What does everyone’s favorite fruit have that no other fruits have? Oh, wait — you didn’t know that avocados are a fruit? Well, actually, they are single-seeded berries. But due to their savory taste and creamy texture, along with their fat and protein content, most of us assume that the lovely avocado is a vegetable.

Avocado is indeed a fruit, and it is this fruit, above all the others, that provides amazing beauty benefits for our skin and hair. Specifically, this is the science behind why avocado oil for hair and skin is the best thing you can use — to soften, to brighten, and to age gracefully. All the science points to a dozen amazing benefits of using avocado oil for skin, and at least six more benefits of using avocado oil for hair!

So, if you have specific issues and concerns, read on to see if avocado oil for hair and skin will uncover your most radiant self. We’ll also answer your burning questions about avocado oil for skin and hair. For example, is it as good as or better than coconut oil for skin and hair? And, if I use avocado oil for skin and hair, how should I store it? Does avocado oil for skin or hair have a strong scent, or will I smell like food?

Finally, we will examine the major benefits and uses of avocado oil for hair and skin, and impart some fantastic DIY recipes and mixtures for you to make to get the best results.

Avocado Oil Benefits For Your Skin & Hair

There are countless avocado oil benefits for your skin and hair. From daily moisturizing to helping with skin conditions, and strengthening hair to preventing hair loss, below is a quick list of benefits to showcase the power of this mighty oil!

Benefits of avocado oil for skin

This balm elixir has a host of benefits that help our skin glow. It contains nutrients like antioxidants, vitamins A, C, D, and E, as well as anti-inflammatory properties. This plant oil is absorbed easily through your skin with no greasy residue, leaving you with just a healthy boost of vitamins and nutrients. Furthermore, it penetrates to the second layer of the skin, the dermal layer, to bring its benefits to a cellular level. Here are some avocado oil benefits for skin:

• Moisturize skin, chapped lips, dry feet
• Reduce acne and pore size
• Reduce inflammation on skin
• Help calm symptoms of eczema and psoriasis
• Soften rough heels
• Reduce dark circles and puffiness around the eyes
• Heal wounds
• Moisturize and cleanse with deep penetration

Benefits of avocado oil for hair

Is avocado oil good for your hair? Yes! It is actually equally beneficial for hair as it is for skin. It provides shine and manageability, as well as deep nourishment for dry hair. But more than just for beauty, the oil from this little magic fruit also helps stimulate recovery from hair loss, dandruff, and scalp psoriasis. Here’s a quick list of the benefits of avocado oil for hair:

• Promote hair growth
• Tame frizzled hair
• Strengthen hair
• Help treat hair loss
• Control dandruff
• Ease inflammation
• Treat scalp issues related to psoriasis
• Help heat-damaged hair

Now, let’s take a closer look at some of these benefits, and learn tips on how to use this balm to alleviate various skin and hair conditions.

How to Use Avocado Oil for Your Skin & Hair

Using avocado oil for hair and skin provides many wonderful benefits. And science agrees. According to one study, avocado oil for skin and hair provide us with high doses of antioxidants and beneficial moisturizers that ease sensitivity and soothe dryness.^[1] In addition, this plant oil enhances our skin barrier to better protect us from free radicals, allergens, toxins from smog and pollution, and damage caused by the sun.^[2]

We have found list upon list of the major glow-ups offered by avocado oil for hair and skin. Here, we name several of those glow-ups, along with some helpful hints on how you can incorporate this goodness into your hair and skin care routine.

1. Deep penetrating moisturizer

As a moisturizer, this beauty balm can penetrate into the second layer of the skin known as the dermis, providing deep penetration with oleic acids and phytosterols.^[3] Oleic acids restore integrity to the skin’s cells, and can calm, balance, and repair skin, even those with skin damaged by eczema, rosacea, and psoriasis.

There is evidence proving that moisturizing with several nutrients together is more beneficial than with single nutrients in isolation.^[4] And this fruit oil does just that for your skin! In addition to oleic acid, it contains lecithin to boost collagen and provide antioxidants for cell renewal. Avocado oil also contains vitamins A, B, C and E, which can undo the ill effects from the sun’s rays during the day.^[5]

Using avocado oil for skin provides essential vitamins and nutrients for deep penetration, so that cell renewal and protection from damage occurs on a level beyond the superficial.

