If I had to choose one botanical oil to be the star of a hair-growth-focused formula today, I’d start with rosemary oil. It has some of the most relevant human topical evidence available among popular plant oils. Coconut oil has the best evidence to help hair-fiber damage and protein loss that can support length retention, whereas jojoba, castor and argan oils are generally more effective for scalp conditioning, sensory feel and formula support than proven to be growth actives.
People will usually give you a long list of ingredients that all sound like they do the same thing when you ask them what the best oil for hair growth is. Rosemary gets your follicles moving, castor makes hair grow thicker, coconut speeds up growth, pumpkin seed blocks DHT, peppermint wakes up dormant follicles and argan somehow does a little bit of everything.
That is not how I view these oils when I am developing a product.
From a manufacturer perspective, I want to know first what kind of “growth” problem the product is really trying to solve. The person with androgenetic hair loss has a very different problem from the person whose hair grows normally on the scalp but constantly breaks off at the ends. Someone with oily scalp and fine hair needs a very different product to someone with dense, curly or coily hair who already uses rich oils as part of a regular routine.”
That distinction alters the formula. There is some direct relevant evidence to hair growth for some oils. Some are better at protecting the hair shaft, reducing breakage, improving scalp comfort or helping a treatment spread more evenly. Usually the best product for a beauty brand comes from understanding these different roles, rather than throwing seven trendy oils into a bottle and calling it a “growth complex.”
I think it helps to separate out follicle growth, scalp support and length retention before we compare the oils. In marketing, these concepts overlap, but they are not scientific synonyms.
Real hair loss can be caused by a number of factors, including hereditary pattern loss, autoimmune diseases, illness, hormonal changes, nutritional deficiencies, and harmful hair care practices. The American Academy of Dermatology says it well: “Effective treatment begins with finding the cause, because no one hair-loss treatment is effective for everyone.”
This is why I would never market a cosmetic hair oil as a cure all for alopecia. Oils can still serve a useful function in hair and scalp care at the same time. Rosemary has limited relevant human topical data. Coconut oil has been shown to protect the hair fibre Jojoba may improve the feel and spread of a scalp treatment, and castor oil can work well in richer textured-hair routines.
I think in three layers in product development, which is more useful.
Ingredient → Scalp environment → Hair-fiber protection: growth led.
A formula can cover more than one layer but the brand should still know which one is carrying the main product story.
If someone asks me what is the best oil for hair growth, I would put rosemary oil as the botanical oil first.
There’s at least some direct human evidence behind rosemary compared to a lot of oils that have been trending largely because of tradition or social media. In a six-month randomised study of 100 people with androgenetic alopecia, both the rosemary oil group and the 2% minoxidil group had a significant increase in hair count at month six. At this point the study did not show a significant difference in the hair count between the two groups.
That said, I wouldn’t go so far as to make that a statement that rosemary oil is “the same as minoxidil.” One relatively small study isn’t enough to establish equivalence, and the clinical evidence behind minoxidil is much broader. What I can take from this study is that rosemary deserves more attention than many other botanical oils marketed for growth.
There’s also a commercial benefit for a beauty brand: people already get the ingredient. You don’t need to spend half the product page explaining why it’s in the bottle. The difficulty is in differentiation, because it's easy to copy another dark bottle called Rosemary Hair Growth Oil.
My advice I would use rosemary as the hero ingredient and then spend more development time on the things that determine whether people actually keep using the product, texture, scalp feel, residue and applicator. Maybe a lighter rosemary + jojoba concept would be better for fine hair, while a richer rosemary + castor blend would be more appropriate for curly or coily routines.
I wouldn't say coconut oil is the best oil for stimulating new hair growth, but I would definitely say that it's one of the more useful oils for helping people to keep the length they already grow.
The most convincing evidence is around the hair strand. When coconut oil was tested against sunflower and mineral oil, it was the only oil to significantly reduce protein loss from both damaged and undamaged hair. The researchers said the effect was due to the lauric-acid rich structure of coconut oil and its ability to penetrate the hair shaft.
Another systematic review concluded similarly in practical terms: coconut oil has useful evidence for brittle hair but limited evidence for direct stimulation of hair growth.
