Hair Oils

Origins

Buriti (Mauritia flexuosa) is a palm tree native to Brazil that normally grows in swamp regions of South America. Its fruit has a hard, red and scale like skin that covers a soft and oily pulp, with color variations ranging from dark yellow to reddish (after ripening). It is possible to extract 45 kg of buriti oil from 1000 kg of ripened fruits (1). Brazilian natives, who call the buriti tree “The Tree of Life” treat this tree as sacred because it contains the nutrients and support needed to sustain life. They use the oil to protect the skin and to treat a variety of skin conditions including burns and sunburn.

Chemical composition and benefits

The buriti oil contains high concentrations of monounsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid) which have hypocholesterolemic action (2); these concentrations (~72%) are higher than in the olive and Brazilian nut oils.

The nutraceutical fraction of the buriti oil consists of tocopherols (3) and carotenes (4), which have nutritional importance as antioxidants (vitamin E) and pro-vitamin A.

The low concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids (~4.5% of linoleic and linolenic acids) gives this oil a high oxidative stability.

Buriti is the food product showing the highest known beta-carotene concentration among the wide range of Brazilian foods already analyzed; the amount of beta-carotene can vary between 252 and 1700 mg/Kg (6,7).

Furthermore, it has been shown that topical creams and lotions, produced with buriti oil and commercial surfactants, can exert a photoprotective effect against UVA and UVB irradiation on keratinocytes and fibroblasts (8). The buriti oil emulsions could therefore be considered as potential vehicles to transport antioxidants precursors and also be used as adjuvant in sun protection, especially in after sun formulations.

Buriti oil performance on hair

Natives of Central Brazil have used buriti oil to treat dry hair (9) for a long time. Furthermore, researchers from the Natura Inovação e Tecnologia de Produtos, Brazil, evaluated the effect of different Brazilian oils (among them buriti oil) on human hair physiochemical properties (10), and the results are briefly summarized here:

• When applied on dry hair, buriti oil showed the highest difference in gloss between treated and untreated hair strands. This makes this oil very good as a shine treatment for dull and faded hair.

• The study also showed that the buriti oil helps in reducing the number of split ends during blow drying/styling.

• When doing a combing analysis, the buriti oil treatments rendered about a 60% reduction of combing force at wet conditions. The reduction of combing forces is a combination of water wetting and the lubricant effects of the oil on the hair strands. This makes the buriti oil a very good detangler agent when used on course and curly hair. On the other hand, the application of the oil on dry hair didn’t show much combing improvement (less than 10% reduction of combing forces at dry conditions).
• Mechanical properties (such as stress at break) were not influenced by the burity oil treatment. Hair strength is attributed to the cortex, which forms the bulk of the hair fiber and is responsible for mechanical properties of the strands (11). Buriti oil, being composed of high molecular weight fatty chains that are not able to penetrate through the cortex.

How to use buriti oil on hair

1. ON WET HAIR – excellent hydrating, conditioning and detangler agent

Add a small amount to the conditioning treatment (conditioner or hair mask);

Use it as a combing aid on wet hair (it gives great curl definition for curly hair and decrease the frizz);

Spread it through hair it as a heat protector before styling/blow drying.

2. ON DRY HAIR – great against dryness and as a shining treatment

The best use for dry hair is to dab at the ends of the hair for dryness and split ends.

For dull, color treated hair, add a small amount and spread it through the strands to add gloss to the hair.

3. Because of the contributory role in protection against UV rays, it would be good to use on dry or wet hair at the beach during the summer.

Buriti oil is one of the key ingredients in the Teadora body and hair products. Teadora is the most exotic Brazilian rainforest ingredient focused bath and body product line. They have the buriti plant as the key figure in the brand logo.

We are excited to partner with Teadora to bring these all natural, organic luxurious Brazilian products to our customers.

