13 Best Coconut Oil Hair Mask

Coconut oil hair mask is being used for centuries. It has the power to make your hair strong, shiny, and much more benefits to reap from it.

Coconut oil is not just the ordinary oil, it’s benefits are beyond skin and hair.

Coconut oil can give you lustrous, smooth and silky hair.

You can throw out your unnatural conditioners, hair serum, and styling products, and replace them with this coconut oil hair mask which is an all-natural problem solver.

Coconut oil is rich in anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties, lauric acid, and medium-chain fatty acids that make hair strong, improves the scalp condition, removes dandruff and help to grow hair. Let’s see how coconut oil is good for hairs.

Benefits Of Coconut Oil Hair Mask

1) Coconut Oil Has Powerful Antioxidants

Coconut oil is rich in antioxidants and they provide essential nutrition to hairs.

Antioxidants like Vitamin E and Vitamin K is found in coconut oil and we know how these vitamins are vital for the health of hairs.

Vitamin E and K help repair and build healthy tissues.

When you apply coconut oil to scalp, it reduces inflammation and repairs damages done to hairs by chemical-filled hair products. Vitamin E and K will make hairs soft, manageable and shiny.

2) Coconut Oil Contains Caprylic Acid – The Power of Coconut Oil!!

Caprylic acid is a good saturated fatty acid that has antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties.

Many studies and researches have been performed on caprylic acid found in coconut oil.

Studies show that it has antibacterial and anti-microbial properties which kill the bacteria and microbes causing damages to the hair and scalp.

It kills the microbes which makes hall fall or prevents natural growth or increasing dandruff condition on the scalp. (Source)

3) Coconut Oil Has Lauric acid – The Main Nutrient For Hair

Lauric acid is considered a “healthier” saturated fat because it is a medium-chain triglyceride.

As an MCT, lauric acid is more easily absorbed by the body and has a host of other associated health, skin and hair benefits.

The hair protein easily binds with Lauric acid from this oil that gradually leads to the strengthening of hair strands and stops the breakage of hair due to thinning. (Source)

The strong bactericidal properties of lauric acid can be used to effectively and naturally treat acne.

Studies have demonstrated that lauric acid works as an antibiotic treatment method against Propionibacterium bacteria that causes acne breakouts on the skin.

This bacteria promotes follicular inflammation (inflammatory acne), especially when other skin bacteria are present including P. acnes, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis). (Source)

4) Other Essential Nutrients Of Coconut Oil

Capric acid is a medium-chain fatty acid found in saturated fats. It is abundant in tropical oils such as coconut oil.

Capric acid, together with other medium-chain triglycerides, is responsible for the health benefits attributed to coconut oil.

Capric acid has strong antiviral and antimicrobial properties.

Capric acid is converted into monocaprin in the body, where it can help combat viruses, bacteria, and the yeast. (Source)

All these nutrients found in coconut oil benefits a lot to hair and scalp.

A research was performed and the aim was to cover different treatments, and the effect of these treatments on various hair types using the coconut oil, sunflower oil, and mineral oil, the number of experiments to be conducted was a very high number and a technique termed as the Taguchi Design of Experimentation was used.

The findings clearly indicate the strong impact that coconut oil application has to hair as compared to the application of both sunflower and mineral oils.

Among three oils, coconut oil was the only oil found to reduce the protein loss remarkably for both undamaged and damaged hair when used as a pre-wash and post-wash grooming product.

Both sunflower and mineral oils do not help at all in reducing the protein loss from hair.

Coconut oil, being a triglyceride of lauric acid (principal fatty acid), has a high affinity for hair proteins and, because of its low molecular weight and straight linear chain, is able to penetrate inside the hair shaft. (Source).

Some Tips For Coconut Oil For Hair

1) Amount to be applied on hair and scalp

We always think that too much of anything is good.

If a little bit of something is doing good for us, it doesn’t mean that too much will do better.

In the case of coconut oil, a small amount can be sufficient for hairs.

Applying too much of coconut oil, there is a possibility that it can clog the hair follicle which is definitely not good for healthy hair.

2)  Mix other ingredients too!

The strength of coconut oil increases when it is mixed with other ingredients like essential oils, castor oil, olive oil, argan oil, mustard oil and more.

