Castor Oil and thickness

[cataphract]

I recently decided I would see what castor oil did for my hair after reading that it helped with growth speed on some people. Well, 3 days later and I am no longer able to get a full wrap done on a bun AND tuck the ends in. I am pretty sure that I didn't cut my hair in my sleep, but is it possible that it added enough thickness (I've read some about castor oil plumping up hair fibers) that my near BSL length hair is just too 'fat' now?? :confused:

Back to clips for now I guess. I can't get enough hair wound around without really cranking down on it and making it tight to pull off a bun with a stick now!

[princessp]

I didn't know it plumped hairs, but it definitely grew mine! Well if it did thicken, welcome to the land of the thick haired folks. I'm at hip, and I still can't do a bunch of updos.

[virgo75]

Congratulations on your thicker hair. :)

How did you use the castor oil?

[girlcat36]

I would like to know exactly how you used it, too! :)

[breezefaerie]

Yes, please share!

[cataphract]

Well, my hair was already a iii... so... *more* thickness wasn't really what I was after, but not necessarily a bad thing.

I put, in the bottom of one of those pyrex type 1 cup measuring cups, a mm or so of castor oil and added another mm or so of grapeseed oil to thin it out. To that I added 1 tsp or so of aloe gel.

Scientific, I know.

Then I stirred it and coated my fingers with it and wormed my fingers in against my scalp under my hair (easier to start from the nape and travel forward). I did that for about half an hour until all the oil was up there without adding any to the length on purpose. I left it on for about an hour and then rinsed in very diluted baking soda water and followed up with a lemon water rinse. The morning I rinsed the rest of the way with a stronger baking soda dilution and another lemon rinse and braided it for half the day, let it down to dry a little more and then back into one big fat braid.

I probably should have realized something happened then, but I didn't realize I couldn't put up a bun anymore until I tried it today.


Maybe my hair was just REALLY dry?

[cataphract]

I didn't know it plumped hairs, but it definitely grew mine! Well if it did thicken, welcome to the land of the thick haired folks. I'm at hip, and I still can't do a bunch of updos.

lol good to know that I'm not alone! I guess I'll be doing a lot more dutch/lace/french braiding for a while.:)

[BeccaAngel]

can it hurt your hair in anyway? i have thinner hair myself, would love to try something to thicken it

[cataphract]

can it hurt your hair in anyway? i have thinner hair myself, would love to try something to thicken it

Not that I'm aware of, unless of course you're allergic to castor beans. Some lighter haired folks mentioned that it might make your hair appear darker, but then some didn't also. My hair seemed somewhat darker for a day or so, but my hair always looks darker when damp or oiled.

[bunzfan]

I recently decided I would see what castor oil did for my hair after reading that it helped with growth speed on some people. Well, 3 days later and I am no longer able to get a full wrap done on a bun AND tuck the ends in. I am pretty sure that I didn't cut my hair in my sleep, but is it possible that it added enough thickness (I've read some about castor oil plumping up hair fibers) that my near BSL length hair is just too 'fat' now?? :confused:

Back to clips for now I guess. I can't get enough hair wound around without really cranking down on it and making it tight to pull off a bun with a stick now!

Its funny you should have this happen to you as the same thing happened to me last night. Now my hair isn't exactly thin its probably of medium thickness and as the caster oil was sitting in my cupboard i thought i would give it a go, i used pure virgin caster oil just on my length and braided it and went to bed and this morning my hair seems twice as thick:D i don't know how hard it will be to wash out though.

[EmiliaF]

I just read on the german wikipedia that castor oil is often used against scars and dandruff because one of its properties is that it penetrates spaces between cells easily... so that must be why hair gets thicker after using it.

Could you please let us know if it was difficult to get it out or if it made your hair look greasy?

[soapstone]

I've used it with a mascara brush on my eyelashes.
My eyelashes grew thicker, but it was over a few months time.

[Becky Safari]

How very interesting, I've been on the search for thickening agents and will have to give this one a try

[princessp]

I hope you don't mind cataphract, I'm going to post my experience here too. I did not find the castor oil to be greasy, but my hair doesn't really have the tendency to get greasy. I've cut it with both jojoba and coconut just depending on what is closest to me at the time :) . I have used it the same way as cataphract, pour some in my palms with a little bit of the other oil and massage it into my scalp with my fingertips (no scientific measurements for me either). Sometimes I've used it straight, but it is very sticky. I don't really use it on my length since my length seems to love both jojoba and coconut oils (so I save the castor for my scalp). Washing it out I use a CWC method and have never had a problem.

I don't know about thickness, but I definitely got growth (see my album Nov-Dec pictures to see how much). If you look at these two pictures you'll see that they are not even one month apart! So I am not surprised cataphract, you got some visible differences in a few days. I don't want to over-inflate the values of it, but it seemed to work wonder for me too.

[cataphract]

I hope you don't mind cataphract, I'm going to post my experience here too. I did not find the castor oil to be greasy, but my hair doesn't really have the tendency to get greasy. I've cut it with both jojoba and coconut just depending on what is closest to me at the time :) . I have used it the same way as cataphract, pour some in my palms with a little bit of the other oil and massage it into my scalp with my fingertips (no scientific measurements for me either). Sometimes I've used it straight, but it is very sticky. I don't really use it on my length since my length seems to love both jojoba and coconut oils (so I save the castor for my scalp). Washing it out I use a CWC method and have never had a problem.

I don't know about thickness, but I definitely got growth (see my album Nov-Dec pictures to see how much). If you look at these two pictures you'll see that they are not even one month apart! So I am not surprised cataphract, you got some visible differences in a few days. I don't want to over-inflate the values of it, but it seemed to work wonder for me too.

Of course I don't mind! :)

Since I don't use conventional products it was little more difficult for me to do, but not impossible. Since I'm trying not to 'over-do' my hair with washes I got about 60% of it out with my first rinse and then braided it until the next time I washed it. The last of it was out with my second wash. I could tell because my hair was no longer dark the way it is when it's oily or wet.


Its funny you should have this happen to you as the same thing happened to me last night. Now my hair isn't exactly thin its probably of medium thickness and as the caster oil was sitting in my cupboard i thought i would give it a go, i used pure virgin caster oil just on my length and braided it and went to bed and this morning my hair seems twice as thick:D i don't know how hard it will be to wash out though.

Cool! :D I was really surprised at how thick it made my hair and I wasn't even aiming for it.