References

1. Simone M. Silva, Klicia A. Sampaio, Thiago Taham, Silvana A. Rocco, Roberta Ceriani, Antonio J. A. Meirelles, Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society, July 2009, Volume 86, Issue 7, pp 611-616.
2. Binkoski, A. E.; Kris-Etherton, P. M.; Wilson, T. A.; Mountain, M. L.; Nicolosi, R. J.; J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 2005, 105, 1080.
3. Albuquerque, M. L. S.; Guedes, I.; Alcantara Jr., P.; Moreira, S. G. C.; Barbosa Neto, N. M.; Correa, D. S.; Zilio, S. C.; J. Braz. Chem. Soc. 2005, 16, 1113.
4. De Rosso, V. V.; Mercadante, A. Z.; J. Agric. Food Chem. 2007, 55, 5062.
5. Jailane de Souza Aquino; Débora C. N. de Pontes Pessoa, Kassandra de Lourdes G. V. Araújo; Poliana S. Epaminondas; Alexandre Ricardo P. Schuler; Antônio G. de Souza; Tânia Lúcia M. Stamford, J. Braz. Chem. Soc. vol.23 no.2 São Paulo Feb. 2012
6. Silva, S. M.; Sampaio, K. A.; Taham, T.; Rocco, S. A.; Ceriane, R.; Meirelles, A. J.; J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 2009, 86, 611.
7. Albuquerque, M. L. S.; Guedes, I.; Alcantara Jr., P.; Moreira, S. G. C.; Vib. Spectrosc. 2003, 33, 127.
8. Zanatta CF1, Mitjans M, Urgatondo V, Rocha-Filho PA, Vinardell MP., Food Chem Toxicol. 2010 Jan; 48(1):70-5.
9. Renata C. Martins et. all, Ethnobotany of Mauritia flexuosa (Arecaceae) in a Maroon Community in Central Brazil, in Economic Botany, 66(1), 2012, pp. 91–98, 2011, by The New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx, NY 10458-5126 U.S.A.
10. Adriana Fregonesi et. all, Brazilian oils and butters: The effect of different fatty acid chain composition on human hair physiochemical properties, J. Cosmet. Sci., 60, 273–280 (March/April 2009).
11. C. R. Robbins, Chemical and Physical Behavior of Human Hair, 4th ed. (Springer-Verlag, New York, 2002), pp. 386–469.

Coconut oil has been extensively used for edible and non-edible purposes all over the world. Detergent industries depend mainly on coconut and palm kernel oils as a source for lauric acid.

Apart from the health benefits documented in many papers, coconut oil is used for skin, lips and hair care. In some cultures, women use extensively coconut oil to treat their hair, especially thick and highly texturized hair, and chemically treated hair as well. When talking about the best hair benefits of using coconut oil on their hair, they mentioned it is a good detangler and with continuum use hair becomes more hydrated and easy to manage.

I honestly never used pure coconut oil on my hair and I was curious to know why all these benefits from such an oil which has a composition so different than the other vegetable oils. And because I have thick and dry hair, and wet combing is a nightmare, I decided to try it.

HOW TO USE IT: Use it as a shampoo pre-conditioner
First of all, some of you might be surprised to find out that coconut oil is actually solid at room temperature. Before treatment, heat the jar with coconut oil in hot water (bain-marie) for 1-2 minutes so the oil melts. Coconut oil melts between 25 – 28C (77 – 82F). Place the oil all over the hair and massage your scalp very well. Leave it overnight in a hair cap. Next day wash it out with shampoo.
I repeated the treatment 3 times per week for 2 weeks and indeed my hair was easier to comb, was manageable and overall looked healthier.

WHY IS IT WORKING: The science behind coconut oil
In one study (2) cosmetics scientists measured the protein (keratin) loss of the hair strands after treatments with coconut oil, mineral oil and sunflower. The research showed that 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 keratin loss from hair.

