Why I Created Two Hair Oils — And Why Your Hair May Need Both

Hair oils are everywhere. But after more than 40 years working hands-on with hair, I resisted creating one for a very long time.

The reason was simple: so many traditional hair oils delivered precisely what I did not want on hair — grease, residue, coating and weight.

Everything I have created for Iles Formula is built around a very different philosophy: high performance without weight. I wasn't going to create a hair oil simply because the category had become fashionable. It had to solve a genuine need and earn its place within the Iles Formula collection.

Hair can need deep nourishment and replenishment, but it can also need shine, frizz control, protection and polish without weight. Those are not the same thing — and I don't believe one formula should compromise itself trying to be everything.

So the answer wasn't one hair oil.

It was two: one to replenish, and one to perfect.

The Invisible Styling Oil is particularly personal to me because it is a formula I had dreamed of creating for years. In truth, for a long time I thought it might be impossible: a true oil that could deliver beautiful shine, velvety softness, frizz control and protection, yet virtually disappear into the hair - no grease, no coating, no weight.

But I did it. And here it is.

The Invisible Styling Oil is particularly personal to me because it is a formula I had dreamed of creating

for years. In truth, for a long time I thought it might be impossible: a true oil that could deliver beautiful

shine, velvety softness, frizz control and protection, yet virtually disappear into the hair - no grease, no

coating, no weight.

But I did it. And here it is.

I already have a feeling this little oil is on its way to becoming a cult Iles Formula formula. Even before its official launch, it has received its first extraordinary award recognition: 

Why Two Hair Oils Instead of One?

Treatment and styling are two entirely different needs.

One oil needed to replenish, nourish and treat the hair and scalp.

The other needed to style, protect, smooth and perfect the hair, while virtually disappearing into it.

That distinction became the foundation of two very different formulas:

Iles Formula Vitamin Treatment Oil and Iles Formula Invisible Styling Oil.

One replenishes. One perfects.

Iles Formula Vitamin Treatment Oil: The Treatment Oil

I think of our Vitamin Treatment Oil as my "ABCDE Oil."

This is the nourishing oil — a concentrated botanical infusion built around Vitamins A, B, C, D and E and created to replenish both the hair and scalp.

Its botanical oil blend includes Safflower, Argan, Sunflower, Apricot, Avocado, Grapeseed, Raspberry Extract and Pracaxi, alongside oil-soluble Vitamins C + E.

This is an oil you reach for when the hair needs nourishment, replenishment and care.

And importantly, a treatment oil does not need to be poured over the hair to perform. A little goes a very long way.

How to Use Vitamin Treatment Oil

It can also be used as an overnight scalp and hair treatment, allowing the botanical oils to replenish before shampooing.

One of my favourite ways to use it is to add a few drops directly to the Iles Formula Hair Mask when the hair needs a more intensive infusion of nourishment.

This transforms the mask into an even richer treatment ritual without changing the fundamental performance of the mask.

Apply just a few drops through the mid-lengths and ends when hair feels particularly dry or depleted.

Iles Formula Invisible Styling Oil: The Oil That Disappears

My second oil had to do something completely different.

I wanted a styling oil that gave me all the things I love as a hairstylist — shine, softness, frizz control, polish and protection — without leaving the hair feeling as though oil had been applied.

That was non-negotiable.

The Iles Formula Invisible Styling Oil was created to virtually disappear into the hair.

No greasy residue. No heavy coating. No sacrificing movement.

Its purpose isn't to make hair feel oiled.

Its purpose is to make hair look and feel beautifully finished.

How to Use Invisible Styling Oil

Use as the last step of a blow out using The Iles Formula Finishing Serum or a natural dry with Curl Revive Serum.

Apply through the ends or wherever you want to control frizz and add beautiful shine.

For me, this is where a modern styling oil should sit: almost invisible to the touch, but visible in the quality of the finished hair.

Treatment Oil vs Styling Oil: What's the Difference?

This is perhaps the most important distinction.

A treatment hair oil and a styling hair oil should not necessarily be expected to perform the same job.

The Iles Formula Vitamin Treatment Oil is about nourishment, replenishment and treatment.

The Iles Formula Invisible Styling Oil is about styling, protection, polish and weightless finish.

I don't believe in asking one formula to compromise itself by trying to be everything.

Sometimes two highly specific formulas simply perform better than one multipurpose product.

One replenishes. One perfects.

Why I Chose White Tea

There is another detail I particularly love about these oils.

Both carry our bespoke White Tea perfume — delicate, elegant and understated.

I wanted the fragrance to bloom gently with warmth: from the heat of a hairdryer, the movement of the hair, the warmth of a pillow or even sunshine.

It isn't designed to announce itself. It's designed to be discovered.

Why I Waited

I have never begun a formulation with the question, What category are we missing?

I begin with a much simpler question:

What does the hair actually need?

That philosophy has guided me throughout my career as a hairstylist and through every formula I have developed for Iles Formula.

There are already countless hair oils in the world. I didn't want to create another one unless I could resolve the things I had never liked about the category and give each formula a very clear reason for being.

So I waited.

And once I separated treatment from styling, everything made sense.

I hadn't been trying to formulate one hair oil.

I had been trying to solve two completely different hair needs.

I waited until I could create an oil that deserved to exist.

And in this case, the answer wasn't one, it was two.

Two oils. One disappears. One replenishes.