When was the last time you went to get your eyebrows threaded, or attended a yoga class or ordered a tumeric latte at your local Pret? Chances are you'll be at least familiar with these Indian practices and rituals, which have over the years weaved their way into Western cultures. And now there's hair oiling, the latest centuries-old 'trend' that could work wonders for your hair. For the uninitiated, hair oiling is an Ayurvedic beauty treatment that involves massaging oil into the scalp as a weekly, pre-wash treatment to encourage longer, stronger hair.
It’s partly down to Season Two of the steamy period drama Bridgerton that we have to thank for the sudden interest in the ancient ritual. It was during a particularly poignant scene where the two Sharma sisters - the unapologetically, beautifully Indian sisters - were having a 1800s-version of a deep and meaningful conversation while big sister Kate rubbed oil in her younger sister Edwina’s scalp. As a London-born British Indian, watching the scene gave me goosebumps: it could easily have been me and my sisters as teens. It showed that the sentimental value of applying oil to the hair in Indian culture was as important as the beautifying ritual, and was just one of the ways that the Sharma sisters, played by Simone Ashley and Charithra Chandran, championed their culture throughout the series.
For Anita Kaushal, the co-founder of the award-winning British Ayervedic beauty brand Mauli Rituals, hair oiling is just an extension of caring for our bodies. “Just as we use moisturisers on our face and oils on our body, it’s perfectly natural to use oil on the scalp to keep it nourished and in peak condition,” she tells me. “Hair oiling certainly influences the quality of the hair and therefore its density. You’ll feel the difference once it’s washed. Your hair will feel fuller, softer and shinier.” I am a longtime convert: I put my good hair condition (even with colouring every few months) down to a weekly ritual of oiling my scalp from a young age.
Inspired by sacred moments of conversation through hair oiling led the brother and sister duo Akash and Nikita Mehta to set up their brand Fable & Mane. As kids, their grandmother would tell them stories, or fables, as she oiling their hair once a week. And then as adults, when Nikita suffered some hair thinning and remedied it with certain Ayurvedic oils, the pair began developing their own unique blend. “During a time of hair loss and stress, we were reminded of the power of the Indian tradition of hair oiling and recalled a time when our grandmother would come from India and massage our head and hair with handcrafted blends of plant oils,” the Mehtas tell me.
The tradition of taking care of your hair with regular oiling originates from the Sanskrit word ‘sneha’ which means to oil and to love, but it’s a ritual rooted in science. “The head is the home of all sense organs and our nervous system. That is why head massage is a part of ayurvedic daily routine,” says Akash. “A scalp massage with essential oils relaxes your mind while stimulating your hair follicles and encouraging growth and density.” Their instinct to bring their culture to the masses has proved fruitful: Fable & Mane is now one of the best-selling Ayurvedic hair care brands in the UK and was recently snapped up by Sephora in America.
