Product Review: Jamaican Black Castor Oil (JBCO)

Tropic Isle Living Jamaican Black Castor Oil

Ingredients: Pure Jamaican Black Castor Oil

Use: Hot Oil Treatment: Warm 3 tablespoons of the castor oil and massage into hair then put on heating cap for a half hour OR massage castor oil into hair, put on heating cap and sit under dryer for 10min. For Skin: Massage into skin to moisturize dry skin and to help relieve common skin problems. For Aches and Pains: Warm and massage into areas of discomfort for instant soothing. TIP: For added moisture: Add 3 tablespoons to a deep conditioner to add and seal in moisture for dry, permed and colored hair once a week.

How I have used JBCO: As a sealant after LOC method as well as directly on the scalp for spot treatments (on edges and nap where there is visual hair loss)

Traditional Use:  As a hair and scalp conditioner; skin moisturizer and healer; massage oil for aches, pains, fibroids and lumps in the breasts; a powerful laxative, and used as a first aid for cuts, wounds and burns. Jamaican Black Castor Oil is also an ancient healing oil that has been used for thousands of years as a folk remedy to grow and maintain the hair, for skin ailments, aches and pains, as a laxative and as a hair conditioner. It originated in Africa and made its way to Jamaica via African slaves.

Rating: 5 (out of 5)

Hair Type: 4C

Length: mid back/bra strap length

Review

Positive: Jamaican Black Castor Oil (JBCO) is fantastic! I have been using it for about 3 years after a friend from Maryland sent me a bottle. After reading reviews and learning how to use it, i discovered its wonderful abilities when I experienced some hair loss after having my oldest daughter. It is the BEST sealant (other than Shea Butter). It is thick enough that it will seal well yet thin enough that it doesn't require melting or preheating to experience its qualities. it is all natural and derived from a vegetable so it gives good nutrients to the hair. It is also a good scalp oil. JBCO also promotes hair growth. I put it on my edges and with constant TLC and a little massaging, it promoted an increase in hair growth in those shorter spots. Luckily, JBCO can now be found at many hair stores in our area. I also use it on my children as a sealant on freshly washed hair. JBCO is awesome!! It is a good oil to mix with other lighter more popular oils like olive oil, jojoba oil and coconut oil. Because a little goes a long way, the 8oz bottle will last for several months...my first bottle lasted about a year after sharing a few ounces with some friends. Although it has an earthy smell, Tropic Isle Living has begun to infuse some smells in the JBCO like Lavender and Coconut to reduce that not so pleasant smell.

Negative: JBCO is a very thick, strong smelling oil. It is very "earthy" and not very clean smelling. When it is mixed with other oils, the scent is usually downplayed. JBCO is also a little more on the expensive side of my ideal for hair products. 4oz is $6.99 while the larger 8oz bottle is $10.99 on the Tropic Isle Living website. At most retail stores, it is about $2.00 more for each size bottle. JBCO is also thick. It it not the typical texture of oils for the hair. It can also cause an itchy scalp which has been a complaint of users. This is due to the toxins being removed from the scalp. 

There isn't a lot of negatives for this product as I think it is fantastic at being a good staple item for sealing and providing extra nutrients to the hair. As a hot oil treatment, scalp treatment or a sealant, JBCO is a must have in my products....and ya'll know I'm a junky!! 

What are some qualities you look for in an oil? 

Wash Day......HURAAYYY!!

I was once told I was a "hair guru." Not sure how I feel about that but I do know that I have battled, loved and struggled with this head of hair and for this moment, I feel like I may have let it down. For now. Because in a few short months, I will have to redo my routine to battle the death grip of the southern summer!! 

But for now, here is my wash routine!!

Typically, I don't wash my hair weekly -- I know...Natural Hair blasphemy!!

 I recently challenged myself (I didn't want to call it a New Year's Resolution but it kinda was) to be more proactive and do a weekly wash day...with two small children, a spoiled dog and a husband, that hasn't happened just yet. I have, however, ventured into some new products and I hope it will give me a little more enthusiasm about washing my hair weekly!!

