Essential Oils for Hair Growth and Scalp: What the Research Shows

Safety first. Essential oils can cause scalp irritation and allergy. Poison Control says allergy is a very real possibility, that oils should not be used on damaged skin, and that a product causing a rash should be stopped and gently washed off. [1] Do not swallow essential oils; call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 if one is swallowed, and 911 for collapse, a seizure or trouble breathing. Sudden, patchy or scarring hair loss needs a clinician; see Hair shedding and thinning.

Rosemary oil and pattern hair loss

Plant and name. Rosemary oil comes from Salvia rosmarinus Spenn. (family Lamiaceae); GBIF lists Rosmarinus officinalis L., the name used in many papers, as a synonym. [3] Our rosemary page covers the oil itself: Rosemary oil.

Pattern hair loss (androgenetic alopecia) is the common, gradual, inherited kind. A 2024 review says the only FDA-approved medicines for it are finasteride and minoxidil, and that more research is needed to establish the efficacy of natural remedies. [4] Our guide: Pattern hair loss.

What the trial cannot tell us: it had no placebo group in the abstract we read, so it cannot show that either treatment beat doing nothing; the abstract does not report the oil's strength or how it was applied; and it ran for only six months. We do not give an amount or dilution for readers. A clinician can say whether an approved treatment is the right choice.

Mixed oils and patchy hair loss (alopecia areata)

Alopecia areata causes patchy hair loss; it needs evaluation (see Alopecia areata and scarring hair loss). A 1998 randomized, double-blind trial ran seven months in 86 people. The active group massaged a mixture of thyme, rosemary, lavender and cedarwood oils in carrier oils (jojoba and grapeseed) into the scalp daily; the control group used only the carrier oils. [6] Improvement was seen in 19 of 43 (44%) in the active group versus 6 of 41 (15%) in the control group. [6]

Because the oils were used as a blend with a massage, this trial cannot say which oil, if any, did the work. A 2023 systematic review listed essential oil aromatherapy among complementary approaches with the best evidence for hair growth in alopecia areata, but said inconsistent methods and nonstandardized outcomes limit conclusions. [7] Label: promising but limited, and not a substitute for medical care.

Tea tree oil, dandruff and the scalp

Dandruff. In a randomized, single-blind trial, 126 people aged 14 and over used a 5% tea tree oil shampoo or a placebo shampoo daily for four weeks. The tea tree group showed a 41% improvement in a dandruff severity score versus 11% for placebo. [8] That figure describes a shampoo product in a trial, not advice about adding oil to shampoo. Tea tree oil is from Melaleuca alternifolia (Maiden & Betche) Cheel. [3] More: Tea tree oil for acne, nail fungus and dandruff.

Allergy. In patch-test studies, oxidized tea tree oil caused clinically relevant allergic reactions in North America; among 2,320 people tested in one Australian clinic, 1.8% reacted. [9] [10] See Tea tree oil allergy and oxidized oil.

Hair growth with tea tree or peppermint oil: Proper evidence not found. We read a 2024 review that discusses peppermint, tea tree and lavender oils for pattern hair loss, but we did not read separate human trials of them, so we make no claim. [4]

Lavender oil

Human evidence: Proper evidence not found. We searched PubMed for lavender oil and hair growth and found only an animal study: a 2016 study in female mice tested topical lavender oil (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.) against a vehicle control and 3% minoxidil. [11] Animal findings do not transfer to people. See Lavender oil for hair, skin and other uses.