Ways to moisturize skin deeply:

1. Night Cream. Add a few drops of oil to your night cream to ensure that your skin receives all the benefits of both the avocado oil for your skin and the night cream!
2. Face Mask. Combine the oil and mashed avocado to make a special facial mask for your skin to receive all the moisturizing and rejuvenating benefits that avocado oil for skin offers!
3. Facial Scrub. Add it to your regular facial scrub and let it sit on your face for ten minutes so that you cleanse your pores and skin on the dermis level to reveal brighter, more glowing skin!

2. Reduce acne breakouts

Avocado oil’s ability to deeply penetrate into your skin allows it to soothe and calm inflammation, as well as reduce acne on the dermal level. It has been proven that this green elixir reduces and eliminates acne over time.^[6]

In a 2004 study, it was this plant oil from the avocado that worked as an ultra-powerful skin cleanser and proved its ability to break up dirt and debris embedded deep within the skin. In addition, with its high content of oleic acid, this elixir is anti-inflammatory and reduces acne, redness, and pain.^[7] So not only does it help to cleanse your skin to prevent acne breakouts, it also has a soothing property for acne symptoms.

The oil also works for other skin conditions, such as reducing inflammation related to psoriasis and eczema. The high vitamin E content in avocado oil can also help to reduce scars.

Ways to treat acne:

1. Cleanser. Use this oil as your first step cleanser, by simply rubbing it on your face to remove makeup, oil, and dirt at the end of the day. Make sure to let the oil to sit for 10 minutes before you wash with a foam cleanser, to allow it to penetrate and remove dirt from deeper layers of skin.
2. Night Moisturizer. Apply a thin layer of this beauty balm as a nighttime moisturizer, and rinse it off in the morning to reveal clean, soft, hydrated skin!
3. Face Serum. Add a few drops of avocado oil to your serum or moisturizer to help reduce inflammation and add a hydro-boost of moisture.

3. Reduce signs of aging

Collagen gives skin strength and elasticity by binding cells together. As we age, our collagen production decreases, and it causes our skin to sag and wrinkle. Applying avocado oil to skin has been proven to increase collagen.

So, using this plant oil topically can help to prevent the signs of aging due to the loss of collagen in the skin. Additionally, researchers discovered that avocado oil is very effective in stimulating collagen production. By applying the oil topically over 14 days, research showed that it even has the ability to heal wounds.^[8]

While after just five days, the wounds initially appeared worse due to the additional antioxidants, the final research showed that the density of collagen significantly increased by almost 2%.^[9] In fact, it works to heal wounds by providing additional antioxidants instead of killing off all the antibodies within a wound. So, there is a brief period in the initial stages when extra care should be taken to protect wounds. But after that, you should see your wounds heal faster and better with avocado oil than traditional methods.

Lastly, the 2013 study also showed that applying avocado oil to skin reduced the number of inflammatory cells in the scar tissue.^[10] So, not only does it increase collagen production in the skin to prevent new wrinkles, but it can also reduce the appearance of any current wrinkles!

Ways to prevent aging:

1. Body lotion. Apply this balm directly to your face, neck, hands, and body each day after your shower to help soften and moisturize your skin, prevent new wrinkles from forming, and diminish current wrinkles.
2. Night pre-treatment. Apply a thin film of this green elixir before your night cream after washing your face at night to help carry the benefits of your face cream to the deeper, dermis level of your skin.
3. Mist spray. Add a teaspoon of the oil to distilled water in a small spray bottle and spritz it over your face, neck, and hair to refresh, hydrate and re-set your skin and hair.

4. Treat dandruff

One of the extended benefits of avocado oil for hair is that it is proven to help treat dandruff (except for seborrheic dermatitis, because the oleic acid in avocado may worsen it).^[11],^[12] In particular, when used as a carrier oil for vitamin B12, this natural oil can be applied directly to the scalp to prevent the formation of dandruff. It can also help treat dandruff caused by psoriasis.^[13]

Although there is not much scientific evidence about the benefits of avocado oil for the effective resolution of dandruff, there is ample information about its potential.

