Even the best hair oil suffers from a bit of a branding problem. Oily hair isn’t generally considered a good thing, right? But hair shine is a good thing, when we’re talking about that natural luster your hair has when it’s healthy, and that’s what the best hair oil can do. It catches the light at the right angles, and adds dimension and texture.
Hair oil can give you the perfect light shine—just a couple drops will do it—or it can take your hairstyle to new frontiers if you want a wetter, slicker look. It can also make a huge difference when added to your favorite hair styler, like a clay pomade or matte paste.
On top of that, these oils are also ultra-beneficial for your hair and scalp’s overall health. They’re the perfect product to follow a shampoo, which can dry out your hair and strip the scalp of all its natural, nourishing moisture. Oil can also tame hair by giving it some weight and holding it down; it’s the remedy for frizzing, fraying, and breakage, and it should be part of the hair-care regimen for guys with medium or long hair—whose strands are too long to receive the sebum from the scalp that stops midway along the hair shaft. Oil is a leave-in conditioner, at least when it’s made with thoughtful, conditioning ingredients (the best ones are essentially just different oils, go figure). They absorb quickly into the hair, leaving behind a healthy luster, not a grimey, unwashed appearance.
Ready to take the plunge? Consider a handful of our favorites.
The Best Hair Oil for Dry Hair
Nordstrom
Oribe's oil restores life and body to tired strands, making it dually outstanding for long hair and dry hair. It's a favorite of stylists, since it gives you camera-ready hair and prevents frizz and UV damage. You can even use it prior to shampooing or blow drying to give hair the added defense against overdrying suds and hair-frying heat.
Sephora
Japanese hair wizard Shu Uemura's powerful concoction does't just provide nourishment—it works overtime to balance your hair's moisture levels and protect it from frizz using a lipid-rich camelia oil blend.
The Best Hair Oil That's Also Great In Your Beard
Amazon
A blend of 10 oils, like argan and grapeseed, this product nourishes everything it touches. You can smooth frizzy hair or hydrate dry skin (on the face or body). It has long been one of our favorite beard oils, but works just as well at the top of your dome.
F. Miller
F. Miller harnesses a powerful blend of botanical oils—including grapeseed, castor, and argan—to help protect and hydrate the hair on your head and your face. Specially designed to improve shine and softness, it's a nutrient-dense double-whammy that'll leave your beard feeling silky smooth and looking the healthiest it has in years. (It works wonders on the parts of your body below the neck too.)
The Best Hair Oil For Curly Hair
Sephora
Moroccanoil is an essential assortment for people with curly, thick hair. (We especially love their conditioner.) Moroccan-sourced argan oil as a key ingredient in all of the brand's products, and this treatment oil adds argan oil and linseed extract to strengthen and subdue unruly hair and keep curls in check.
The Best Hair Oil for Healthy Shine
Aesop
Perfect for a hair-product cocktail or standalone, a few drops of Aesop's hair oil gives your hair the right amount of definition and shine. It won't look oily, but instead will catch the light at all the right angles. Plus, it nourishes hair with a blend of rosehip, avocado, sweet almond, and jojoba oils.
Amazon
If it's a touch of sheen you're after, it's tough to beat Olaplex's fan-favorite formulation. The brand's signature styling oil works to dramatically increase shine and color vibrancy by strengthening the chemical bonds within your hair, and promises to play nice with any and all textures.
The Best Hair Oil for Dry Scalps
Kiehl's
If you're going to drop the "m" word right at the beginning of a product's name, it better deliver. Thankfully, Kiehl's' pre-shampoo scalp treatment brings the goods. The brand's lightweight concoction—infused with a blend of rosemary and avocado oil—is designed to soothe your scalp and promote healthy hair growth down the line. Abracadabra, baby.
Bllomingdales
Some hair oil is actually for the scalp, which in turn promotes healthy hair growth. This one is a blend of tea tree, almond, and jojoba oils; the former is antimicrobial and antiseptic and neutralizes irritation, while the latter two nourish and hydrate your skin.
The Best Every-Day Hair Oil
Amazon
VERB's Ghost Oil feels barely there, even when applied daily. Think of it as a luster boost that wears lightly and prevents frizzing and fraying. It's less about style, and more about conditioning.
Ulta
Bumble & Bumble's pro-approved hair oil vanishes so fast you'll forget you applied it—until the compliments start rolling in. Start by working a small amount into damp hair for a soft, feathery feel and then gradually incorporate it into your daily routine, especially if you're a sworn co-washing devotee.
The Best Hair Oil for High-Humidity Days
Sephora
If you're the type of genetic lottery-winner whose primary concern involves maintaining the enviable thickness and/or curls of your hair, you're going to want an oil that locks in moisture and blocks humidity, preserving your mane's natural state at all costs. Living Proof's fast-absorbing formula uses a five-oil blend to keep your hair hydrated without weighing down your signature locks.
The Best Splurge-Worthy Hair Oil
Sephora
What do you when your cult-loved face oil becomes such a smash customers start using it on their heads too? You trot out a newfangled version specifically designed for hair, with the same natural ingredients that made the OG a hit. There's no spoonful of sugar here, only a touch of polyphenol-rich honey that lends the formula its distinct yellow luster—and promises to keep your hair looking as sweet.
The Best Hair Oil for Textured Hair
Bread
What were you doing when you were two? If you were Bread, you'd be busy working on a follow-up to the Grooming Award-winning hair wash you introduced when you were a newborn. The upstart beauty brand's ultra-glossy oil—expressly formulated for high-texture hair but stellar all around—might make you feel like an underachiever, but it's a small price to pay for the soft, shiny results. Surprise, surprise: it took home a Grooming Award this year too.
The Best Très Chic Hair Oil
Nordstrom
You don't have to be a hardcore Francophile to concede that the French do it better; Sisley's top-shelf oil is proof. The Parisian brand harnesses a formidable cocktail of ingredients—including passionfruit, shea, and moringa—to nourish your hair at the roots without weighing it down. The fashion circus might've moved on, but your one-way ticket to effortless French cool is right here.
The Best Jojoba-Infused Hair Oil
Amazon
Pattern's lightweight concoction doesn't just soothe and strengthen your curls—if you've got lower porosity locks (meaning it's harder for your hair to absorb moisture in the areas that need it most) it promises to up your mane's hydration levels too. Plenty of oils on this list use jojoba, but few do it to greater effect—or with a more specific remit.
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