Oily and greasy hair makes you feel dirty and unkempt even if your hair is absolutely clean. Getting rid of this annoying problem that makes your hair looks wet and dingy can be quite hard, especially since the more you clean your scalp, the worse it gets, until hair start falling off. Natural solutions are aplenty, but they don’t work all the time. But given how much does hair transplantation cost, why not giving Argan oil a try? Does it work better than traditional meds?
Greasy hair and Argan Oil
Argan oil is extracted from a tree called Argania Spinosa, a North African plant that’s still cultivated with traditional techniques. Produced in South Western Morocco with ancient working techniques that do not use anything but mechanical methods, workers still extract these oils by hand, making it one of the few truly eco-sustainable industries worldwide.
Argan oil contains several fat acids, including Oleic Acid, Linoleic Acid, and Palmitic Acid, which are all great to nourish and regenerate dry hair. It also come packed with highly nutritional substances and powerful antioxidants such as polyphenols, carotene, Vitamin E, and triterpene alcohol. Not only do these natural substances renew your hair’s cell structure providing a luxurious softness that will make your hair vaporous and shiny, but they also protect your hair from long-term damage, strengthening them and providing a long-standing beauty.
One of the main reasons why hairs become oily is that your scalp’s cells produce too much sebum in response to external factors (such as bad weather, sunshine, pollution, and stress). Argan oil nourishes and protect your hair for a lot of time by forming a water-proof oily surface layer that reestablishes natural defenses preventings overproduction of sebum. You can find many types of zero waste shampoo bar that contain argan oil
Sebum normalization does not happen immediately, however, and may require a somewhat longer treatment (usually two or three weeks). During the first few days of treatment your hair may look even more greasy, but don’t worry. You just need some patience before its protective effects kick in and your hair becomes glowing and silky again.
Seborrheic dermatitis and Traditional Medications
Sometimes the main reason for your greasy hair comes from a much more annoying problem than just external agents. If your oily hair comes together with an unpleasant dandruff, chance is you suffer from a condition known as seborrheic dermatitis. Dandruff makes you look unkempt even if you have no personal hygiene issues, making it everything all the more embarrassing.
Up to 11% of the adult population affected by a skin disorder suffer from seborrheic dermatitis. Check other symptoms such as redness of the scalp, and itchy scaly patches on your chest, face, and back to know whether you suffer from this condition.
Seborrheic dermatitis is caused by the overgrowth of a fungus known as Malassezia. This opportunistic organism usually lives in your scalp cells and takes its nourishment from sebum. When it has a chance, this minuscule pathogen will try to force your sebaceous glands to produce an excess of oil to make a more suitable environment to live in. This oil will end up irritating your skin and soak your hair, making them look greasy.
If that’s the case, then Argan oil will probably be ineffective, and may even aggravate your problem. The more the pores get occluded by an oily substance, the more this fungus will proliferate and reproduce. Argan oil itself may even become a new source of nourishment for the annoying pest!
If you suffer from this condition, it would be wiser to look for specific medications to treat it rather than making everything worse with an oil. There are many alternatives available, from medicated shampoos containing tar and selenium sulfide to antifungal creams and topical steroids. The purpose of these products is to kill or at least contain the spreading of this microorganism, while your natural immune system takes care of it for good.
Once again, you might need some time before seeing the effects, especially since most of these substances might irritate your skin making the problem look worse during the first few days of treatment.