With all the shampoos, conditioners, and masks filling our showers and cabinets, it’s hard to believe that there’s still a product out there that can nourish your strands. It’s something moisturizing, something protective, something like a hair humectant.
So, what are the best natural humectants for hair? A good natural humectant will nurture your strands, injecting them with mineral-rich properties to keep your strands healthy. They’ll be compatible with your hair type, as certain hair textures (such as curly hair) require more moisture than others.
Explore of our top picks for natural hair humectants, and why they make the cut, in this article.
What Is A Humectant?
Simply put, humectants are water magnets. They find any bit of moisture they can and nourish the area you applied it to. For skin, it plumps and hydrates. For hair, it smoothes and strengthens.
Your body produces natural humectants, but if you have drier hair, or need help with moisture retention because you have a textured hair type, enlisting the help of a separate humectant can prove immediately beneficial.
Though humectants are typically thought of for curly hair, normal hair types and even those with fine, straight hair can find that improving moisture retention keeps their locks breakage-free and supple in the long run.
For low-porosity locks, humectants should be an active part of your hair care routine. You can go for a humectant of a thicker feel because of how quickly your hair will drink up the moisture.
Humectants can be used year-round, but we highly suggest integrating them into your routine during the winter months, if you live in drier climates, or if you live in higher elevations. Aggressive environments like this can strip your hair down fast, regardless of your routine diligence, so take care to prevent any damage.
What Makes A Good Humectant?
Nurturing Ingredients
It’s a given that your humectant will be moisturizing, but go ahead and look further into the different qualities of your options to see which one will be best suited for your hair. The best humectants can nurture your hair in multiple ways outside of hydration.
For example, using the fruit Prickly Pear as a humectant can actually stimulate collagen growth in your scalp, making it suitable for thin hair types! We’ll go over the benefits of each option on our list so you can determine what sounds best for your strands.
Hair Compatibility
We touched a bit on this earlier, but humectants should be a welcome decision to your hair care routine regardless of hair type. Yet, it wouldn’t be smart to pick just any humectant for your locks.
Oil-based humectants are great choices for low-porosity strands, but they probably wouldn’t work as well on greasy locks. In the same way, aloe vera can effectively hydrate more delicate hair, but would likely fall short when it comes to nurturing textured hair.
Picking the best humectant for you will guarantee that you are giving your hair exactly what it needs to hold moisture in the most effective way possible. You don’t want all the hard work you put into choosing a humectant to go to waste, so research wisely!
Feel Of Humectant
Some of the humectants on this list are lighter in feel, while some sit in the hair a bit heavier. Due to the differences in texture, some are suited for use as a mask before wash day, while others can be left on overnight.
Dependent on the need of your hair, or how willing you are to risk leaking onto your pillowcase at night, the feel of your product should be kept in mind.
Best Natural Humectants
| Rank | Humectant Type | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Prickly Pear Oil | Vitamin E rich, anti-dandruff, sweet aroma |
| 2. | Aloe Vera | Suitable for hair loss, soothing, clarifying |
| 3. | Algae Extract | Anti-dandruff, anti-irritant, rich in fatty acids |
| 4. | Coconut Oil | Protein loss, good for damaged hair, anti-dandruff |
| 5. | Avocado Oil | Strengthens, seals cuticles, prevents breakage |
| 6. | Beeswax | Seals strands, promotes hair growth, soothing |
| 7. | Shea Butter | Vitamin A/E rich, redness-reducing, rich in fatty acids |
1. Prickly Pear Oil
Prickly pears are superfoods, and their oil embodies their vitamin-rich properties to a point. It’s high in fatty acids, Omega-6, and Omega-9.
Not only that, but it’s also rich in vitamin E, which is an ingredient known for its free-radical fighting abilities.
Prickly pear oil, as a humectant, obviously helps hair retain moisture, but it’s a natural way to allow your hair some extra protection.
For those looking to grow healthier locks, you’ll be happy to hear that this oil also increases collagen production in your follicles, making for stronger, silkier strands.
The amino acids in the oil help balance the pH of your scalp and make for healthier growing grounds for your hair.
2. Aloe Vera
Looking for the ultimate refreshing agent? Grabbing 100% natural aloe vera to use on your locks can rebalance a dry scalp (making it wonderful for those with an irritated, dandruff-prone head), it gives new life to dull hair, and it softens locks.
Aloe vera is deeply conditioning, despite its almost gel-like consistency. The secret behind its moisturizing properties is the high water content.
Since you’re essentially applying water to your locks, expect minimal damage and compatibility with most hair types. Curly folks should stray away from this humectant, however, unless they’re willing to use it as a mask every single day.
3. Algae Extract
The consistency of algae extract is exactly what you would expect it to be, so we’d like to preface this by saying that if you’re not a fan of the slippery and slimy, choosing it as your humectant is probably not the best idea!
Despite its texture, algae extracts are actually effective clarifiers and can rid the hair of any product build-up, and the scalp of any dead skin that could be irritating.
This is a good product to choose if you have a sensitive or angry scalp, as algae extract holds naturally soothing benefits that can calm inflamed skin.
This extract in particular is alcohol-free, meaning it won’t dry out your locks with consistent use.
4. Coconut Oil
Our next pick is for our curly friends (aka those who could make do with a lot of moisture)!
The best part about having textured hair is that you can pile on the hair oil, and while some folks may end up with weighed-down manes, you just look better and better!
Coconut oil found its home on bathroom shelves long ago when it was revered for its makeup-removing properties, but it’s even more wondrous on thirsty strands.
Rich in fatty acid, coconut oil shields your hair (and your scalp) from any bacteria, while nurturing and drawing in the moisture you need to keep your hair bouncy, healthy, and soft.
5. Avocado Oil
Another great humectant for coil-y locks is avocado oil! Now, avocado oil is a little more slippery than coconut oil, so we suggest it to those who aren’t afraid to get a little messy!
Using this oil as an overnight mask is particularly effective for those with super dry locks, as it is deeply moisturizing and can penetrate deep into your follicles to enrich your hair from root to tip.
If your hair is so dry that it tangles easily, working this oil through your locks and brushing it in with a wide-tooth comb can help soothe damage from pulling, while also ensuring each part of the strand gets evenly coated.
6. Beeswax
We have to thank the bees for all the work they put into making beeswax because its moisturizing and nurturing capabilities make it a natural beauty staple that we recommend to everyone, especially those with curly locks!
Due to its texture, we wouldn’t recommend you use beeswax in your strands more than 2x a week.
Beeswax is vitamin A rich, meaning it’ll deeply moisturize thirsty hair, while the overall formula of the product will seal all that hydration in.
You might see beeswax as an ingredient in a number of hair styling products, and that’s due to how effective it is as a sealant, virtually expelling your hair from any flyaways or frizz!
7. Shea Butter
For those who are hardly ever indoors, you know how much of a toll the sun can take on your hair!
This is exactly why we recommend shea butter to the outdoorsy types, or to those whose hair dryness is due to climate, or high elevations.
African shea butter is beloved for how well it can nurture the skin, but those nurturing abilities are anything but lost once you apply this creamy moisturizer to your strands!
After a single-use, you’ll be met with deeply hydrated, healthy, frizz-free locks. Due to its thicker texture, we think this is a fabulous pick for an overnight mask, simply wear a bonnet before sleep to avoid making a mess on your sheets.
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