Cilantro Essential Oil for Hair: Three Claims Checked

No study has tested cilantro leaf essential oil on hair or scalp, so any claim that it grows hair, thickens it or stops shedding has nothing behind it. The nearest evidence involves other oils, one trial in people and one in mice, and when you read what each actually did, the distance from a bottle of cilantro oil is large. This page goes through the three most common claims and says what to do with each.

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Claim one: "Essential oils regrow hair, there is a trial"

There is a trial, and it is the one every hair-oil article cites. Hay, Jamieson and Ormerod, Archives of Dermatology, 1998, randomized 86 people with alopecia areata, a patchy hair loss condition. The active group massaged a blend of four essential oils (thyme, rosemary, lavender and cedarwood) in jojoba and grapeseed carrier oils into the scalp daily; the control group used the carrier oils alone. After 7 months, 19 of 43 people in the active group (44%) showed improvement against 6 of 41 in the control group (15%), with p = 0.008 on the primary outcome. Two dermatologists scored photographs.

Here is what that does and does not tell you:

It was a blend of four oils. Cilantro was not one of them, and the trial cannot say which oil, if any single one, mattered.
It studied alopecia areata, a specific medical condition, not general thinning or shedding.
The control group, massaging a carrier oil alone, still improved in 6 of 41 people. Improvement in a placebo-like arm is a reminder that this condition changes on its own in some people.
The wider field is thin. Hosking, Juhasz and Atanaskova Mesinkovska, Skin Appendage Disorders, 2019 found that only a few complementary options for hair loss are backed by multiple randomized trials, that these products are not regulated by the FDA, and that over-the-counter herbs and supplements lack standardised active ingredients.

My verdict is that the 1998 trial is a legitimate piece of evidence for one four-oil blend in one condition. It is not evidence for cilantro oil. If you have patchy hair loss, see a dermatologist; the trial's own setting was a dermatology outpatient department, not a kitchen.

Claim two: "Peppermint oil beat minoxidil, so herbal oils work"

The other study that circulates is Oh, Park and Kim, Toxicological Research, 2014. C57BL/6 mice were split into four groups: saline, jojoba oil, 3% minoxidil and 3% peppermint oil, applied for 4 weeks. The peppermint group showed the most prominent growth, with greater dermal thickness, follicle number and follicle depth, and higher levels of two growth markers (alkaline phosphatase activity and IGF-1 expression).

The limits are the usual ones for mouse work: it was four weeks, in animals, and the markers it measured (follicle counts, dermal thickness, two growth markers) are not the same as a person noticing a fuller head of hair. Reasoning from the design, I would not read it as a human result. And it was peppermint, applied at 3%. Do the maths: one ounce of carrier is about 29.6 ml, and at the common 20 drops per ml (an assumption; drop size varies) 3% is about 18 drops per ounce. Our shop's skin range for cilantro leaf oil is 0.5% to 2%, about 3 to 12 drops per ounce. Reasoning from that, even if the mouse result transferred to peppermint in people, copying its strength with cilantro oil would put you above the range we publish, on a scalp that is a leave-on, repeated-contact surface.

Claim three: "It is natural, so it is a harmless thing to try on the scalp"

The scalp is skin, and the risk for this oil is covered in our skin article: the oil is rich in aldehydes, a chemical class that can bind skin proteins, and I found no published sensitisation figure for cilantro leaf oil. The U.S. National Cancer Institute's aromatherapy summary notes that allergic reactions and irritation may occur with long skin contact. A scalp oil left on overnight is long contact by any definition and, with the hairline close to the eyes, a reason to keep the amount small and wash your hands after applying. See our sensitivity guide and patch test guide before you put any new oil near your hairline, and keep it away from eyes. Our oil page notes that it dominates a blend quickly, which is one more reason to start with less.

What the evidence-based options are, and who decides

For common hereditary hair loss, the American Academy of Dermatology's patient article names topical minoxidil (FDA-approved for men and women), oral low-dose minoxidil, oral finasteride and, for women, oral spironolactone. It says a dermatologist may use topical minoxidil for four to six months to judge whether it works, that finasteride works best when started at the first sign of loss and must not be taken or handled by anyone who may become pregnant because it can cause birth defects, and that results need continued use. It says early care matters because regrowth gets harder once a follicle has shrunk, and it advises supplemental vitamins only where there is a deficiency. It endorses no natural product.

That is a physician's decision, not a seller's. Hair loss has more than one possible cause, which is why the AAD article sends people to a board-certified dermatologist for individual advice instead of a shelf remedy. We sell a perfumery oil; we cannot tell you why you are losing hair.

The use that fits: scent, in the right product

If you like the aroma, the defensible hair use is as a fragrance in something that already has a job, at a low dilution. Cilantro leaf oil has a green, bright, herbaceous aroma with a citrusy edge, and it dominates quickly, so start with less than you expect. In a rinse-off product, contact time is short. In a leave-on scalp oil, begin at 0.5% (about 3 drops per ounce of carrier) rather than 2%, patch test behind the ear first, and stop at the first itch or redness. I have not tested any formulation; the figures are our shop range and arithmetic. If you are filling a 4 oz (about 118 ml) bottle instead, scale the same way: 0.5% is about 0.6 ml, roughly 12 drops, and 2% is about 2.4 ml, roughly 47 drops, again at 20 drops per ml. Our oil is sold undiluted and without any carrier, so the dilution maths is yours.

Who should skip it

Anyone with active scalp redness, flaking, sores or sudden patchy loss: see a dermatologist first.
Anyone who is pregnant or nursing: ask an OB-GYN or midwife before using any essential oil on the skin.
Children: ask a pediatrician. Keep the bottle out of reach of children and pets.

For the full map of what has and has not been studied, see our cilantro evidence overview.