Ways to treat dandruff:

1. Pre-shampoo scalp massage. Blend avocado oil with vitamin B12, then add a few drops of peppermint oil to have a refreshing and healing scalp massage with this ointment before shampooing hair.
2. Shampoo or conditioner. Add a few drops to your medicated shampoo or conditioner to help treat your scalp with its nourishing moisture and ability to reduce inflammation.
3. Leave-in scalp rub treatment. Rub a few drops of this green gold mixed with vitamin B12 directly on your scalp psoriasis to help heal this area specifically.

5. Prevent hair loss

Hair loss, hair thinning, or alopecia, are all conditions that can be helped by using this plant elixir. Hair loss is due to the loss of blood circulation to the scalp. Specifically, hair loss is caused by the hair follicles receiving too much dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which in turn, shrinks the hair follicles until they are gone.^[14] Some remedies for hair loss include the use of anti-inflammatory medications.^[15]

Known to improve blood circulation and to keep the cells functioning and growing, the anti-inflammatory properties of avocado oil for skin and hair can combat the damage done to the scalp by DHT. However, there is neither much research nor clinical trials to support the growing body of information regarding this plant-based oil as a treatment for hair loss.

Ways to prevent hair loss:

1. Daily scalp massage. Apply several drops of the oil to your scalp daily or nightly and massage it in for 5 minutes. Scalp massages have been proven to improve blood circulation to the hair cuticle and to prevent hair loss and increase hair thickness!^[16]
2. After-shower scalp treatment. Use a few drops on your scalp after your morning shower to moisturize your scalp.
3. Hair growth remedy. Mix it with a few drops of either lavender oil or peppermint oil to massage your scalp and encourage hair growth. Both of these have been proven to help hair grow.^[17]

6. Strengthen hair and increase elasticity

Avocado oil is incredibly rich in vitamin E, lecithin, amino acids, minerals, and potassium — it’s like superfood for your hair! Applying it to towel-dried hair or after styling can help moisturize your hair and provide shine. Because the oil penetrates the hair, it provides lasting benefits of improving elasticity and strengthening the hair strand, so your hair won’t break. On top of all that, it won’t appear greasy!

Not only are the oleic acids providing beneficial fats for the hair, but avocado oil also provides vitamin D which is known to stimulate hair growth.^[18] In addition, it is also great for heat-damaged hair. If you rub a small dab of avocado oil on your ends after styling, it can help mend and repair dry ends and smooth frizz.

Ways to strengthen hair:

1. Pre-styling treatment. Apply avocado oil to towel-dried hair before you apply styling products and style it for moisture and manageability.
2. Conditioning oil. Mix a few drops of the essential oil of your choice with avocado oil. Apply to add fragrance and shine to your hair, while adding manageability.
3. Hair spray. Mix a few drops of this avocado salve and a few drops of essential oil with distilled water into a small spray bottle and spritz on hair any time you need to refresh your style and add some shine and fragrance to your hair.

What Are Some Other Ways to Use it?

Avocado oil for skin and hair really is the best oil for an effective beauty regimen. Its ability to penetrate to the dermis level and carry vitamins and nutrients deep into your skin and hair will provide them with healing and moisture. It will easily become a part of your daily skincare routine, as well as your favorite way to indulge! Here are more surprising ways that avocado oil can benefit you and your body:

• Cuticle treatment. Rub the oil on your nails and cuticles to help soften cuticles and to help moisturize your nails. The absorbability of avocado oil can penetrate both the cuticle and the nail to help your nails grow longer and healthier.
• Dry, cracked heels. Rub avocado oil on your feet while you’re relaxing in the evenings or before bed, and cover with a soft pair of socks to help your skin heal and rejuvenate using the oil’s highly beneficial effects.
• Massage oils. Imagine having a wonderful massage using avocado oil, knowing that it is also a skin treatment that calms redness and inflammation, and heals cells on a deeper level of skin. With a few drops of essential oil added, it can also be a relaxing or energizing aromatherapy treatment, as well.
• Bath oil. Add ¼ cup of this moisturizing oil to your bath to hydrate your skin your skin and leave it healthy and glowing.
• Lip balm. Apply this natural oil to chapped lips.
• Makeup remover. Use the oil to remove makeup remover, as the first step in hydrating and moisturizing your skin as it penetrates for a deep cleaning.

