7 best afro hair oils

There’s a whole wealth of hair oils that nourish, smooth and protect afro hair, we round up the best of the bunch

Gone are days of cheap ingredients doing more harm than good – today’s choices are much more promising (iStock)

Many of us can clearly recall memories during childhood of heavy oil-based lotions and potions being applied to our scalps.

However, whereas oils of the past were often heavy in consistency, and made from cheap ingredients that would do nothing for the health of your hair – today’s choices are much more promising.

Ranging from pure natural oils that can be used on other parts of your body, oils made from sustainably sourced super fruits that contain magical qualities, and oils that can be used with other products to create a super intensive deep treatment – there is a wide range of choice out there.

With options for every budget, we’ve rounded up the best of the bunch, from oils that promote growth and ward off grey hairs, to oils that relieve itchy and dry scalps.

Afrocenchix Seal 100% Natural Hair Oil: £10, afrocenchix.com

The scent of lemon and grapefruit eagerly awaits you as you pump from the dispenser bottle of this wonder oil.

What our tester particularly loved about this product is that you can really feel it doing the job immediately. Whereas some oils tend to dissipate minutes after you apply it, Seal 100% Natural Hair Oil penetrates the hair shaft and leaves your strands feeling hydrated and super soft, and it remains that way for hours afterwards.

Better still, you can rest assured knowing that it doesn’t have any unwanted chemicals, it’s 100 per cent natural (with mouth watering ingredients like coconut oil, lemon essential oil, grapefruit oil and orange essential oil), contains no mineral oil and parabens and is free from artificial fragrance.

This works well when applied after adding a leave-in conditioner to act as a sealer.

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Charlotte Mensah Manketti Hair Oil: £48, charlottemensah.com

Charlotte Mensah’s Manketti Oil is a deeply concentrated product with a unique musky smell that exudes quality and luxury. It comes in a 100ml glass bottle with a pipette applicator – and it’s definitely needed, as you only need a tiny amount.

This oil comes from a mongongo tree, commonly found in parts of west and southern Africa, and is prized for its nutritional value and high emollient component that nourishes the skin and hair.

It’s excellent for hair treatments. Our tester applied after cleansing and conditioning their hair and left on for around 20 minutes and the results were incredible – soft, and fluffy natural curls.

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KeraCare Essential Oils: £7.60, lookfantastic.com

This is a great multi purpose oil, made from all natural ingredients (including sweet almond oil, coconut oil, castor oil, avocado oil, olive oil, and kernel oil), and another gorgeously scented buy.

If you’re a fan of oils with more of a lighter consistency, this is really suited to you. It’s light enough to use on a daily basis, as it absorbs easily and doesn’t leave a greasy build-up.

It’s also suitable for use as a post thermal styling sealant.

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Baobab Oil: £6.30, sheabuttercottage.com

This product hails from the Baobab tree commonly found in Ghana, and is described as a healing oil, known for its reparative properties as well as its ability to calm dry and itchy scalps.

Sheabutter Cottage is a Ghanaian owned online company based in the UK that is strongly committed to fair trade, it distributes products made from naturally ingredients that are sustainably sourced from parts of Africa.

This is super effective cold pressed oil that is great value for money. It’s quite lightweight in texture, so ideally suited to calm and soothe the scalp.

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Alchemy AMLA Hair Remedy: £38, alchemyoils.co.uk

For a rich, potent and luxuriously textured oil, Alchemy AMLA Hair Remedy gets top marks.

Making the bold claim to stimulate growth and fight grey hairs, our tester can’t quite confirm that this was the case for them, but can definitely attest to it being a powerfully effective and invigorating citrus scented oil.

After only adding a few drops, their hair was transformed with a smooth, glassy finish. It’s made from seed oil, amla, coconut, and argan oils which all work together to help fight premature greying while promoting hair growth.

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Moroccanoil Treatment: £32.85, Look Fantastic

Using heated styling tools like hairdryers on afro hair often gets a bad rap, due to the potential heat damage it can cause to our strands, which are often more delicate than other hair types.

But if you like to blow dry occasionally, then Moroccanoil is a fantastic option to use as a protectant and finishing oil on afro textured hair.

Whether you choose to wear your hair straight or curly, adding Moroccanoil to your hair will transform it to a silky, smooth finish that doesn’t just sit on the hair, but penetrates the fibres.

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Design Essentials Moisturizing Oil Treatment Lavender & Marula: £8.99, headlinesbeauty.com

Design Essentials recently launched a line of oils, and Moisturizing Oil Treatment with Lavender & Marula is one of its standouts.

It’s fragrance free, and has a richness to it that makes brittle strands feel more pliable and protected. The blend of oils includes sunflower seed oil, sweet almond oil, watermelon seed oil and rosemary leaf extracts.

The pointed applicator is a nice touch, which enabled our tester to apply directly to my scalp and give it a good deep massage.

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The Verdict: Best afro hair oils

You can’t go wrong with a hair oil that smells delicious, contains 100 per cent natural ingredients and costs a bargain £10, so with that in mind Afrocenchix 100% Natural Hair Oil gets top marks.

The secret to its effectiveness is it contains ingredients that mimic the natural sebum found on the scalp, so the oil feels really locked in, which is a huge benefit for those with natural curly and coily hair which is vulnerable to tangles and dryness.