Oiling Our Hair Is An Age-Old Ritual For Black And Brown People. But Does It Actually Work?

I can still remember the sights and smells of the beauty shop my mom frequented when I was a child. Pump it Up! styling spritz lingered in the air after slicking and securing the Marcel curls, and a row of five women patiently sat under hot hooded dryers with pink plastic ear covers, their weekly wash and sets underway. Any and every hair need was covered during an afternoon at the salon.

Thirty years later, caring for natural hair, as some of you know, can be a second full-time job minus the PTO and 401(k). When did simple grooming become so complicated and covered in oil?

I went natural in 2009 and spent most of the 2010s searching for the perfect hair oil because I was told that it was the golden key to healthy, long, curly hair. I tried it all: coconut, tea tree, almond. I’d peruse the cooking oil aisle at the supermarket, thinking, “If avocado oil is good enough for a tenderizing marinade, it’ll be perfect for my dry scalp, too.”

Early 2010s YouTubers and hair bloggers were accessible sources for hair advice, but they weren’t usually trained professionals. Most of them pushed the use of raw (aka unprocessed) oils and other DIY hair care to a thirsty audience. Hair gurus, with their luscious, viral locks, preached minimal washing and regular heavy oiling, which left many of us dying to get our greasy fingers on whatever they recommended.

The market exploded with oil and hair butter options in the 2010s mainly because the demand for these ingredients was high, says hairstylist Anita Wilson of Monarch Curls in Los Angeles. And while it’s chilled out a bit, hair oils (or using various oils in our hair) is still a popular practice. Back then it was coconut and castor oil, and more recently, now r osemary oil is