Still Have Questions? Read This FAQ

Here are some answers to common questions about avocado oil for hair and skin, so that you can begin to reap the benefits of this fruit!

Question 1: How do I store avocado oil?

Avocado oil, like many fruit oils, is sensitive to light and heat. So, follow these tips below to make sure you store your avocado oil for hair and skin in the best way possible.

1. Use a dark bottle. Store your oil in a dark bottle, away from heat and light. Storing this salve in a dark bottle is best because light oxidizes it and causes it to turn rancid more quickly. Heat has the same effect on this green balm. So, even if you buy your avocado salve at the supermarket, choose a brand that uses a dark bottle instead of a light or clear one.
2. Keep it away from heat and light. Similarly to olive oil, avocado oil can turn rancid easily if you store it near a heat source or in bright light. Thus, in addition to keeping it in a dark green bottle, store it properly in a cupboard or inside your medicine cabinet, and away from direct light and heat. This will ensure that your oil stays fresh for at least six months after opening it.
3. Refrigeration optional. You may choose to refrigerate your oil to preserve its freshness, although that is not necessary. Without refrigeration, the oil will remain fresh for six months after opening. If you do decide to store your avocado oil in the refrigerator, it will harden into a solid. But it can be easily and quickly warmed to room temperature, either by spooning out the amount that you need at the moment or by letting the entire bottle warm to room temperature.

Question 2: Why use avocado oil instead of the whole avocado?

First and foremost, avocado oil is a condensed version of the fruit. It takes 20 avocados to make 8oz. of oil. Additionally, the oil provides all the same benefits as a whole avocado. The real bonus with avocado oil though, is that it has added benefits that a whole avocado does not. Let’s take a closer look below:

1. It is invisible. Avocado oil penetrates your skin or hair and is fully absorbed, thus, disappears. It leaves behind only soft, supple skin and hair. Conversely, using a whole avocado may be great for a facial mask or treatment, but it won’t get fully absorbed. It will leave residues that will need to be cleaned up after use. So, whilst both oil and whole fruit imparts amazing benefits, the oil is great for full absorption, leaving no trace behind.
2. Deeper penetration. Due to its high concentration, avocado oil can penetrate deeper layers of skin and hair than the whole fruit. So, all the benefits for skin and hair that avocado offers are easier to access in the oil form.
3. Convenient everyday use. You can use avocado oil every day conveniently in your daily beauty regimen, but not so much with the fruit itself. Using a whole avocado requires preparation time, and tends to be messy and leaves residues. Avocado oil can be easily added to your night cream for extra moisturizing benefits, or applied on hair for a gorgeous sheen and gloss.

Question 3: What are the benefits of avocado oil for hair and skin compared to coconut oil?

Although coconut oil is one of nature’s miracle oils both for health and beauty, it has a very fresh and up-and-coming competitor in avocado oil. Avocado oil has been used since ancient times in America and was the first oil noted for its use in the 1500s.^[19] It was also noted as one of the staple oils used by pre-Colombian Americans.

So, what makes avocado oil better than coconut oil for hair and skin?

1. Less scent. While the smell of coconut oil can export some of us to the tropics, others may have a preference to not smell like a day at the beach every day. The odor of this plant oil is very faint, as is the smell of avocados themselves. It has a very slight, fresh green scent that is neither obtrusive nor notable, which makes it excellent for daily use as a hair and skin salve.
2. Higher absorption rate. Coconut oil is known for its moisturizing properties of both skin and hair. However, avocado oil for hair and skin has a higher absorption rate than coconut oil. Thus, when you apply avocado oil for hair, it is absorbed into your hair more than coconut oil.^[20] And the same goes for avocado oil for skin.^[21] For this reason, this green elixir is often used as a carrier oil for other oils and ingredients, to ensure that they will be absorbed into the skin.
3. Less clogged pores. Compared with coconut oil, avocado oil for skin is less comedogenic, meaning that it does not clog your pores as much as other oils. By comparison, coconut oil has a higher comedogenic rating. Coconut oil is too greasy and heavy for some people with oily, sensitive, or acne-prone skin and will clog their pores.

