Ylang ylang oil for hair: what it is, what it does, how we blend it
Ylang ylang oil is the heady tropical flower of the library: sweet, creamy and strong enough that a few tenths of a percent perfume a whole bottle, with a long history in Southeast Asian hair oils.
| Role | Essential oil, floral family |
|---|---|
| On the label | Cananga Odorata Flower Oil |
| In our blends | Not in a signature blend yet |
| Builder limit | Up to 0.8% of a hair blend (all essential oils together: 1%) |
What it is
Steam-distilled from the yellow flowers of Cananga odorata, the oil is a mix of linalool, germacrene D, benzyl acetate and benzyl benzoate, with the first fraction of the distillation (extra) the most floral and the later ones (I, II, III) heavier. It is pale yellow, thin and volatile. It has been used in coconut-based hair oils across the Philippines and Indonesia for a very long time.
How it feels on hair
At 0.5% it gives a sweet, creamy, jasmine-like floral that lasts; at its 0.8% cap it is a perfume. The blend's weight and finish are unchanged.
Who reaches for it
People who like a rich floral on a lengths oil, and anyone making a coconut-based blend in the island tradition. It is not in a signature blend yet.
Where it sits in our blends
No signature blend uses ylang ylang yet, which makes it one for the builder: start from a blend that is close and swap it in, or build from scratch. Every blend is weighed to the gram and the recipe is printed on the label.
How to compose with it
Essential oils share at most 1% of a hair blend; the builder allows ylang ylang up to 0.8%. Keep it to the low end and pair it with sweet orange, sandalwood or bergamot over virgin coconut, argan or sweet almond.
Good to know: Strong and sweet. 0.5% is usually enough.
Compose with ylang ylang Find your formula
Weighed to the gram and blended to order in New Jersey, with the recipe printed on the label. For external use only; patch test before first use. Every oil, with its INCI name, is in the oil library.