Another study (3) was conducted for the duration of 16 weeks of normal grooming practices in order to assess the effect of coconut oil on the hair brakeage. Researchers used 60 clients, 30 of them using daily coconut oil treatments and the other 30 using no oil. They showed that the hair brakeage index (higher index, increased hair brakeage) decreased by almost 50% for the clients’ hair who used coconut oils. For the other clients, the hair brakeage index actually increased with 20%.
Both these studies show that coconut oil increases the strength of the hair. And this could arise from the composition of the coconut oil:

Coconut oil contains 92% of saturated fatty acids (in the form of triglycerides), most of them (about 70%) are lower chain saturated fatty acids known as medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs). MCFAs are not common to different vegetable or seed oils (such as argan oil) with lauric acid at 45- 56% (1). Because of the triglyceride of the lauric acid, coconut oil 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.

So, when applied as a pre-wash treatment, a small amount of the coconut oil is able to penetrate deeper into the hair shaft during the wash, when the hair fiber swells slightly.

This can also explain why so many rave about the oil’s ability to prevent “the frizzies” in humid weather.

Mineral oil, being a hydrocarbon, has no affinity for proteins and therefore is not able to penetrate and yield better results. In the case of sunflower oil, although it is a triglyceride of linoleic acid, because of its bulky structure due to the presence of double bonds, it does not penetrate the fiber, consequently resulting in no favorable impact on protein loss (2).

In contrast to argan oil, coconut oil has very low amounts of tocopherols (vitamin E), with a concentration averaging 50ppm (1).

BEST FOR:

• Detangler for thick hair, dry hair, curly hair, and chemically treated hair.
• Increase hair strength for all types of hair

References:
1.Gopala Krishna A.G. et al., “Coconut Oil: Chemistry, Production and Its Applications”, Indian Coconut journal 2007.
2. Rele AS, Mohile RB. “Effect of mineral oil, sunflower oil, and coconut oil on prevention of hair damage.” Journal Cosmetology Science 2003 March-April 54(2):175-92.
3. Sudhakar Maskhar et. al., “Hair breakage index: An alternative tool for damage assessment of human hair”, Journal Cosmetology Science 2011 March-April 62:203-207.

Argan oil has skyrocketed from a mere
tourist attraction to one of the most priced
oils in the world in a few short years. Argan
oil’s unique savor and multiple pharmacological properties are responsible for this
success.
Argan oil is prepared from the fruits of argan trees (Argania spinosa). These trees are slow growing trees exclusively endemic to the barren lands of southwest Morocco, where
all-women cooperatives specialize in high
quality argan oil extraction (1). Each argan fruit has 2-3 kernels and the kernels are used to extract the oil.

Production

• Argan oil can be manufactured as food or cosmetic grade oil. Cold pressing technique is used to manufacture edible oils and both cold pressing and chemical extraction techniques are used to manufacture cosmetic grade argan oil.Virgin edible argan oil is prepared from kernels that are slightly roasted prior to grinding and cold pressing. This oil is copper-colored, it presents a slight hazelnut taste, and is the basic ingredient of the local diet (2).
• Virgin “beauty” argan oil is prepared by cold pressing of the unroasted kernels. It is golden-colored and has no taste. Virgin edible argan oil presents a better long-term preservation profile than virgin beauty argan oil. At 25°C, the former preserves its quality for up to two years, while the shelf life of the latter is only 3-4 months (3).
• As a cosmetic ingredient, argan oil is produced by solvent-assisted extraction of the finely crushed kernels. Enriched-argan oil that is produced by distillation of cosmetic argan oil and it can be supplemented with antioxidants. Hence, it presents an even better cosmetic potential.

Chemical composition
Virgin argan oil of edible or “beauty” grade is composed of 99 % acylglycerides, primarily triglycerides (4). Fatty acids that compose acylglycerides are principally oleic and linoleic acid, 43-49% and 29-36%, respectively (5). Oleic acid is a monounsaturated fatty acid of the
omega-9 family, while linoleic acid is a polyunsaturated fatty acid belonging
to the omega-6 family.

