Jamaican Black Castor Oil - yay or nay?

missmanic

Hi all. Long time since I've been around the board. After continuous frustrations with my puff ball of a head, I've decided to give CG another go - and I *think* I may have found my HG ingredient.


I picked up Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Shampoo, Condish and Leave In Condish, as I've read it's lighter than other SM lines and might work for my fine hair. Well, my hair reacted amazingly right off the bat. I've gone back to CG safe gels and am determined to see if this is what my hair has needed all along.


For the record, my issue is lack of curl definition despite using every hard hold product under the sun. Parts of my hair were just puffing up like cotton.


SM also offers pure Jamaican Black Castor Oil.


What is the consensus on Castor Oil? I've been using Coconut Oil religiously since my Big Chop last spring, but it hasn't helped with my puffy issue.

BeinDeb

I have frog-hair fine, highly porous hair, and adore JBCO. I usually apply it when my hair's soaking wet, straight out of the shower & before applying any styling products. I smooth a bit on and then scrunch it in good. It seems to really help my hair retain moisture, as well as cutting down on the poof factor. For Spring/Summer, I mix it 50-50 with avacado oil.

MsSoftee

I am 3B or 3C with something like finer hair, but not too fine. I started using castor oil because I have thin eyebrows and heard that it might help with that (doesn't appear to) and now I use it on my hair and I like it a lot. I know some people can't use it, like I can't use coconut oil.

I mix it with avocado oil also. That's a good mix for a pre-poo condition. Today I used straight castor oil after my flax gel application, after a light clarifying shampoo and conditioning. It's still air drying (might take a while).

Brynhilde

Big yay for JBCO. I have 3B hair and mix it with coconut oil and lemon oil (for smell). Hair is even softer than before, looks thicker. Only downside is that the whole mix is a bit oily. I found when I divided my hair by sections, applied from near the root to the ends and airdry, the curls were well defined and shiny. Not so poofy looking