Oiling your hair before a wash, the way it is done here

Oil is for the scalp, not the hair

The first thing people get wrong is where it goes. Traditional oiling treats the scalp: the oil is worked into the skin with the fingertips, and whatever runs down the length is incidental. Coating the ends and leaving the roots dry is the opposite of how it has always been done, and it is the reason some people decide oiling “does not suit” them — they end up with greasy lengths and nothing where it was meant to go.

Use less than you think. For shoulder-length hair, something around a teaspoon is plenty. The scalp should feel lightly covered, not wet.

Warm it, then take your time

Warm a little between your palms first. Nobody in a Pakistani kitchen is measuring temperature; the point is that oil spreads further warm than cold, so you use less of it. Part the hair in sections and work along each parting with the pads of your fingers, in small circles, until the whole scalp has been covered. The massage is half of it. Champi, the head massage itself, is a thing people remember being given by a mother or a grandmother, and it is usually the part that gets rushed.

An hour is enough. Overnight is a preference.

An hour before washing is plenty. Leaving it overnight is a habit rather than a requirement, and it is worth knowing the trade-off: oil transfers to pillowcases, and a full night means a heavier wash the next morning. If you do sleep in it, an old cotton pillowcase or a wrapped scarf saves the laundry.

Twice a week is a common rhythm. Some people oil every wash, others once a week in summer and more in winter when the scalp feels tighter. There is no schedule to fall behind on.

Washing it out without stripping

This is where most of the frustration lives. The instinct is to use hot water and a harsh shampoo twice over, which strips the scalp and starts the cycle again. Lukewarm water is enough. Massage the shampoo into the scalp for a full minute before rinsing, then rinse cool.

Traditionally the wash itself was herbal too. Reetha, the soapnut, is naturally rich in saponins and lathers in water; it is what people washed with long before shampoo came in bottles. Shikakai, mildly acidic, was usually paired with it so hair did not end up squeaking. Both are explained, along with every other herb we use, on the herbs page.

What people traditionally oiled with

Amla, the sour green gooseberry, is the one most people recognise on sight, usually dried and steeped in oil. Bhringraj and neem both turn up constantly in household recipes. Onion has become the most talked-about of the lot in recent years. Rosemary arrived later from elsewhere and stayed. What these have in common is not a promise: it is that families here have used them for a long time and passed on how.

We describe what each herb has traditionally been used for, and no more than that. Hair responds differently from one person to the next, and no oil is a treatment for a medical condition. If something is genuinely wrong with your scalp, a doctor is the right person to see, not a bottle.