Roghan Baiza Murgh (Egg Yolk Oil): Use, Smell and What to Expect
Roghan baiza murgh (anday ka tel, egg yolk oil) is the fat cooked out of hard boiled egg yolks, sold in small dark bottles by Hamdard and made at home by people who’ve watched a video and regretted it. It is a conditioning hair oil with an old reputation, a strong smell, and no evidence behind the regrowth claims on the box.
Before you buy or make it
- English: egg yolk oil, egg oil
- Urdu/Hindi: roghan baiza murgh, rogan baiza murgh, anday ka tel; Unani: Roghan-e-Baiza-e-Murgh
- What it is: the lipid of hen’s egg yolk (Gallus domesticus), pulled out by heat or, in factories, by solvent
- Sold as: 25 ml and 50 ml bottles, scalp use only
- Honest outlook: softer, shinier hair; not regrowth, not reversal of grey
- Safety flags: egg allergy, kitchen burns and smoke if made at home, goes rancid fast
Prefer to listen? This post as a 1 min video · Watch the video
What roghan baiza murgh actually is
An egg yolk is about a third fat, and if you cook yolks long enough that fat leaks out as a dark oil. Unani, and several other old systems including Chinese medicine, collected it for skin and hair. The modern Hamdard product lists egg yolk as its ingredient and is sold for hair fall, premature greying and “density”.
The fat itself is ordinary: mostly oleic and palmitic acids, a lot of cholesterol, the phospholipids (lecithin) that make yolk such a good emulsifier, the yellow pigment, and whatever the heat has done to all of it. Pan made egg oil is brown to black and smells burnt. Much of the lecithin and the vitamins the marketing talks about don’t survive the charring.
Factory oil can be different. A 2016 paper in Molecules compared ways of getting oil out of yolk and found the heat methods (dry distillation, baking) gave oil that was “brown and disgusting” to smell, while solvent extraction gave orange, egg fragrant oil. Which kind is in your bottle depends on the maker, and labels rarely say.
How it’s traditionally made, and why people stop after once
The traditional method is honest about its own drawbacks, which the videos aren’t.
- Hard boil 6 to 12 eggs for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool, peel, and separate the yolks.
- Crumble the yolks into a dry, heavy pan on the lowest flame. Stir without stopping.
- Over 30 to 60 minutes the crumbs go from yellow to brown to nearly black and begin to release a dark oil. The pan smokes heavily for most of that time.
- Press the blackened mass through a cloth or sieve while warm. A dozen yolks give roughly a tablespoon or two of oil.
- Pour into a small glass bottle and refrigerate.
Two things happen every time. The kitchen fills with acrid smoke that clings to curtains for days, and the oil carries a burnt, sulphurous smell that no amount of straining removes, because the smell is chemistry, not dirt. It’s in the oil. People who try this once rarely do it twice.
The step that actually matters: the fridge, not the pan
Whether you buy it or make it, keep egg yolk oil in the fridge, lid tight, and use it within a couple of months. Yolk lipid is rich in cholesterol and unsaturated fats that oxidise fast at room temperature, and rancid egg oil smells worse than fresh and can irritate the scalp. If a bottle smells sharp and paint like rather than eggy and burnt, it’s gone. Chilling slows this; nothing reverses it. And know what the fridge can’t do: it won’t take the burnt smell out of pan made oil. That smell is permanent. The only egg oil that smells of egg rather than char is solvent extracted factory oil, which you can’t make at home.
What it does for hair, honestly
Unani texts class egg yolk as moist and nourishing, and its oil as a muqawwi (strengthener) for hair roots and a remedy for dryness and early greying. Grandmothers used whole yolk as a hair mask for the same reason, and the oil was the “concentrated” version for people who didn’t want egg in their hair.
What people say
Thicker hair in weeks, bald patches filling in, grey hair turning dark, “hair growth oil”. The Hamdard box and the resellers lean on all of these.
Our honest take Depends on the goal
As a conditioner, egg yolk oil is fine. It’s a fatty, slightly waxy oil that coats the hair shaft, so hair feels softer and looks shinier after washing out, the same way most oils do. If you like the ritual of oiling and can live with the smell, nobody will be harmed.
As a regrowth or anti grey product, there’s nothing. Medical News Today’s reviewed overview of egg yolk for hair puts it plainly: no research has shown egg yolk application reduces hair loss or promotes new growth. The study quoted in sales copy used water soluble yolk peptides, not oil, mostly in mice, and the rat burn study people also cite used solvent extracted oil on third degree burns, which says nothing about hair on a human scalp.
Hair fall has causes, and oil doesn’t touch most of them. Our herbal hair oil vs alopecia page explains how to tell ordinary shedding from a pattern that needs a dermatologist, and the hair fall home remedies post covers what a sensible oiling routine can and can’t do.
