I’m using cedarwood essential oil for hair loss and it seems to be working already!
Is Hair Loss Reversible?
Imagine once having a head full of thick, strong and shiny hair. Then suddenly your hair starts falling out in clumps. In a few years, your hair becomes half or a quarter of what it once was. You even have bald patches in some parts of your head.
Well, this is what started happening to me in my early 20’s. I was a bustling young thing, with a full time job, pursuing my post graduate where I was attending evening classes after work. Suffice it to say I was stressed. But although I was worried about the astounding amount of hair loss I was facing every day, I had no time to address it.
Within a few years, I had bald patches on the sides of my head and my hair was one fourth of what it once was. Add to it pregnancy and birth, my hair became so despicably thin that it started affecting my confidence in social settings.
Every single person who met me had to mention something about my evident hair loss. It irked me so much.
But then I discovered The Miracle of Essential Oils. Essential oils have changed my life in so many ways, including helping to reverse hair loss.
There are many essential oils for hair loss but one of my favorites will always be cedarwood essential oil.
What is Cedarwood Essential Oil?
Cedarwood essential oil (where to get it) is extracted via steam distillation of the fragrant wood from Cedar species trees. However, over the course of centuries, these majestic evergreen trees have been over-exploited for their valuable lumber. Today, cedarwood oil is commonly harvested from the trees of various conifers, pines and cypress botanical families.
The original cedarwood (native to Lebanon and other Mediterranean countries), from which the earliest evidences of cedarwood oil extraction are recorded, is actually extinct.
On the market today, you may find different oils, obtained from Cypress or Juniper trees being labelled as cedarwood oil, but they are not from real cedarwoods. The only real cedar woods are the following:
- Atlas Cedar – Cedrus atlantica
- Cyprian Cedar – Cedrus brevifolia
- Himalayan/Tibetean Cedar – Cedrus deodara
- Lebanese Cedar – Cedrus libani
To be sure you are purchasing the true cedarwood oil, please pay attention to their scientific names and only select high quality, 100% pure oils from reputed sources.
The Properties of Cedarwood Essential Oil
Cedarwood oil has a strong, sweet, woody, grounding and rather ‘masculine’ scent. It has a very light yellow color and has medium thickness and oily consistency. Cedarwood oil is composed of many compounds including:
- Cedrol
- Cedrene
- Alpha-pinene
- Himachalol
- Deodarone
The Benefits of Cedarwood Essential Oil
Since ancient times, cedarwood has been a revered oil that was used by ancient Egyptians in the embalming process. Cedarwood oil has natural preservative properties. The FDA classifies it as a safe oil to use in food preservation.
Cedarwood oil also has sedative properties which help calm, relax and relieve tension in the mind and body. Applied topically on sore muscles, cedarwood oil soothes and diminishes soreness.
Used on the skin, cedarwood provides a range of benefits including treating cuts and scrapes, acne, rashes, infections and eczema thanks to its antibacterial and antiseborrhoeic qualities.
It also has high anti-inflammatory properties, which help relieve symptoms of swelling and ailments such as arthritis and osteoporosis.
Cedarwood oil has also been shown to regenerate hair and treat hair loss, as per a popular study carried out in the late 90’s, which we shall explore below.
Research on the Effect of Cedarwood Essential Oil on Hair Loss
An accredited study carried out by Department of Dermatology, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Foresterhill, Scotland in 1998 tested various essential oils, including cedarwood essential oil, on subjects suffering from hair loss.
The research was a controlled one, spanning over 7 months. Subjects were treated using essential oils diluted in carrier oil (such as jojoba and grapeseed oils), which were massaged into their scalps. The process was overseen by independent dermatologists.
The results were incredible. Subjects in the control group (who were massaged with carrier oil alone) saw a 15% improvement in hair loss, while subjects who were massaged with essential oils showed almost 50% improvement in hair loss.
The study proved that essential oils do indeed help those suffering with hair loss, compared to using carrier oils alone.
How to Use Cedarwood Essential Oil for Hair Loss
There are many ways to incorporate cedarwood oil into your natural hair care routine. Here are some of the best ways you can use cedarwood essential oil for hair loss:
» Scalp Massage Oil – Mix 1/4 cup of jojoba oil with 12 drops of cedarwood oil. Keep this in an amber glass dropper bottle and use it to massage your scalp every night. It will also help you relax, unwind and calm your mind so that you can get peaceful sleep, which is also important for healthy hair.
» Shampoo with Cedarwood Oil – Add a few drops of cedarwood to your usual shampoo and wash your hair as always. Using a gentle sulfate-free shampoo is recommended.
» Combing with Cedarwood Oil – Sprinkle a few drops of cedarwood oil onto your comb/hair brush and brush through your hair for about 2 minutes. This will help stimulate your scalp and increase blood flow to the hair follicles, which will be nourished by the nutrients and water in the blood.
Where to Get Cedarwood Oil
Ensure to buy high quality and 100% pure essential oils when purchasing. Get a 30ml bottle of 100% pure USDA certified organic cedarwood oil here