Vitamin E Oil for Hair: 7 Healthy Benefits

Hair Care Vitamins

May 22, 2023 by Bridget Reed

We all know that a diet rich in vitamins and nutrients makes for a great foundation for our health. We can reap an array of benefits when implementing vitamins into our routines.

Our hair health can be given a little boost in the form of hair supplements that provide essential vitamins to promote healthy hair. But the benefits of vitamins can extend further than just our morning multivitamin!

There are also many known advantages of using hair oil and achieving beneficial effects. The power of vitamins to combat hair loss and nourishing oil to moisturize your hair come together as a power duo in the form of vitamin E oil for hair.

Emerging research is beginning to suggest that vitamin E oil can have many positive effects on our hair and scalp health. These benefits even extend to supporting hair growth — which can be a plus for those of us who are currently aging.

The rate at which our hair grows can slow down as we age. This is because the life cycle of hair shortens with age. Slower hair growth and hair thinning are issues for many of us during aging. But promising studies are starting to put vitamin E oil on the map to help with just these issues — and many more.

Vitamin E oil has many health benefits that are worth exploring. Today, we will touch upon eight of the ways that vitamin E oil can improve the health of our hair and how to make the most of this multifaceted oil.

What Is Vitamin E?

Vitamin E is a potent nutrient that is fat-soluble, meaning it is absorbed along with fats in our daily diet and stored in our liver and fatty tissue. Other fat-soluble vitamins include vitamin A, vitamin K, and vitamin D.

The most active isoform of vitamin E, known as " alpha-tocopherol, " is a grouping of essential antioxidants. Since vitamin E is in the fat-soluble category, your body can store it away in fatty tissue and in the liver to be slowly released as needed.

Vitamin E is commonly available in many different foods and supplements, such as nuts, seeds, broccoli, leafy greens, and vegetable oils (such as sunflower, olive, and almond). If you’re looking for what packs the most punch, wheat germ oil, sunflower seeds, and almonds all provide the richest percentage of your daily value of vitamin E. Adding more of these foods and oils to your diet can aid your hair in numerous ways.

Benefits of Vitamin E Oil for Hair and Scalp Health

Vitamin E in the form of oil has a lot of potential to support healthy hair. Here are eight ways that your hair can benefit from vitamin E — whether in the form of supplements, diet, or hair oil.

1. Balancing Oil Production

Vitamin E can support the balance of oil production in the scalp. Vitamin E oil can help oil production on each end of the spectrum. With the balancing properties that vitamin E provides, the pH balance of our scalp can be rejuvenated.

Vitamin E can help control excess oil production, preventing the clogging of pores that can lead to pimples on the scalp or clogged hair follicles. Vitamin E oil is also moisturizing, adding hydration to scalps that need it.

2. Protect Your Hair’s Cuticle

The structure of our hair is made up of either two or three layers: the cortex, medulla, and cuticle. The cuticle is the outside of our hair strands, which helps maintain the integrity of our hair. If the cuticle of our hair is compromised from damage, lack of moisture, or overuse of heat tools, our hair health can suffer.

Vitamin E can preserve and replace the cuticle's protective fat layer, providing us with the cumulative effect of healthier hair. The healthy fats in vitamin E oil can replenish the fat lost from our hair’s cuticle.

3. Lock in Moisture

Earlier, we spoke about the effect that aging has on the hydration of our hair and skin. Our skin and scalp produce less moisture when we get older. This is where the benefits of vitamin E oil can come into play.

The tocopherols and tocotrienols in vitamin E can moisturize the skin, and that extends to hair as well. And when vitamin E is suspended in oil, the hydrating effects of vitamin E are magnified.

Vitamin E oil can create a protective barrier on the skin that aids with locking in moisture, soothing a dry or flakey scalp. And when used on hair strands, vitamin E oil can boost hair’s hydration. Consider using an oil rich in vitamin E if trying the hair-slugging trend is on your agenda.

4. Support Blood Circulation

Vitamin E can help support blood circulation to the scalp by stimulating the capillaries, which can increase the size of hair follicles. If the blood circulation to your scalp is poor, you may notice that you experience hair loss as a result.

The hair follicles on our head require less blood supply when they are smaller, so it makes sense that supporting blood circulation can be helpful.

5. Eliminate Frizz

This benefit of vitamin E oil for our hair health is directly related to vitamin E’s moisturizing abilities. For those of us who struggle with frizzy hair, one of the main culprits is dryness.

The composition of our hair changes when we get older. Unfortunately, a lack of moisture can make our hair more susceptible to frizz. Nourishing our hair with oil can help smooth it down and tame our locks. The moisturizing features that vitamin E possesses make it a worthy opponent to eliminate frizz.

6. Support Hair Growth

Natural hair growth can be supported by incorporating scalp massages with vitamin E oil into your routine. This use of vitamin E takes the same knowledge we’ve learned about vitamin E and blood circulation and implements it to support new hair growth.

The condition of our scalp can have a direct impact on hair growth. Healthy blood circulation can also cause our hair follicles to coax new growth. And if we look at the evidence behind vitamin E oil nourishing our hair from the inside out, it makes sense that vitamin E oil can be used as a helpful tool to assist in hair growth.

7. Reduce Breakage

Dry hair is prone to breakage. By giving our hair more moisture with vitamin E oil, we can prevent breakage. While vitamin E oil can’t necessarily fix split ends that have already occurred, it can prevent further breakage.

Another way that vitamin E can reduce breakage is by forming a protective barrier around individual hair strands. A shield of vitamin E oil aids in protecting the hair from external sources of damage, thus limiting hair breakage and split ends.

How Should I Use Vitamin E Oil for My Hair?

Fortified shampoos and conditioners such as our Second Chance Repairing Shampoo, food sources, over-the-counter supplements, and oils infused with vitamin E are all avenues to taking when seeking to add more vitamin E into your system.

While the best way to benefit from vitamin E is through ingestion, topical application greatly boosts the vitamin’s efficiency on your hair. When using oils, massage them into your hair and scalp.

Brush your hair with a wide-toothed comb, and leave it to do its thing for about 20 minutes. Then, wash your hair and let it air dry.

The Best Vitamins for Your Hair

Vitamin E has great benefits for your hair health, and so do other vitamins! Some of the best vitamins to nurture healthy hair include:

Vitamin A: supports circulation and helps moisturize the scalp.
Vitamin B: combats thinning hair by caring for hair follicles.
Vitamin C: supports collagen production.

Conclusion

Vitamin E is one of the most helpful vitamins to nurture the foundation of healthy hair. Using oils fortified with vitamin E takes the benefits of this antioxidant-rich vitamin one step further.

Better Not Younger has a wealth of products that harness the power of vitamin E, such as our Hair Redemption Restorative Butter Masque and our No Remorse Heat Protection & Taming Spray. To take advantage of all that vitamin E has to offer, consider using vitamin E oil in your hair care regimen.

Sources:

Hair Oils: Indigenous Knowledge Revisited | PMC.

The Role of Vitamins and Minerals in Hair Loss: A Review | PMC

Effects of Tocotrienol Supplementation on Hair Growth in Human Volunteers | PMC

Your Guide to Aging, Thinning Hair | Cleveland Clinic

Fat-Soluble Vitamins | NCBI Bookshelf

Vitamin E in dermatology | PMC

Free Radicals: Impact on Human Health | PMC

What is the Structure of Hair? | NCBI Bookshelf

A Comment on the Science of Hair Aging | PMC

Vitamin E and Skin Health | Linus Pauling Institute

Comparing the Moisturizing Effects of Tocopherol | PMC