How to use the Hamdard bottle
The label is simple and worth following rather than improving on.
- Patch test first: a drop on the inner arm, covered, for 48 hours. Any redness or itch means don’t use it.
- Amount: enough to dampen the scalp, usually a teaspoon or two for medium length hair. Work it in with fingertips for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Time: about an hour, then shampoo. Overnight is traditional but gains nothing and stains pillows; one hour is enough for any hair oil.
- Frequency: the label suggests twice a week. More often just means more washing.
- Storage: fridge after opening, despite the “below 30 °C” on the box, and finish the bottle within two or three months.
Read the bottle, too. A real Hamdard pack carries the company name, a batch number and date, and a DRAP enlistment number in Pakistan or the AYUSH licence in India, and the oil inside should be dark brown and thick. Pale yellow and odourless? Probably not egg oil.
Egg allergy is the first stop: egg yolk oil on the scalp can cause itching, hives or swelling in people allergic to eggs, and anyone with a known egg allergy should skip it. It’s for external use only; never swallow it and never use it as cooking oil, however it’s labelled. Keep it out of eyes and off broken or infected skin. Home extraction means an hour of smoke and a pan of blackened fat: burns, a smoke filled kitchen and a scorched pan are the usual results, and children should be out of the room. Rancid oil irritates; if it smells sharp and painty, bin it. It’s animal derived, which matters to vegetarians. In pregnancy and breastfeeding, scalp use of a food derived oil is generally considered low risk, but a patch test still applies. Sudden hair loss in patches, hair coming out with scalp pain or scaling, or hair fall with tiredness, heavy periods or weight change needs a doctor and blood tests, not an oil.
Roghan baiza murgh questions people search
How to use Hamdard roghan baiza murgh?
Massage a teaspoon or two into the scalp for 5 to 10 minutes, leave it about an hour, then shampoo. The label suggests twice a week. Patch test on the inner arm for 48 hours before the first use, and keep the bottle in the fridge once opened.
Roghan baiza murgh benefits for hair?
Softer, shinier, less frizzy hair after washing out, like most conditioning oils. Claims of regrowth, thicker density or reversing grey have no human evidence behind them, so judge it as a conditioner, not a treatment.
Anday ka tel kaise banaen?
By crumbling hard boiled yolks into a dry pan on a very low flame and stirring for up to an hour until they blacken and weep oil, then straining. Expect heavy smoke, a permanent burnt smell in the oil and only a tablespoon or two from a dozen eggs. Most people buy it instead.
Why does egg oil smell burnt?
Because heat extraction chars the yolk proteins and sulphur compounds, and those smells dissolve into the oil. Research comparing extraction methods found heat made oils “brown and disgusting” while solvent extraction gave orange, egg scented oil. Straining and chilling don’t remove the burnt smell.
Is egg yolk oil good for hair growth?
There’s no clinical evidence that it grows hair. Egg yolk oil conditions the hair you have. Hair fall with a visible pattern, patches or scalp changes needs a dermatologist, and nutritional causes need blood tests, not oil.
Can egg oil cause allergy?
Yes, in people allergic to eggs, with itching, redness, hives or swelling on the scalp or face. Anyone with an egg allergy should avoid it, and everyone else should do a 48 hour patch test first.
Does roghan baiza murgh stop grey hair?
No. Greying comes from pigment cells in the follicle slowing down, mostly with age and genetics, and no oil applied to the scalp changes that. Dyes and henna change the colour of hair already grown; that’s a different page.
How long does roghan baiza murgh last?
Sealed, until the date on the box. Opened, treat it like a fresh fat: fridge, tight lid, and use within two to three months. A sharp, painty smell replacing the eggy burnt one means it has gone rancid.
Is Hamdard roghan baiza murgh real egg oil?
Hamdard lists egg yolk as the ingredient, and the oil is dark and thick as you’d expect. Check for the batch number, date and DRAP or AYUSH number on the pack, and be wary of pale, odourless “egg oils” from unknown sellers.
Bottom line
Roghan baiza murgh is egg yolk fat cooked out of hard boiled yolks. Known: it conditions hair, smells burnt if heat made, and goes rancid fast. Tradition: strengthens roots and delays grey. Uncertain: whether any of the yolk’s useful parts survive the pan. Main safety issue: egg allergy, and the smoke and burns of making it at home. For the rest of the hair oil world, start at the Hair Care hub.
Sources
- Wu P et al. Assessment of egg yolk oil extraction methods for ShiZhenKang oil. Molecules, 2016
- Rastegar F et al. The effect of egg yolk oil in the healing of third degree burn wound in rats. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, 2011
- Medical News Today: Egg yolk for hair, benefits and how to use it (medically reviewed, updated July 2023)
- Hamdard Roghan Baiza Murgh Oil 50 ml listing: ingredient, directions and storage