This is a more important distinction than it might seem. She may say her hair “doesn’t grow,” but if the ends are always breaking off, the real issue may be length retention—not follicle activity. Then a fibre-protective oil may be more helpful than another ingredient that is making bold claims about aggressive growth.
My advice: I'd use coconut oil in a hair oil for length retention or anti-breakage, especially if you have long, damaged, bleached, curly or coily hair. If the brand is still looking for a more powerful scalp-growth story, rosemary can take the lead in that part of the formula, while coconut focuses on protecting the lengths.
I have more respect for jojoba as a formulator than as a marketing headline.
It's not a triglyceride oil, per se. Jojoba is composed primarily of liquid wax esters, which is why it acts differently than heavier plant oils. Scientific reviews discuss its long use in cosmetic and topical products including scalp care and speak to anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties but robust human evidence for direct hair regrowth is still lacking.
That doesn't mean jojoba is unimportant. It helps to solve one of the biggest problems with the category, which is too much heaviness, in a scalp oil. You may have a great rosemary story, but if your product sits on the roots like cooking oil, consumers may stop using it in a week.
I often think jojoba is more useful as the ingredient that makes the formula wear-able. It’s easily spreadable, can soften the sensory profile of more luxurious oils and works well if the brand needs a cleaner, lighter scalp-oil experience.
My advice — I’d rarely make jojoba the primary “growth” claim. I would use this as a carrier in formulas like rosemary + jojoba, especially for fine hair, oily scalps or consumers wanting a daily scalp treatment without a heavy residue.
Castor oil is probably one of the best known oils for long, thick hair, but its reputation outpaces the clinical evidence.
Another reason researchers have studied castor oil for hair loss is that it’s rich in ricinoleic acid. In a 2015 computational study, ricinoleic acid was among several compounds predicted to inhibit prostaglandin D2 synthase, a pathway of interest in androgenetic alopecia. The important detail is that this was an in silico prediction study, not a human hair growth trial, and the researchers specifically said further laboratory and animal work was needed.
A more recent systematic review found some evidence that castor oil may improve hair lustre, but no strong evidence that it directly promotes hair growth.
From a product-development perspective, I still like castor oil. “It has high consumer recognition, gives the formula richness and can fit in beautifully with curly, coily and traditional hair-oiling routines.” The problem is viscosity. A formula with a lot of castor is sticky, difficult to spread and annoying to shampoo out.
My advice: I would treat castor as a support oil, not the scientific centrepiece of a growth claim. For me it makes more sense to use rosemary + castor + a lighter carrier such as jojoba than just castor for a richer product.
But there’s a far more interesting research story on peppermint oil than I thought there was when I first looked at it. The evidence needs to be described accurately.
In a 2014 study peppermint oil 3% was compared with saline, jojoba oil and 3% minoxidil in mice. After four weeks, the peppermint group had increased dermal thickness, follicle number, follicle depth and markers including IGF-1.
The warning is simple: these were mice, not men.
So I would say that peppermint oil has promising preclinical evidence, but it is not a clinically established human growth treatment. From a formulation point of view, it also has a sensory benefit that consumers will immediately notice. The cooling sensation provides a fresh feel and an active feel to a scalp product, which is commercially useful, even if the tingling itself should never be mistaken for a proof of efficacy.
My advice: I would lean toward using peppermint as a supporting botanical in a rosemary + peppermint scalp oil, rather than making it the only hero ingredient. I would also watch the concentration and scalp tolerance closely – more cooling is not more hair growth.
Pumpkin seed oil has one of the most impressive looking hair growth studies in this group, but it is also one of the easiest studies to misinterpret.
Seventy-six men with androgenetic alopecia were randomised into a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial and given 400 mg of pumpkin seed oil orally daily for 24 weeks. Mean hair count increased 40% in the pumpkin-seed-oil group compared with 10% in the placebo group.
Interesting numbers, but the participants ingested the oil. They did not apply pumpkin seed oil to the head.
That difference is important. There are two very different delivery routes for an oral supplement versus a topical hair oil, so I would not use this study to tell consumers that a pumpkin seed scalp oil has been clinically demonstrated to increase hair count by 40%.
Pumpkin seed oil is still useful for brands, according to him, as it offers the formula a less ordinary botanical story and is a good fit for natural or premium scalp-care positioning.