Unsaponifiable matter, which represents the remaining one percent, is composed of carotenes, tocopherols, triterpene alcohols, sterols, and xanthophyll (4).

The tocopherol content of argan oil is 620 mg/kg, compared to 320 mg/kg in olive oil.
Tocopherols are molecules with strong antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties. gamma-Tocopherol, the most efficient free radical scavenger of all tocopherols,(6) composes 69% of argan oil total tocopherol content (7) and it is the major form of vitamin E in many plant seeds and in the US diet (8).
The level of unsaponifiable matter (such as vitamin E) in the oil manufactured by solvent extraction is three times lower than that observed in the press-extracted oil9.

Uses
Traditionally, argan oil was used extensively in Morocco as topical oil to treat various ailments, such as dry skin, acne, psoriasis, eczema, wrinkles, joint pain, and skin inflammation (4). It is also used to prevent hair loss and dry hair (4). Ingested, argan oil is a choleretic and hepatoprotective agent that can prevent hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis (4)

When used in hair care products, argan oil improves the elasticity of the dry, brittle hair, help reduce the frizziness of the hair making the hair softer and more manageable, repairs damaged hair and reduces further breakage as well as aid hair growth. Vitamin E in argan oil is a great stimulant for growth of capillaries, when the capillaries are healthy and profuse, the blood circulation in the scalp will be enhanced that will therefore promote strong and healthy growth of hair.
For hair growth stimulation and hair loss prevention in general, we would recommend a mixture of argan oil with other essential oils (such as Bacopa monneri, Arctium lappa, Eclipta alba, Moringa Oleifera, Acacia Concinna). These oils contain minerals and proteins that argan oil doesn’t have, so it would make a powerful combination and use this mixture to massage the scalp with.

Argan fruit pulp and argan leaves also contain proteins, peptides, saponins and other chemicals presenting highly interesting dermocosmetic properties, but these were not thoroughly researched yet (11).

References:

1. Morton JF, Voss GL. The argan tree (Argania sideroxylon, Sapotaceae), a desert source of edible oil. Econ Bot 1987;41:221-233.
2. Charrouf Z, Guillaume D. Should the Amazigh diet (regular and moderate argan-oil consumption) have a beneficial impact on human health? Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2010;50:473-477.
3. Gharby S, Harhar H, Guillaume D, et al. Oxidative stability of edible argan oil: a two year study. LWT-Food Sci Technol 2011;44:1-8.
4. Charrouf Z, Guillaume D. Ethnoeconomical, ethnomedical and phytochemical study of Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels. J Ethnopharmacol 1999;67:7-14.
5. Rahmani M. The chemical composition of virgin argan oil. Agricultures 2005;14:461-465.
6. Jiang Q, Christen S, Shigenaga MK, Ames BN. gamma-Tocopherol, the major form of vitamin E in the US diet, deserves more attention. Am J Clin Nutr 2001;74:714-722.
7. Charrouf Z, Guillaume D. Argan oil: occurrence, composition and impact on human health. Eur J Lipid Sci Technol 2008;110:632-636
8. Jiang Q1, Christen S, Shigenaga MK, Ames BN., Am J Clin Nutr. 2001 Dec;74(6):714-22.
9. Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol. 2008, 110, 632–636 Zoubida Charrouf and Dominique Guillaume
10. Dom Guillaume, Zoubida Charrouf, Alternative Medicine Review Volume 16, Number 3.
11. I. Stussi, F. Henry, P. Moser, L. Danoux, C. Jeanmaire, V. Gillon, I. Benoit, Z. Charrouf, G. Pauly: Argania spinosa – How ecological farming, fair trade and sustainability can drive the research for new cosmetic active ingredients. SOFW J. 2005, 131, 59–62