The different compounds of different ingredients mix each other and the power of ingredients increase and they give extra benefits to our hairs.

Like, honey, egg, avocado is also good for hair when mixed with coconut oil because it gives moisture to the hair and gives extra strength to coconut oil when applied in combined form.

Related Post –

• DIY Hair Mask Of Mustard Oil For Hair Growth And Dandruff
• Top 3 Ways To Use Castor Oil For Hair Growth, Dandruff And Hair loss

3) Allergies with coconut oil

Always do a patch test before applying coconut oil.

There can be a possibility that your hair or scalp might not respond well after applying it.

So, before trying any remedy do all the steps necessary to check allergy.

 How To Apply Coconut Oil Hair Mask

1) Coconut Oil Hair Mask For Hair Growth

Ingredients

• 1-2 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (Buy From Here)
• 5 drops of rosemary essential oil (Buy From Here)

Steps

Take a large bowl containing hot water.

Now take coconut oil in a small bowl and place it in the large bowl containing hot water. This process will warm the coconut oil.

Now, mix rosemary essential in it and apply the warmed oil to the scalp and hair and give a gentle massage for 5-10 minutes.

You can keep the hair oil as an overnight hair mask or you can wash it off after 1 hour with a mild herbal or organic shampoo.

Benefits of this mask

Warm coconut oil will open the hair follicle and goes deep into the roots.

Rosemary essential oil is the best oil for hair growth and hair thinning problem.

It is known to increase the growth of new hair by 20%.

You can also use this remedy for deep conditioning, hair fall during brushing and hair thinning problem.

Do this remedy for 2-3 times in a week.

The unhealthy scalp is the main reason behind your hair is not growing.

Hair and scalp both need proper nutrients necessary for hair growth and coconut oil will provide nourishment to your scalp.

People always think that their hair is not growing, in reality, this could be due to the fact of hair breakage and the reason behind hair breakage is a lack of essential nutrients.

Give a chance to your hair for coconut oil treatment and feel the difference.

I am not saying that it will instantly solve your problem but it will eventually eradicate the hair growth problem.

It has antibacterial and antimicrobial properties which kills the microbes causing damages to hair and deeply penetrates into the hair roots and provides nutrients.

It makes hair soft and manageable when applied to hairs.

2) Coconut Oil Hair Mask For Dandruff

Ingredients

• 1-2 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (Buy From Here)
• 5 drops of tea tree essential oil (Buy From Here)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Steps

Mix coconut oil with tea tree oil and add fresh lemon juice and mix well.

Apply this oil on the scalp and give a gentle massage of 5 minutes.

Wear a shower cap and rinse it with mild organic or herbal anti-dandruff shampoo after 1 hour.

Repeat it 2 times in a week for fast result.

Benefits of this mask

Tea tree oil and lemon juice are very effective in fighting dandruff. Both have an antimicrobial property to kill the microbes and make healthy scalp. Tea tree oil can soothe the itchy scalp, remove dandruff and promote hair growth too.

Another remedy for dandruff can be, mix 1 tablespoon of aloe vera gel with coconut oil to give extra nutrients to the scalp.

Aloe vera is very effective for all hair woes. It repairs damaged hair and makes hair manageable and shiny.

Dandruff can be a serious problem if not taken seriously.

It can be due to dry scalp, dirty scalp, use of harsh chemical filled hair product or the growth of fungus infection(Malassezia).

But coconut oil can resolve your problem because it has the lauric and capric acid which can kill the microbes causing dry and flaky skin and can moisturize the scalp effectively.

3) Coconut Oil Hair Mask For Split Ends

Ingredients

• 1-2 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (Buy From Here)
• 2- eggs
• 1 tablespoon honey

Steps

Take eggs and mix coconut oil well.

Now, add honey to the mixture and apply to the scalp and hair.

Keep it for at least 30-40 minutes and wash it off with organic or herbal shampoo.

You can repeat it for at least once a week.

Benefits of this mask

This egg and coconut oil hair mask will provide the nutrients necessary to improve dry and damaged hair with split ends.

Eggs have the maximum amount of protein that makes hair soft and shiny and also promotes hair growth.

