essential oils for your most effective, custom recipe can be selected from one of three general categories. These are: stimulating (may signal new hair to grow), nutritive (offers important nutrients), and balancing (helps over-oily or over-dry conditions become normal). The most deeply therapeutic means of using essential oils for hair growth is to make an oil treatment formula -- a blend of essential oils and carrier oils that is massaged into the scalp and left for some period of time (rather than simply just adding to your conditioner or shampoo).
Revving Up Those Follicles
We call them "stimulating" essential oils because they manage to signal the cells in the dermis to increase their metabolism. This means the follicles may become more active at growing new hair. This is the result of these specific oils containing natural "ketones", chemicals with a "growth stimulating" type of signal. Rosemary Verbenone (a very specific type of Rosemary essential oil) and "Common" or "Dalmatian" Sage are the two most commonly used oils for stimulating hair growth. Of all the oils discussed here, Sage is the one that must be used by a limited population: it should not be used by pregnant or nursing mothers. Use at one percent or less in your total formula (these concentrations will be explained later with the recipes).
The Deep Colored Nutritive Oils: Carrot and Sea Buckthorn
There are certain vitamins and vitamin-like compounds known to stimulate hair growth. Like the pharmaceutical preparation "Retin A" contains something similar to vitamin A (and does stimulate hair growth for some men), Carrot and Sea Buckthorn essential oils contain similar compounds. These are actually found as CO2 extracts, found in the same category as essential oils in stores. These oils are often used between 1 and 2 percent concentrations.
Getting The Scalp Back In Balance for Maximum Hair Growth
Many folks have certain skin conditions which can exacerbate hair loss. Sometimes it's inflammation or irritation due to a mild infection. Sometimes it's an over-production of skin oils that can clog pores and result in thinning hair. Older women may be in need of balancing estrogen on a cellular level. So choose one or more of these "balancing" oils to round out your formula: Lavender is the best all-around balancing oil where no particular skin condition is apparent. Sometimes called "medicine chest in a bottle", it can really bring an overall synergy to your recipe. For over-oily skin types, Myrtle is an excellent choice. Often used in acne formulas, it is thought to return the scalp's oil production back to normal. Finally, Clary Sage is THE choice for mature women with thinning hair, as it may reduce the effects of changes in estrogen levels that have affected hair growth.
How Are These Oils Applied? In Come the Carrier Oils!
Once you're essential oils are selected, you can create your own oil treatment formula by adding them to one or more carrier oils. The most popular carrier oils for hair care are: Jojoba, primarily used for moisturizing and giving hair a wonderful luster. Virgin coconut, while needing to be gently melted first to blend with other carriers, is fast becoming one of the most highly-praised therapeutic carrier oils. It is thought to have a very positive effect on hair loss all by itself, and like jojoba, will also result in wonderful hair texture. Evening Primrose is a very important carrier, offering essential fatty acids that we may easily be deficient in. This is best used by mature women, and also where the scalp is generally irritated. Hemp may also be used here. Finally, another very therapeutic carrier oil is Rosehip seed. It, like the nutritive essential oils, has vitamin-like compounds in it that have been shown in studies to promote youthful skin development. While it has not been as extensively researched for hair growth, there's no reason to think it shouldn't have as profound an effect on the scalp and follicles.
Getting Down To Business: Mixing Your Hair Growth Elixir!
Sometimes people are a little intimidated by mixing their own essential oil formula, but it's really much easier than even baking cookies. Let's describe how to make 1 ounce of hair stimulating blend, and then you can easily multiply the values to make larger amounts. This is best done in a 1 ounce empty dropper bottle, but again, you can start with a larger one if you like. To make the base, fill the bottle most of the way with your carriers. If you're using using more than one carrier, estimating equal parts of each is fine. Make sure you leave a little room at the top for the essential oils! So, for each 1% of an essential oil, just add 8 drops of that oil to your bottle. Using 1% Rosemary? Add 8 drops. 2% Lavender, 16 drops. 1/2% Sage? 4 drops. To Make 2 ounces of final blend, just double these numbers -- to make 4 ounces, multiply them by 4, and so on.
Great Recipes to Get You Started
These are well-rounded, potent recipes that are easily made -- both of these are for two ounces of final blend. For women, use a base of 1/4 Evening Primrose, 1/4 Rosehip Seed, and 1/2 Jojoba. To this, add 16 drops Rosemary Verbenone, 8 drops Sage, 32 drops Lavender and 16 drops Clary Sage. For men, use a base of 1/3rd Coconut, Rosehip Seed and Hemp oils. To this, add 16 drops Sage, 16 drops Rosemary, 32 drops Carrot Root, and 16 drops Lavender essential oils.
Now you can lightly swirl or invert your mixture until you feel it's blended. Don't shake it if you can avoid it, as it's not such a good idea to introduce air into your oils too much (it can shorten the shelf life -- which, by the way, should be about six months if kept in a cool, dark spot). The most effective oil treatment program is to first shampoo your hair, or at least moisten your scalp with warm water. This opens the pores and increases absorption of the oils. Then using an eye-dropper, distribute 1 to 2 droppers-full around your scalp and massage the oil in. Wrapping your head in a warm moist towel for the next 20 minutes to an hour can maximize absorption, and/or you can sleep with it on your scalp. And there you have it! A simple, effective means of supporting hair growth with the therapeutic potentials of essential oils.

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