Will An Onion Water Wash Really Make Your Hair Shiny And Healthy?

The great thing about pressing household products into beauty duty is that you can often achieve some impressive outcomes, and for less money than you'd spend on store-bought beauty aids. But not every household product is like oatmeal, which can be mixed with bath water to smooth skin and calm skin irritations (via Medical News Today). Oatmeal emits barely any smell, but many products do. Case in point: onions, which you may have noticed are making lots of noise online and in TikTok videos.

Medical News Today acknowledges that the very strong smell may "dissuade" people from using an onion water wash on their hair. So, if you're sensitive to smells, you will probably have to cross one important hurdle before considering whether an onion water wash can make your hair shiny and healthy. You'll want to know if you can reduce the onion smell, especially because it will come in such close proximity to your nose. Fortunately, you can rest assured: there are indeed ways to reduce the smell. And you may even want to pursue this method because, as it turns out, onions may be great for your hair.

According to Healthline, the "anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties of onions" are what may be able to help your hair grow and/or become healthier than before. Specifically, onions may help improve the condition of dry or damaged hair and provide relief to a dry, itchy scalp. Since antifungal properties are present in onion juice, onions also may help reduce dandruff. Medical News Today largely agrees, saying that the "nutrients in the onion juice" provide key nourishment to the hair, allowing to channel those nutrients into a healthy, glossy appearance. You may even experience more volume!

People who use onion juice on their hair may also experience new hair growth, but more studies must be done to assess this link, Medical News Today says. In the meantime, it cautions people who are dealing with hair loss against vesting too much hope in onion juice, saying that it's probably not a miracle cure for hair loss." As you might guess, you shouldn't use an onion water wash if you're allergic to onions. But what if you're not sure? if you've heard enough about the potential benefits of onion water wash and want to make a batch, take one precautionary step first. Onion juice can irritate the skin of some people, with contact causing redness, flaking, and itching. To find out if you're one of these people, do a trial run with a small amount of onion juice placed on your lower arm, Medical News Today advises.

Signs of irritation should appear within minutes. And if they do, do not apply the juice to your scalp. You'll still need a small batch of onion juice, no matter the outcome of your patch test. You can prepare it by chopping up about four onions (of any variety) into small-to-medium-size pieces and then pulling the juice from them. A juicer is ideal for this job, though a food processor on the pulse setting can be a good substitute. When you have enough juice to cover your scalp, massage it into your hair and leave it there for about 15 minutes, Hair Adviser says.

Before you do, realize that you're back to where you started: tolerating the smell. But you can neutralize the onion smell with a pleasant one by adding three drops of aromatic essential oil, like lavender or rosemary, or a few drops of lemon juice to the onion juice, Healthline says. If your hair still smells like onions after you shampoo and condition your hair, treat it by mixing 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and 1 cup of water and applying it to your hair (via Emedihealth). Apple cider vinegar smells bad, too, but you may decide that it's the lesser of two evils. If not, don't give up on household products just yet. If you use scented dryer sheets, gently pull one through the strands of your hair, from top to bottom, to conclude your beauty duty session.