By Jessica Peralta (AP)

Sensible Sensimilla is a weekly series highlighting the most practicable ways to live a carefree, fashionable stoner lifestyle. Part how-to guide, part way of life; fully sensible. This Sunday, Marijuana.com’s Jessica Peralta shows us how to tame tangles with hemp seed oil.

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, hopelessly attempting to style the mess of dry frizz that is your head of hair, you might wonder: Where did it all go wrong?

You remember a time in the not-too-distant past when your hand ran through your hair with nothing but a bit of some serum and a dollop of smoothing cream before hitting the day running.

But the elasticity of your hair has fallen prey to youthful ignorance after all those years of stripping its natural color for a lighter shade of blonde, pink, or whatever personality-defining color has suited your fancy. Eventually, your hair just doesn’t bounce back the way it used to.

You can stand in front of the mirror moping about it, or you can hit the fridge in search of a better tomorrow.

Perhaps those options seem a little dramatic, but the point remains: Bringing the moisture and bounce back to your hair, and hopefully your life, isn’t as difficult as you think. And it can start with the very same hemp seed oil you keep in your fridge for salad dressings, dips, and sandwich spreads.

Lauded as a source of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, hemp seed oil has been linked to potential benefits for the heart and skin. Some in the blogosphere have claimed it can even help with hair growth. Clearly there’s versatility for recipes and the potential to reduce heart disease — but what can it do for your dry, frizzy mop?

It’s all about the moisture. If your hair is starting to strongly resemble a bale of hay, a moisture boost in the form of a hemp seed oil hair treatment might just be what you need to keep you from turning into a scarecrow.

The best part of this simple treatment: It requires minimal craftiness on your part.

Here’s What You Need

Hemp seed oil
Castor oil
Essential lavender oil
2 ounce (59 milliliter) glass tincture bottle, or a 4 oz. (118 mL) spray bottle
Hairbrush or comb

Photography by Gina Coleman

That’s it. Castor oil and lavender oil have their own potential benefits for the hair and skin, and combined with hemp seed oil, they create a great little moisture mixture for the hair. Use organic ingredients if possible, but if you don’t want to spend the extra money, the basics will do.

Directions

Take your tincture bottle or spray bottle and fill it with 1 oz. (30 mL) of hemp seed oil and 1 oz. (30 mL) of castor oil if you’re using the tincture bottle, and 2 oz. (59 mL) of each hemp seed oil and castor oil if you’re using the spray bottle. Shake the spray bottle to mix the two oils.
Add about 10 drops for the tincture bottle, or 20 drops for the spray bottle, of lavender oil to the mixture and shake again. Not only does lavender have possible skin and hair benefits, but it can also have a calming effect. Plus, hemp seed oil has a strong, nutty scent that might not appeal to some and lavender oil can help counterbalance the odor.
Wash your hair with your usual shampoo, but don’t use conditioner. Towel-dry your hair while still leaving it damp. Then brush or comb your hair.
Take your glass dropper full of oil and squeeze it out into your hand. Rub your hands together and work the oil into your hair, from root to tip. Depending on the length and amount of hair you are working with, you’ll use varying amounts of the oil mixture. If you have long hair, you will probably end up using about an ounce during one treatment. If you’re working with the spray bottle, spray the mixture into your hair while brushing it in.
Once your hair is fully covered with the mixture, put your hair up into a bun and leave it alone for several hours. You can even leave the mixture in overnight. When you’re ready to wash it off, shampoo and condition, then style as usual.

You should notice a gloss to your hair you hadn’t seen in a while. It should feel soft and bouncy. Depending on how often you wash your hair, the effects may last a few days – at which point, feel free to apply it again.

If you’re trying these ingredients for the first time and are unsure whether you have an allergy or sensitivity, apply the mixture to a small area of your scalp and hair for a few hours before dousing yourself with the mixture. Otherwise, try it out and watch your hair turn return to its former splendor.