My take? I’d use pumpkin seed oil as a supporting ingredient in something like a rosemary + pumpkin seed scalp oil, but I’d let rosemary do the topical growth talking. The 40% number is from the oral study and should remain there.
Argan oil is an ingredient I would choose for how the hair looks and feels, not because I expect it to activate new follicles.
Consumers already associate argan oil with softness, shine and premium hair care, so it brings plenty of commercial value. But when researchers systematically reviewed the evidence for coconut, castor and argan oils, they found no significant evidence supporting argan oil for improving hair growth.
That does not mean argan has no place in a growth-focused product. A scalp-and-length oil still needs to leave the hair feeling good, and the ingredient can help move the product away from the medicinal or overly functional feel that some growth oils have.
I simply would not put “argan stimulates hair growth” at the center of the product story.
My advice: I would use argan in a premium rosemary hair oil where rosemary carries the growth-led positioning and argan supports shine, conditioning and the overall sensory experience.
If I put the evidence and product-development role side by side, the differences become much clearer:
| OilStrongest RoleHair-Growth EvidenceBest Product Use | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rosemary | Growth-led scalp active | Limited but relevant human topical evidence | Hero scalp oil |
| Coconut | Hair-fiber protection | Limited for growth; stronger for protein-loss reduction | Length-retention / anti-breakage oil |
| Jojoba | Carrier + scalp conditioning | Weak direct growth evidence | Lightweight scalp oil |
| Castor | Richness + shine | Weak direct growth evidence | Textured-hair oil |
| Peppermint | Cooling botanical | Promising animal data | Supporting scalp active |
| Pumpkin Seed | Botanical differentiation | Human oral data; topical evidence unclear | Supporting scalp oil |
| Argan | Conditioning + premium feel | Weak growth evidence | Premium hair-and-scalp oil |
For a brand, this table is far more useful than pretending all seven ingredients belong in the same bottle.
Once you separate the evidence from the marketing, I see four product directions that make commercial sense.
This would be my top choice for many new brands. The product already has consumer awareness, so it doesn’t take long before someone understands why it exists. The development problem is no longer just “How do we make rosemary oil?“But “How do we get a rosemary product that people like better than the dozens they’ve seen?”
texture is one helpful answer. Many of the current growth oils lean hard into castor and other dense oils that work well for some consumers, but can feel inconvenient for fine or regularly washed hair. An easier rosemary system of more elegant carriers can ease daily scalp application without losing the botanical character.
The same problem is reflected in our ongoing development work at Xiran Skincare. For rosemary, there is obvious commercial value for Amazon, TikTok and natural-positioned brands. But in a market that is getting more crowded sensory feel, target hair type and applicator design are much more important than simply putting “rosemary” on the front label.
If I were marketing to consumers who already use richer oils in their curly, coily or protective-style regimens, I would take a different approach to the product. In this case the castor density may be an advantage, not a disadvantage, especially if the formula is also applied through the lengths or used as a pre-wash treatment.
Rosemary can drive the growth led story but castor can add richness and familiarity. Jojoba or another lighter carrier can then be used to improve distribution and to avoid the formula becoming unnecessarily sticky. This is a good example of why a product brief must have a real target consumer: the same oil-blend that feels beautifully nourishing on coily hair can feel almost unusuable on fine straight hair.
I think this is one of the more credible opportunities in the category because it addresses a problem that is mislabeled as slow growth. “If the consumer is losing length through breakage, a formula designed around hair-fiber protection may be more relevant than other bottle making aggressive follicle claims.”
Coconut oil is a good technical base for this idea, because the evidence of protein loss is much stronger than the evidence of direct regrowth that most botanical oils have. If a brand wants a scalp-growth story, they could add rosemary, but the communication needs to be clear on roles: rosemary for a scalp-led story, and coconut for breakage and retained length.
This is especially true for long hair, bleached or chemically processed hair and curly/coily consumers where maintaining the hair shaft can make a meaningful impact on how much length remains visible over time.
I think this is the product direction with the most room to differentiate. A lot of the hair-oil market still equates efficacy with visible richness, but people with fine hair or oily roots steer clear of scalp oils, because the treatment instantly flattens their volume.
For this consumer I would want a lighter carrier system. Controlled dosing. Fast spreading. Low residue. Rosemary can still give the hero story, but I’d be much more wary of high castor levels and oversized droppers that deposit too much product in one spot.