DIY Recipes to Make Your Own Avocado Oil Skin and Hair Masks

1. Avocado Oil

Although cold-pressed is best, you can make your own avocado oil in no time! Try using your homemade avocado oil by applying it directly to your hair or skin to hydrate and soften.

Prep Time: 15 minutes  |  Make Time: 15 minutes
Tools/Equipment: A potato masher, one medium pot, cheesecloth or a strainer, a medium bowl and one dark 8oz. bottle

Ingredients

• 20 whole avocados

Instructions

1. Mash the avocados and put them into the pot.
2. Cook the avocados, stirring often until the pulp turns dark brown.
3. Allow the pulp to cool.
4. Strain the pulp through the strainer or cheesecloth and catch the oil in a bowl.
5. Transfer the oil from the bowl into the bottle.

Your avocado oil is ready for use on skin or hair! While heat-processed oil is not as good as cold-refined oils, it is definitely worth trying for its ease and function. Be sure to store your oil away from heat and light. It should stay fresh for 6 months.

2. Avocado oil face mask

This face mask is great for deep cleaning, reducing acne and anti-inflammation, and imparting moisture! The oil penetrates deep into pores to clean and refine, while the vitamins and nutrients of the avocado calm redness and inflammation.

Prep Time: 2 minutes  |  Make Time: 2 minutes
Tools/Equipment: A small bowl and a fork

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp avocado oil
• 1 whole avocado

Instructions

1. Mash the avocado in a bowl with the fork.
2. Add the avocado oil.
3. Rub the mixture onto your clean face and allow it to penetrate, nourish, and clean your pores on the dermal layer.
4. Rinse off after 20 minutes.
5. Follow your usual skin care regimen.

3. Avocado Oil After-Sun Care

Need some relief from a day out under the sun? The super moisturizing powers of avocado oil combined with cooling aloe vera will help soothe your sunburnt skin.

Prep Time: 2 minutes  |  Make Time: 3 minutes
Tools/Equipment: A small bowl and a fork

Ingredients

• ½ Tbsp avocado oil
• 2 Tbsp aloe vera gel

Instructions

1. Mix the two ingredients together in the bowl.
2. Apply to your skin wherever you have a sunburn.
3. Allow the remedy to penetrate your skin and relax.

Tip: Put this mixture into the refrigerator for 15 minutes before applying it to your skin to relieve your burn even more!

4. Avocado Oil Hair Mask

This protein treatment moisturizes and softens hair, adding manageability, softness, and shine. Use it twice a month for extra benefits!

Prep Time: 10 minutes  |  Make Time: 60 minutes
Tools/Equipment: A small bowl, a fork, a plastic shower cap and a towel

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp avocado oil
• 1 egg yolk

Instructions

1. Wet hair, but do not wash it.
2. Place the towel around your shoulders to protect your clothing from oil or residue.
3. Mix the ratio of 1 egg yolk: 2T avocado oil in the bowl with the fork.
4. Apply the mixture to wet hair.
5. Cover hair with a plastic shower cap.
6. Allow the mixture to penetrate your hair for 30-60 minutes.
7. Wash and style as usual.

Conclusion

As if we need another excuse to get more avocado in our lives! But as you’ve learned, avocado oil really is worth looking into if you’re after luscious skin and hair. We’ve given you lots of ideas for using it to choose from, along with some of the easiest, most accessible recipes for DIY hacks using avocado oil for hair and skin.

References

• [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5796020/#B49-ijms-19-00070
• [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5796020/#B49-ijms-19-00070
• [3] https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/22/9/1536/pdf
• [4] https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/22/9/1536/pdf
• [5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5796020/#B49-ijms-19-00070
• [6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15149512
• [7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15149512
• [8] http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2013/472382.pdf
• [9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5796020/#B96-ijms-19-00070
• [10] http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2013/472382.pdf
• [11] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16382685
• [12] https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/51729
• [13] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11586013
• [14] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4174066/
• [15] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hair-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20372932
• [16] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4740347/
• [17] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4843973/
• [18] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4740347/
• [19] https://www.jstor.org/stable/41761865?seq=1&fbclid=IwAR1Dv77pxGW7vZvtvZr6oggmtJ0TGzuylGS_-HcRz0vJTYZyLEHbQYo7Izw#page_scan_tab_contents
• [20] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26161938
• [21] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26161938