Castor oil is a popular oil used in many cosmetic products; it is the main ingredient in Jamaican hair oil. This oil has a wide range of cosmetic and medical purposes and it is made from castor seeds. It has a huge number of benefits and uses; some of the essential benefits of castor oil are promoting hair growth, skin moisturizing, and thickening of eyelashes. You may likely come across castor oil as one of the active ingredients in most of your household products; some of which include hair cream, shampoo, body cream, conditioners soaps, and disinfectants.
Table of Contents
What is castor oil
It is a thick and viscous pale yellow oil pressed from castor beans, this is made by toasting the beans on heat and then blending into a smooth paste. The blended paste is then mixed with water and boiled to allow the oil to flow on the surface. After that, the oil is scooped out leaving the water and residues.
This oil has some properties that make it very effective for treating digestive conditions. It is a source of ricinoleic acid and several other fatty acids which make it a useful skincare product particularly for the face.
Castor contains anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and moisturizing properties; because of these benefits, it can be applied topically on skin and hair.
Aside from the traditional castor oil, there is another form which is the Jamaican black castor oil, this has a different method of extraction. This is a secret ingredient for fast hair growth and has been proven to be very effective over the years.
Organic castor oil
Making pure organic castor oil will require organic castor beans; you can only be sure it is organic and pure castor oil if you make it yourself. To get your own organic castor oil, you will have to follow the steps below; these will give full knowledge of how to make organic castor oil at home.
The extraction of this oil is almost similar to the method of making virgin coconut oil and sesame oil at home, there is no special machine needed.
Also, watch the full video below on how to make this all-purpose oil
To make castor oil you will need castor seeds which is the main ingredient. making the oil at home will help you serve a lot of money. You will not only serve money but will at the same time end up with 100% organic castor oil which is not adulterated or has no additives and chemicals.
Benefits and uses
- Using castor oil as a massage oil for hair helps to promote longer and thicker hair growth. It stimulates the hair follicle to grow and trap in moisture into the scalp which provides you supple hair.
- This oil is good for skin problems such as dry skin, stretch marks, and many skin related problems and infections.
- The oil can be used to restore the natural moisture of your skin.
- When you apply this oil to wounds, it creates a moist environment that helps promote the healing of wounds; the oil also prevents sores from drying out.
- Castor oil has a large number of uses; it is used for the making of soap, shampoo, hair cream, lipsticks, paints, and for making disinfectants like Dettol.
To make this oil you will need
- 4 to 6 cups of castor seeds
- Bowls and fine strainer
- Blender, pot, and a spatula
- Water
How to make castor oil at home
Toasting the castor seeds
- Get your castor beans and peel to remove the seeds; then sundry to get them really dried.
- Bring the castor bean seeds into a pan and roast on medium heat at 140oC. When they are golden brown, take the see off from the heat.
- Spread the seeds out on a flat surface to cool down completely and to prevent the residual heat of the pan from burning them.
Blending the seeds
- After the seeds have cool down, place in a grinder or blender, and pulse into a very smooth paste.
- Add the castor seed paste to a wide pot or pan and add some water and mix to dissolve the paste. The paste should have a runny consistency.
- Place the content on heat and cook on medium heat; the heat will help loosen the oil from the thick paste.
- After 50 minutes to 1 hour later, remove the paste from heat and strain to remove the castor seed residues; but If your paste appears too thick, you can add more hot water and mix so that it will strain easily.
- Pour the runny paste into a container with a fitting lid and then place in the freezer for 3 hours. After that, remove the bowl from the freezer, you will notice the oil has separated from the paste and is floating at the surface.
- Use a large spoon to scoop the oil into a dish. make sure you are careful not to mix the oil back into the liquid
- The oil you have scooped out may contain a little bit of water, what you need to do is to pour it into a pan and place on heat so as to allow the remaining water to evaporate.
- Once the water has evaporated from the oil, and you are left with a pale yellow oil which is your castor oil. Transfer the oil into a storage bottle and seal the lid.
- You can use your homemade oil on your hair, face, eyelashes, and skin.