The angle is very clear: a scalp oil made for people who normally hate scalp oils.
That’s a more meaningful difference in product than putting another botanical extract on the label.
Ingredients tend to build up on natural hair-care formulas. Rosemary is popular, castor is popular, peppermint sounds busy, pumpkin seed has a cool study and argan has premium recognition, so the instinct is to combine it all.
Technically this can create more problems than benefits. The formula gets heavier, the scent harder to control, the essential oil system more complex, and the ingredient story more difficult for the consumer to understand. At a certain point, a long INCI ceases to look sophisticated and begins to look unfocused.
Consistency of use is also important. Because hair and scalp treatments usually need to be used repeatedly, a product that feels greasy, spreads poorly or takes two shampoos to rinse out may never get used long enough for the consumer to properly evaluate it. Therefore, in our own work on product development, spreadability, absorption, residue, scalp feel and applicator performance are considered as part of the product performance, and not cosmetic details to solve at the end.
One of the most useful distinctions a brand can make is between the ingredient that carries the marketing story and the oils that make the formula work.
Maybe rosemary is the hero because it’s known, and there’s some actual topical human evidence behind it. Jojoba may help make the product easier to spread. Castor can be rich for textured hair, coconut has the hair fibre, and argan is an improvement on the premium conditioning story.
Not all those supporting oils need to be labelled growth actives. In fact, I think a formula is more believable when a brand can tell you why they are using each ingredient, rather than pretending that every ingredient is going to stimulate the follicles.
There is no one right texture as consumers range widely in their tolerance for oil. For fine or oily hair I like faster spreading, lower residue and controlled scalp dosing. A richer oil can make sense for curly and coily routines, especially if the product is also worked through the lengths.
Night-time products can handle richer formulas than day-time products, but daily scalp oils need to be especially comfortable and easy to wash out. The same logic should be applied to applicator choice. A narrow nozzle or controlled dropper can be far more useful than attractive packaging dumping a large puddle of oil onto the hair instead of the scalp.
That’s also why I would test the formula and the packaging together. Even a great oil can become a poor consumer experience if it’s in the wrong applicator.
Another problem brands need to solve before building the whole front label on hair growth.
The FDA explains that claims on a product can affect regulatory classification in the US. The agency’s current guidance on cosmetics specifically mentions a claim that a product will restore hair growth as an example of intended use that could lead to a product being regulated as a drug because it implies an effect on the structure or function of the body.
That doesn’t mean educational articles cannot cover the research around rosemary oil or other ingredients. It does mean the packaging and advertising claims for the finished product need far more attention.
For a cosmetic hair oil, there may be more defensible territory for a brand around supporting a healthy scalp environment, helping reduce breakage, nourishing dry scalp and hair, supporting stronger looking hair or helping hair look fuller. Claims like “treats alopecia,” “reverses hair loss” or “clinically regrows hair” is a different regulatory conversation.
Persistent thinning, patchy loss or sudden shedding should not be treated as a cosmetic shopping problem either. “Because hair loss can be caused by a number of conditions, the AAD recommends identifying the cause as the key to successful treatment.
If a brand asks me this question, I wouldn’t rate all the oils on the same level.
Rosemary is currently the botanical direction I find most convincing for a growth-led scalp oil, as it’s both consumer-recognized and has some relevant human topical evidence. Coconut has a better research story than most botanical oils marketed for regrowth, breakage and retained length. I love jojoba for when I want a lighter, more elegant carrier system and castor is good for richer textured-hair positioning.
Peppermint is still interesting but its use is still largely based on preclinical evidence. Pumpkin seed oil has promising human research, though the most well-known study used oral supplementation, not topical scalp application. Argan is good for conditioning and premium positioning, not because there is good evidence that it stimulates new hair growth.
That’s the difference I think most “best oil for hair growth” articles are missing.
From a manufacturing point of view, I’d rather create one product based on a clear evidence-led hero ingredient and a carefully selected supporting oil system than fill the bottle with every oil currently trending on social media. The final formula should still spread well, feel good for the hair type it is intended for, fit into the consumer’s routine and make claims the brand can responsibly stand behind.
When those pieces come together, the product has a much better chance of becoming something the customer actually finishes – and buys again.
