Expert Tips for Gorgeous Hair with Hair Serum and Scalp Massage

Using hair oils and serums and performing scalp massage has been trending on Tik Tok, which shows that this venue can reflect healthier trends than wrapping ice cream in Fruit Roll Ups (although that does sound yummy.). 

Yet, although hair oils and scalp massage is super easy and fast, there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. If you are interested in applying this practice into your daily or weekly wellness routine, it’s best to get the info from professional experts trained and licensed in skin care and hair care.

First off, according to hair expert Tanja Catoe, VP/Salon Coordinator for Salon Inga, and The Barbershop by Salon Inga in the Tampa, FL area, you shouldn’t use ordinary kitchen oils (think olive) on the hair, whether you are using it for hair treatment or when performing a scalp massage. The oil is dense and can clog the scalp pores and follicle openings, as well as cause hair to become greasy. This is especially true if you do not want to wash hair afterwards.

Silicone-based hair oils and serums can likewise cause product build-up on scalp and hair, and can lead to dullness. 

Your scalp is an extension of your skin, and can benefit from hair products formulated using skin care ingredients such as Repêchage Hydra-Amino 18® Hair Spa Serum, a lightweight, silicone-free serum formulated with the same kinds of skin care ingredients used in premier professional skin care to benefit both the scalp and the hair.

The key ingredient to look for is seaweed, one of the most beneficial botanical ingredients when it comes to your hair as featured in Mane Addicts.  Specific species, such as Repêchage’s exclusive Laminaria Digitata seaweed filtrate, contains 18 amino acids that act as building blocks or protein to help nourish stressed, damaged hair, while 12 vitamins and 42 trace elements and minerals infuse hair with shine, helping to restore and renew resiliency.

It also contains rich, nutritive botanical oils such as Marula Seed Oil, Jojoba Seed Oil, Coconut Oil and Safflower Seed Oil, as well as antioxidant Vitamin E to lock in and restores hair’s essential moisture, leaving the hair surface smooth while helping to protect from further damage from heat styling and the environment. 

Antioxidant protection is key, points out Catoe. Whether you are concerned about hair breakage, growth, or live in a hot or cold environment, antioxidants such as Vitamin E and the potent antioxidants in seaweed help to fight off free radical damage. Plus “Restorative seaweed is going to help infuse your hair with dramatic useful luster and you're going to have that stronger looking hair,” notes Catoe.

And essential oils aren’t the way to go, either. Licensed esthetician and Repêchage Partner Shiri Sarfatipoints out that essential oils are wonderful additions to skin care, but they are too potent to use directly on the skin and may actually cause serious irritation. This is why it is always advised to use them mixed into a carrier oil or cream.

Most hair oils or silicone-based hair serums are best used from the mid-shaft down to avoid deposits at the root area of the hair. A lightweight hair serum can be used both on the hair as a treatment and during scalp massage.  Many are turning to scalp massage as an easy way to incorporate wellness techniques at home. Studies show that scalp massage can have numerous benefits, from increasing hair thickness and decreasing hair loss to enjoying the enormous physiological and psychological benefits of massage.

Benefits of Hair Serum:

For the hair, a lightweight, silicone free serum can have multiple benefits, including

Controlling frizz: As opposed to oils or silicone-based products, this serum can smooth and coat strands to prevent the hair shaft from “ballooning” from excess humidity in the environment, yet won’t weigh hair down.

Strengthen hair from damage from heat styling and the environment: The amino acids in seaweed based serums help to restore protein, helping to shield hair from the additional degradation from heat stylers.

Boost shine: The restorative ingredients help to smooth hair strands, creating a sleek, polished appearance.

Enhance curls or texture: A lightweight serum doesn’t weigh hair down, which can cause natural texture or waves to relax.

How to Use:

As a Pre-Styler:

Add 1 to 2 drops of hair serum to the palm of your hand and gently warm between your palms for a few seconds.

On damp hair, apply to your hair, working from the ends up to the middle of your strands. Apply gently, without pulling.

Use a wide-tooth comb to gently distribute the serum evenly from the middle of your strands down to the ends.

Style your hair as usual.

As a Touch-Up

Warm one or two drops of serum between hands and lightly press through hair from the mid-shaft down to smooth out frizziness, or if you are touching up with a heat styler. 

For Scalp Massage:

Here, Tanja’s provides a simple massage technique in five easy movements for performing a scalp massage at home. This is ideal to do anytime, but can be done on damp hair in the evening to prep hair for heat styling in the morning.

Add a few drops of hair serum to your palms and warm in your hands. 

Start with both hands at the top of your forehead, simply push back with the palms of both hands along the top of the head with slight pressure, keeping your fingers firmly on the head, stopping at the back of the head where you might normally place a ponytail. Do this three times.

Go underneath the back of the hair at the nape, and perform the same pressure movement with palms moving up to the top of the head three times. 

Next, perform a dry shampoo movement, where you would make small scrubbing circles in the scalp, starting above the ears and working to the back of the head with both hands on one side, then the other. Do this three to four times. Then, perform this on the top of the head, with both hands following each other as fingers make small scrubbing circles (it’s a bit like a spider movement!) Be sure to use slight pressure when you do this with your fingertips, never your nails!

Then, find the pressure point area behind the ears and make small circles with the fingertips of both hands on both sides, gently going up and down behind the ear. If you are not wearing earrings, you can gently squeeze and press the earlobes to finish.

Finally, grasp your hair gently as if you were putting it into a ponytail and gently push up and down, almost as if you were pushing up and back the scalp (you basically are). Do this four or five times. You can perform on the front of hair, taking the hair along the hair line back to mid-way on the head like you were forming a half-pony, and gently tug back and forth four or five times.

Put one or two more drops of hair serum in palms and work through the hair ends, then cover hair with turban for sleeping. Scalp should feel energized and tingly, and your facial muscles relaxed, ready for lights out. 

What rituals do you like to perform that are good for both body and mind?  Let us know in the comments!