Can Hair Oils Really Improve Scalp Health?

The scalp is home to millions of microbes that protect the skin from infection and promote functions like hair health and growth. Various cultures have used oil as a way to treat and bolster the look and feel of hair. Recent research suggests a beneficial effect of these practices on the microbes of the scalp, indicating a possible way to harness these materials to treat scalp health and associated conditions.

What we know:

• The scalp is mostly colonised by species of Malassezia, Cutibacterium & Staphylococcus that inhabit the lipid-rich hair follicles of the scalp & work to regulate the hair cycle & immune system, and protect the skin from pathogens (Polak-Witka et al., 2019).

• After colonisation, they establish crosstalk with cells of the immune system, allowing them to influence cutaneous immune system behaviour, including maintenance of innate immunity, controlling inflammation & promoting tissue repair (Polak-Witka et al., 2019). 

• They also promote upregulation of metabolic pathways involved in nutrient synthesis & DNA maintenance required for scalp health & hairgrowth (Saxena et al., 2018).

• Vegetable hair oils (e.g., argan, coconut) are believed to confer benefits e.g. moisture, UV protection, reducing protein loss & delay hair greying via bioactive ingredients like B vitamins, proteins, and glycerides (Mysore & Arghya, 2022; Leite et al., 2018).

• Some research suggests application of coconut oil increases abundance of Cutibacterium acnes and Malassezia globosa in dandruff microbiomes to match healthy levels & reduce itching (Saxena et al., 2018).

• It also enriches biotin metabolism pathways and reduces fungal pathogenesis (a possible effect of its antimicrobial lauric acid content), showing ability to boost scalp health by modulating its respective microbiota and treat dysbiotic conditions like dandruff (Saxena et al., 2018).

Industry impact & potential:

As consumer interest in natural herbal cosmetic ingredients rises, more producers invest in such formulations for topical head use. Rosemary oil in recent years has become a huge trend in the hair care industry. A study (Panahi et al., 2015) compared the use of rosemary oil and minoxidil 2%, found evidence that rosemary oil was effective in treating androgenetic alopecia and that it had a lower frequency of scalp itching as a side effect compared to minoxidil 2%.

Our solution:

Backed by our Scientific Advisor Dr Tom Dawson who is an expert in hair health and the scalp microbiome, Sequential offers an end-to-end invivo scalp microbiome testing platform, giving product manufacturers opportunity to study the effects of their hair oils on microbiome and physical scalp skin parameters using our Gold Standard approach and personalised clinical assessment services. We also offer formulation support to support you and your brands needs when targeting products for certain treatments be it oily scalps, or hair loss.

References: 

Leite MGA, Maia Campos PMBG. Photoprotective Effects of a Multifunctional Hair Care Formulation Containing Botanical Extracts, Vitamins, and UV Filters. Photochem Photobiol. 2018 Sep;94(5):1010-1016. doi: 10.1111/php.12932. Epub 2018 May 25. PMID: 29729015.

Mysore V, Arghya A. Hair Oils: Indigenous Knowledge Revisited. Int J Trichology. 2022 May-Jun;14(3):84-90. doi: 10.4103/ijt.ijt_189_20. Epub 2022 May 24. PMID: 35755964; PMCID: PMC9231528.

Panahi Y, Taghizadeh M, Marzony ET, Sahebkar A. Rosemary oil vs minoxidil 2% for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia: a randomized comparative trial. Skinmed. 2015 Jan-Feb;13(1):15-21. PMID: 25842469.

Polak-Witka K, Rudnicka L, Blume-Peytavi U, Vogt A. The role of the microbiome in scalp hair follicle biology and disease. Exp Dermatol. 2020 Mar;29(3):286-294. doi: 10.1111/exd.13935. Epub 2019 May 15. PMID: 30974503.

Saxena R, Mittal P, Clavaud C, Dhakan DB, Hegde P, Veeranagaiah MM, Saha S, Souverain L, Roy N, Breton L, Misra N, Sharma VK. Comparison of Healthy and Dandruff Scalp Microbiome Reveals the Role of Commensals in Scalp Health. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2018 Oct 4;8:346. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2018.00346. PMID: 30338244; PMCID: PMC6180232.