Honey will deeply moisturize your scalp and makes the scalp healthy.

Hair split ends are the splitting of the hair strand, mostly at the end of the hair caused by improper care like excessive use of blow dryer, detangling hair very rigorously, brushing wet hair and much more.

Excessive split ends are found in dry and damaged hair. So, tackling dry hair and the split end is not difficult with coconut oil.

4) Coconut Oil Hair Mask For Hair Loss

Ingredients

• 1-2 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (Buy From Here)
• 7 drops of rosemary essential oil (Buy From Here)
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger juice

Steps

Take 2-3 inches of fresh ginger root and extract the juice from that.

Now mix the ginger juice with coconut oil and rosemary oil and apply this to your scalp.

Keep this mixture for about 20-30 minutes and rinse it off with a mild organic or herbal shampoo.

Repeat this 2-3 times in a week.

Benefits of this mask

Ginger is great for hair loss as it is rich in potassium, magnesium and vitamin E which make it best for treating hair loss problem.

Coconut oil when mixed with ginger juice, it’s become the most powerful treatment to treat hair loss.

Both have antibacterial and antifungal properties which kill microbes and unclog the hair follicle to grow new hair.

Hair loss can be embarrassing and frustrating for many people. Everyone can face this kind of problem at any stage of life.

This can happen due to improper diet, stress, hormonal changes, improper care, medical treatment, and more reasons are there.

We can treat this problem from the root but we should have to be patient.

The natural remedy can surely target your problem and can give an excellent result.

5) Coconut Oil Hair Mask For Deep Condition

Ingredients

• 1-2 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (Buy From Here)
• 1 tablespoon shea butter (Buy From Here)
• 1 tablespoon honey

Steps

Take coconut oil, shea butter, and honey in a bowl.

Now, melt the shea butter and coconut oil on low flame and mix honey when it cools down.

Make partitions of your hair and apply the hair conditioner from root to tip of the hair and on the scalp too.

Keep it for 1 hour and rinse it off with the organic shampoo. Repeat at least once a week.

Benefits of this mask

Commercial shampoo makes our hair rough and dry and this leads to hair fall and split ends.

Or, your hair is naturally dry, brittle, frizzy or damaged by styling products, hair conditioner is must try for your hair.

Hair conditioner made with coconut oil and shea butter really make you love your hair more than before.

It’s an amazing combination to nourish your hair and scalp.

It does restore moisture and softens the hair making it smoother, shinier and easier to comb through.

The oils that we think make our hair look dirty actually is good for the hair so stripping that off leaves the hair shaft unprotected and vulnerable to breakage and splitting.

6) Coconut Oil Hair Mask For Head Lice

Ingredients

• 1 cup virgin coconut oil (Buy From Here)
• 15 drops tea tree essential oil (Buy From Here)
• 7 drops of anise oil

Steps

Melt a cup of coconut oil and add tea tree oil and anise oil.

After a hot shower and careful combing of the hair using a lice comb, apply the coconut oil lotion and cover the head with a shower cap.

Leaving this type of coconut oil and anise solution on the scalp and hair for 20-30 minutes and repeat the procedure within 7-9 days.

Benefits of this mask

The coconut oil and anise mixture work by disrupting the wax layer that coats the cuticle of the louse exoskeleton.

This exoskeleton protects that lice against the loss of water, meaning that the natural solution used in this study works by causing the lice to become severely dehydrated, leading to their death. (Source)

A study published in the Israel Medical Association Journal found greater success, The natural remedy, which contains coconut oil, anise oil, and ylang-ylang oil, was applied to the hair of infested children three times at 5-day intervals.

Each treatment lasted for 15 minutes. The treatment was successful in 92.3% of children and caused no serious side effects. (Source)

7) Coconut Oil Hair Mask For Hair Detangler

Ingredients

• 2-3 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (Buy From Here)
• 2 tablespoon organic or natural conditioner
• 15 drops lavender essential oil (Buy From Here)
• 1 cup purified water

Steps

Whether we like it or not, our hair will tangle and it can lead to hair fall.

Dry, wet and damaged hair is more likely to tangle but coconut oil is our problem solver.

