Hair growth oil is one of the most searched hair products, but no oil can promise new hair. Here are the pre-wash oils, scalp serums and finishing oils I would use for a healthier scalp, and when to see a dermatologist instead.
Hair Growth Oil, Honestly: What Scalp Oiling Can and Cannot Do
Hair oiling is far older than any trend. The Charaka Samhita, the ancient Ayurvedic text, describes oiling the head as part of the daily regimen, and in many Indian families champi is still passed from grandmother to grandchild, as much a bonding ritual as a treatment. Then came 2024, when rosemary hair was reported as the top hair care trend online, with over 3.2 million mentions on Instagram and TikTok. Here is the honest part: no hair growth oil is proven to regrow hair on its own, and if you are shedding more than usual, see a dermatologist, because thinning can have many causes. What a good oil does is make a scalp massage pleasant and leave hair softer. Fable & Mane comes from siblings Akash and Nikita Mehta, whose grandmother massaged their heads with her plant oils while telling them fables, and HoliRoots is built on ashwagandha, dashmool and castor oil. Indē Wild's Champi oil is Diipa Büller-Khosla's take on the Indian head-massage ritual, with amla, bhringraj and jasmine. JVN's pre-wash oil soothes the scalp, and BondiBoost's elixir, from the Sydney brand founded by Alexandra Jakob, uses castor oil to calm frizz.
Scalp serums
Serums sit on the scalp without washing out. Philip Kingsley began at 16 in his uncle's salon in London's East End, trained as a trichologist and opened his first clinic in 1957, and his daughter Anabel, also a trichologist, now leads the brand. Highbrow Hippie began as a wellness blog and a Venice atelier before its haircare launched in 2024, built on treating hair as part of a system that includes stress and hormones. Cair, from the French hairbrush house La Bonne Brosse, makes a fortifying serum as part of a three-step ritual. Vegamour's serum uses red clover and mung bean. If you want to try rosemary oil, a formulated serum is gentler than the pure oil.
Oils for the lengths, and the skip
The last row is for softness and shine. Augustinus Bader, the stem-cell scientist whose skincare grew out of a wound gel for burns, makes a hair oil built on the same TFC8 complex as the rest of the line. Crown Affair's radiance oil comes from Dianna Cohen, who started the brand from a Google Doc of her routine. Oribe's Gold Lust oil smells of jasmine and sandalwood, and Act+Acre, from the trichologist Helen Reavey, makes a cold-processed oil to clear buildup on a dry scalp. What I would skip is any oil that promises regrowth. It cannot deliver that, and hoping it will can delay a proper diagnosis.
A weekly oiling routine
Once or twice a week, warm a few drops between your fingers and work them into the scalp for five minutes. Leave the oil on for at least 30 minutes, or overnight if your hair is dry. Shampoo twice to lift it out. Stop if your scalp gets itchy or breaks out, and talk to a dermatologist about any sudden shedding. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Best Hair Growth Serums, From a 1988 Side Effect to Your Part Line and What a Hair Growth Shampoo Can and Cannot Do for Thinning Hair.
