This is how you can use castor oil for long, luscious, and healthy hair

‘Tis the season of dry, damaged hair—thanks to the moisture-deprived, chilly weather and well—the centrally heated rooms that are just about enough to suck whatever little oil and moisture left!

But we’ve found the perfect solution to this problem—one that won’t just help your hair regain its lost glory, but will also boost your hair growth. No points for guessing, we’re talking about castor oil. 

“Castor oil contains fatty acids, oleic acid, and linoleic acid, as well as vitamin E, minerals, and protein,” explains Shahnaz Husain, founder, chairperson, and managing director, The Shahnaz Husain Group, India.

“Hence, it can nourish the hair follicles and promote hair growth. In fact, it can even improve the texture of your hair as well as its colour if your hair’s damaged by the sun,” she adds.

To add to that, castor oil has anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties, which can benefit dry, itchy, and flaky scalp conditions too according to Husain.

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But how can you bask in the hair benefits of castor oil? Husain reveals the right way of using this wonder oil:

1. Mix it with other oils
Castor oil is a thick and viscous oil, so mixing it with other oils may make it easier for you to apply and spread it throughout the hair evenly. It can be mixed with lighter oils like olive oil, sesame seed (til) oil, sunflower oil or coconut oil. In fact, since each of these oils have their own hair conditioning benefits, applying a concoction is only goes to help your precious mane.

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2. Heat it up before using
Warm castor oil before application to ensure better absorption. This will also help loosen dandruff flakes and other build-up on the scalp–allowing your roots to breathe and grow better.

3. Give castor oil some time to weave its magic Ideally, you should allow castor oil to sit on your scalp and in your hair for at least for half an hour. In fact, you can even leave it on overnight, washing it the next morning. This will give the oil ample time to do its work.

4. Ditch refined castor oil for its cold pressed version
When you set out to buy castor oil, lay your hands on a bottle of cold-pressed castor oil instead of its refined version. Cold-pressed oils retain more nutrients, and hence, are more beneficial.