When wet, virgin hair can be stretched by 30% of their original length without damage; however, irreversible changes occur when hair is stretched between 30% and 70%. Stretching to 80% causes a fracture. 

Take a hairspray container and add one cup water and mix 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil, 2 tablespoons of organic hair conditioner and 15 drops of lavender essential oil.

Seal the container and shake it well before application.

Spray this solution on your tangled hair very well. Start from the tip of the hairs.

Make several partitions of your hair and firstly detangle your hair from a tip by combing it slowly with a wide tooth comb and slowly move to the upper direction of your hair and finish that section of your hair before going to the next section.

Benefits of this mask

Coconut oil and lavender oil have the deep moisturizing property, it helps the hair strand smooth and soft which makes hair to detach itself from other hair strands.

It will also condition your hair and make them manageable.

8) Coconut Oil Hair Mask For Itchy Scalp

Ingredients

• 1-2 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (Buy From Here)
• 7 drops of tea tree essential oil (Buy From Here)

Steps

Take 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and mix 7 drops of tea tree oil and apply to the scalp daily.

Coconut oil and tea tree oil have the anti-microbial property which kills the microbes causing and spreading infection and also calms the itchy scalp.

Coconut oil exfoliates the skin and tea tree oil unclogs the hair pores.

Tea tree oil is also very effective in hair growth and dandruff.

Benefits of this mask

Acne and itchy scalp can occur on the scalp too just like on face and body.

It can happen due to many reasons, some of them are hormonal changes, dirty scalp, clogged hair pores, the reaction of cosmetic hair products, poor diet.

Scalp acne leads to inflammation and itchiness.

Scalp acne can make hair combing difficult and can be painful.

9) Coconut Oil Hair Mask For Frizzy Hair

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (Buy From Here)
• 7 drops cedarwood essential oil (Buy From Here)

Steps

Mix both the ingredients.

Start with small quantity and apply coconut oil from root to tip and use your hair styling tool to do your hairstyle.

Do avoid putting more oil on your hair, this can make hair sticky.

Benefits of this mask

Coconut oil is a very good styling product. Different hair styling tool like hair dryer, curler, straightener make hair rough and dry.

Use coconut oil for hair styling, this will lock the moisture from hair and make it smooth and silky.

Some people have naturally thick curly and frizzy hair, for them, coconut oil is best to use for daily purpose and making those curly locks soft and manageable.

10) Coconut Oil Leave-In Conditioner

Ingredients

• 2-3 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (Buy From Here)
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (Buy From Here)
• 20 drops rosemary essential oil (Buy From Here)
• 1/2 cup distilled water (Buy From Here)

Steps

Mix apple cider vinegar, melted coconut oil, rosemary oil and distilled water in a spray bottle and shake well.

Spray this conditioner from middle to tip of your hair and let it dry for some minute.

Rosemary oil will help you with hair growth and apple cider vinegar will make your hair shiny and smooth.

Benefits of this mask

Coconut is very effective as a leave-in conditioner.

It helps you to manage your hair for a whole day and makes them soft and shiny.

11) Coconut Oil Overnight Hair Mask

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (Buy From Here)
• 1 tablespoon aloe vera gel (Buy From Here)
• 7 drops lavender essential oil (Buy From Here)

Steps

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and apply it on your scalp.

Leave it overnight and then shampoo your hair with a mild shampoo in the morning. Repeat it 2-3 times a week.

Benefits of this mask

This coconut oil hair mask can help in the growth of hair and makes the scalp healthy.

The combination of aloe vera gel, coconut oil, and lavender oil will help to moisturize your hair making them shiny.

12) Coconut Oil Hair Mask For Dry Hair

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (Buy From Here)
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil (Buy From Here)

Steps

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and apply it on your scalp and hair.

Leave it for 30-40 minutes and then shampoo your hair with a mild shampoo.

Repeat it once a week.

Benefits of this mask

Natural yogurt is full of protein, it offers nourishment that our hair needs to grow strong and healthy.

It also has fat that moisturizes your hair and makes for a great natural conditioner.

Are you trying to grow your hair?

Yogurt has lactic acids, which is great for cleansing the scalp and clearing away dead skin cells to help your hair follicles grow.

This mask is the whole problem solver.

