Snake Oil

[Palms]

Hi!
has anyone tried this?
i got this from a Pakistani shop, he said this is the best oil he knows..
i got one, it is said that it should be used once every 2 days at night.. it is supposed to add lengthen hair and so..

i apply it to the root and put coconut oil -sometimes other oil- to the rest of my hair i don't shampoo i do CO only, though i feel my hair feel little greasy!

who knows anything about "snake oil"?
is it save to oil the hair every other day?

[ChloeDharma]

Does it list ingredients? Or is it one of those "we are telling you its good, just take our word for it" type things?
I've not heard of it myself. But in principal yeah, its fine to oil your scalp and hair however often you want.

[Palms]

it is said in the ingredients that it contains: sesame oil and some herb -something called "fadel herb" or so...
it smells like sesame oil with some kind of incense..
i also remembered it is supposed to straighten the hair and make it soft and silky..

[SHELIAANN1969]

The only time I have ever heard the expression "snake oil" is when someone is trying to sell a concoction and sell it as a miracle tonic, like on the old western tv shows, John Wayne might run into someone who was selling sassafrass in a bottle, with some alcohol, and they would say it would cure all your ails, he would say, "oh theyre just sellin snake oil"

Thats too funny!!

I cant believe the dude would call it snake oil, I am ROFL here!!!

[ktani]

It sounds like a language problem, lol.

The store rep no doubt has no idea what the expression means in Western culture.

Or is the oil called that on the label? - in that case the exporters and company who makes the oil are in for a surprise if Western buyers talk to them and tell them about how that name would be interpreted.

Go by the ingredients - see if you can look them up.

[Delilah]

My first thought was 'aww, poor snakes.'
Yeah snake oil is an old term for a folk remedy of dubious effectiveness.
I say try it f you like the smell. It seems like fancy sesame oil, but different hairs like different oils.

But please do a patch test first.

[ChloeDharma]

Lush do a scalp bar called snake oil......but i think they mean it as referring to shedding skin, maybe?

Sesame oil is really good stuff so as long as there isn't any other oil (ie mineral) in there then i say go for it. It would be interesting to get an ingredient listing though.

[ktani]

Lush is definitely using the name "tongue in cheek" or humorously - here are the ingredients for their bar.
http://www.lushindia.com/lushProducts.php?cat_id=10&cat_name=Haircare&pro_id=157

A better description from their UK site
http://www.lush.co.uk/products/Snake_Oil_Scalp_Massage_Bar_1993.aspx

[spidermom]

Oh my goodness -- snake oil! haha I immediately thought of the time that our Burmese python slimed me with snake musk; talk about smell bad - whew! Did it ever!

After I finished washing my hair 3 times to get the smell out, it was certainly soft and silky, so who knows ... maybe snake musk is good for hair, too.

[ktani]

Ok - in all seriousness - I cannot stop smiling though - snake oil does have a legitimate Chinese medicinal history and it is quite possible that the expression as it is generally used came from Western ignorance and fraud - which is not funny in the least.

See "Possible vindication".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_oil

An article on snakes and Chinese medicine
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/snakes.htm

From a book on Snake Oil
http://www.hdlighthouse.org/see/immune/snakeoil.htm

http://www.elixa.com/silver/snakeoil.htm

Snake venom is used in Western medicine.

I am not smiling anymore - this is very interesting, IMO.

It still comes down to the ingredient list on the particular product.

[ktani]

"Snake oil medicine"

An article on the practice - not the oil - but a version of it is mentioned.
http://nzphoto.tripod.com/History/snake.html

[ktani]

An article from Scientific American, vindicating the original use of the oil by the Chinese and mentioning recent research on snake oil.
The oil is high in Omega-3's.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=snake-oil-salesmen-knew-something

One of the research articles mentioned on Erabu sea snake oil - date 2002
http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/ntr/article/PIIS0271531702004268/abstract

A more recent research article on Erabu sea snake lipids - date 2007
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17622788

And one dated 2008
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18202534?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

[Red Jezebel]

Who else thought of the BPAL scent of the same name? Now I've put that on my hair before... mmmm...

[ktani]

Palms

If there is snake oil in your oil, Erabu sea snake (Laticauda semifasciata) oil, it is good stuff IMO, and should not harm your hair or scalp in any way - it may actually help them.

[justmyself]

Who else thought of the BPAL scent of the same name? Now I've put that on my hair before... mmmm...

ME ME ME!!:D This is totally what I thought.

[Palms]

waaw! thanks ktani! i'm honored that you read my thread!
from what i understood the oil is named snake because it makes the hair like snakes..
i'm trying it now and i'll tell you when i finish it..

[ktani]

Palms

Thank you.

I found the whole thing to be an education and a huge surprise.

There is a more recent history of snake oil use.

A bit of that history
http://books.google.ca/books?id=80ERtB6qgGgC&pg=PT121&lpg=PT121&dq=japanese+sea+snake+products&source=web&ots=Sd7OkipdTm&sig=Dgk0-QxPI49PIzszf4lDw1A2NNQ&hl=en#PPA48,M1

Snake oil is considered to be a health food in Japan.
http://www.cababstractsplus.org/google/abstract.asp?AcNo=20043082913

I look forward to reading your results.

Could you post your oil's ingredients?

[squiggyflop]

around here when you say i bought snake oil it means you got conned into buying bacicly magic beans... i forget the story that goes with it though

[ktani]

squiggyflop

The history of how the expression came into being is futher back in the thread.

[squiggyflop]

squiggyflop

The history of how the expression came into being is futher back in the thread.
lol sorry i only skimmed the thread... lol:)

[ktani]

squiggyflop

No need to apologize - I approached this thread with humour too until I started digging - it is really interesting IMO, how ignorance of a valid traditional remedy wound up becoming an expression in North American culture.

[Nynaeve]

Oh my goodness -- snake oil! haha I immediately thought of the time that our Burmese python slimed me with snake musk; talk about smell bad - whew! Did it ever!

After I finished washing my hair 3 times to get the smell out, it was certainly soft and silky, so who knows ... maybe snake musk is good for hair, too.

That's too funny.

Interesting how language barriers and culture differences can lead to ... interesting results. :D