13) Coconut Oil Hair Mask For Curly Hair

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (Buy From Here)
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 1 medium-sized avocado
• 1 whole egg

Steps

In a small mixing bowl or the bowl of a mixer, add in the avocado, coconut oil, and egg.

Mix on high until smooth.

Then mix honey into the mixture.

1. Dampen hair with water. Firstly apply the mask on your scalp completely and then spread the mask onto hair, paying particular attention to the ends.
2. Clip your hair onto the top of your head, cover with a shower cap, and keep it for 40-45 minutes.
3. Remove shower cap, rinse out the mask, and then wash the hair with a mild shampoo.
4. Make sure you are not washing your hair with warm water. The egg will stick to your hair and it will be tough to remove it from hairs.
5. Do this at least a week to get smoother and healthier hair.

How To Choose Coconut Oil For Hair?

There are many types of labels are there on coconut bottle. So, which coconut oil is good for my hair?

1) Virgin Coconut Oil

The best coconut oil in my opinion. Virgin coconut oil is derived from the meat of mature coconuts.

It’s the good, fatty oil that comes as a result of processing the meat.

No chemicals needed to extract all that goodness.

Virgin coconut oil is my favorite, personally.

It’s by far the purest grade, and you’ll definitely reap the most benefits from using it.

The antioxidant properties of virgin coconut oil produced through chilling and fermentation were investigated and compared with refined, bleached and deodorized coconut oil.

Virgin coconut oil showed better antioxidant capacity than refined, bleached and deodorized coconut oil. (Source)

In 2013, another study conducted in India also showed that virgin coconut oils produced by wet-milling and using heat produce higher levels of antioxidants.

The study compared “cold extracted virgin coconut oil” (CEVCO) with “hot extracted virgin coconut oil” (HEVCO) and standard refined coconut oil (CCO) and was published in the journal Food Science and Biotechnology.

Their testing showed that the “antioxidant activity in the HEVCO group was 80-87%, 65-70% in CEVCO, and 35-45% in CCO.” (Source)

2) Extra virgin coconut oil

In my opinion, there is not much difference between virgin and extra virgin coconut oil.

It’s not comparable with olive oil.

If you want to use extra virgin coconut oil, you can use it will get the benefits from it too.

3) Refined coconut oil

This coconut oil isn’t the purest out of the option described above.

But it’s a favorite among many because it provides all the benefits of coconut oil without the distinctive coconut oil taste and smell. It’s also less potentially triggering to those with allergies.

It is called refined because the coconut oil is expeller pressed (a natural, non-chemical process of extracting oil), you definitely won’t be exposing yourself to any harmful chemicals in your coconut oil.

4) Liquid coconut oil

It is a natural coconut oil that has been fractionated.

It actually stays in liquid form at room temperature, while virgin coconut oil does not.

But there are some downsides.

Liquid coconut oil is processed to achieve its unique characteristics, and some key aspects of coconut oil are removed.

One of these is lauric acid, a very healthy fat found in most forms of coconut oil.

So while this version of coconut oil safe to use on skin and in recipes, you’re really not getting all of the benefits of coconut oil by using it.

5) RBD coconut oil

I will not recommend you to use this type of oil. RBD stands for Refined Bleached and Deodorized.

This process removes the coconutty taste and smell and if you are using it, you are taking chemicals too.

How To Buy Coconut Oil For Hair?

Sometimes you can have too many options for coconut oil. Refined, expeller-pressed, virgin, organic.

The thought comes in the mind that am I choosing the correct type of coconut oil for hair?

Don’t pay attention to unnecessary glorified marketing terms like extra-refined, raw, cold-pressed. In short, there are two terms to be kept in mind: refined and unrefined.

Refined [oils] are filtered with a bleaching clay to remove impurities, which can strip some of the nutrients that are key for skin and hair care. Leave the refined oil to your cooking needs.

Virgin [or unrefined] oils are better for hair and skin care.

In short, when purchasing coconut oil, it’s important to opt for cold-pressed, unrefined, virgin coconut oil that has been ethically sourced and is preferably stored in a glass jar.

Go ahead and try coconut oil on your hair. Let me know how do you use coconut oil and share your experiences.