1. Rinse hair with lukewarm water. 

2. I usually wash my hair with either Shea Moisture Curl and Shine Shampoo OR a black soap bar. I suffer from extremely dry skin on my scalp and these have been the ones that work best for me. Neither have any sulfates or parabens and contain all natural products. I typically wash only once...both of these make a rich lather and once is usually enough (unless I have been super slack and I need a little more "suds" to clean my scalp). As a part of my New Year's resolution to wash my hair on a more regular basis, I also will be incorporating co-washing into my routine. I will have to save that for another blog post as that can spark quite the debate!!

3. I try not to rub my hair too much to help prevent tangles and fairy knots. T-shirt drying and patting with paper towels can help with that as well. I squeeze as much excess water off my hair as possible because I don't like sopping wet hair when I'm trying to add conditioner. 

**As you can tell, I do not use a conditioner in my routine. Because I use the LOCS method, I didn't see a need for it BUT (as you will see at the end of the post), I will begin to incorporate one pretty soon to see if my results are different. 

4. I have been using the LOCS method religiously lately and I LOVE it. LOCS method (if you don't know) is a method that is meant to retain moisture. L=liquid, O=oil, C=cream based moisturizer, S=sealant. Here is my list for the LOCS method:

L=Creme of Nature Argon Oil Leave in Conditioner

O=Coconut and Olive Oil (I use any kind but I made a trip to Trader Joe's right before Christmas and stocked up)

            

C=Aunt Jackie's Knot on My Watch Instant Detangling Therapy 
Once I add this to my hair and comb it out, i will section it off into 6 sections, twisting each section, to make it easier to manage. I recommend always separating your hair into sections that you can work with. Many people will say 4 sections but sometimes that can be overwhelming and difficult to manage...especially in the back of your head that you can't even see!! 

S=Shea butter with Jamaican Black Castor Oil, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil and Vegetable Glycerin

*I melt them all down and mix them together for sealant as well as to promote hair growth. I use the vegetable glycerin in the winter mostly to add moisture to my hair because the dry winter air tends to make my hair drier than in summer months when the humidity is much higher. I add this to each section and saturate my ends with most of it. 

           

I focus on my ends a lot when I put on sealant. The ends of the hair is the oldest part of the hair so they need lots of TLC to prevent breakage and split ends. 

5. Since you already have your hair sectioned off and twisted in chunky twists (which can dry into a style itself), you can go an many different directions. Many times, I go for protective styling because it saves me a lot of time in the long run. My go to style is the two strand twist and I have recently ventured into learning the three strand twist that offers more definition to my curls. I don't add a lot of product and I have recently begun using As I Am Twist Defining Cream and it is AMAZING for definition. Since I already have my hair sectioned off, I typically will just break those sections down a little more and do either a two strand or a three strand twist for a couple of days and take it down after it has completely dried. And yes, it can take a couple of DAYS for my hair to dry!! I also use a little Ecostyler gel with Olive Oil for a a little more hold on my twists. Oh yeah, and get a small color application bottle from your local beauty supply store and put some oil in it to oil your scalp...just a quick run through will go a long way. A little scalp massage will also wake up those nerve ends and can promote healthy hair growth!! 

    

This is just my routine (for now) that has been working well for me. Like I mentioned before, I am a slacker at washing my hair...it can get bad ya'll!! I'm working on it though...

Stay tuned...I have also just recently purchased a Trader Joe's conditioner that I will be adding to his regimen as well. 

Dry Winter Hair Remedy: LOC Method?

For years, I had a love hate relationship with my hair.

On wash day, seeing my coily hair pop thanks to a great shampoo and conditioner: LOVE.

On Day 2, suffering with angry, parched hair that looks like a Brillo pad: HATE.

It took forever for me to realize that I wasn't adopting a method of moisture retention. Deep conditioning - for my hair anyway - is not enough to maintain moisture. If only you knew how many times I wanted to just hack all my hair off or go back to perms out of sheer frustration over this issue!

It wasn't until I came across the LOC method that my life was forever changed… 

So What Is LOC? 

L: Liquid

O: Oil

C: Cream

The concept is that you wash and condition your hair. Your hair is wet, so you'll sop up all that natural liquid moisture by sealing your hair with an oil. The oil helps those pesky water molecules stick to the hair shaft, apparently. And to be totally sure that that moisture ain't going nowhere, let's throw in a cream or a butter. It may sound excessive but for those of us with thick, porous hair this works….WONDERS.

For the winter, I've been sticking to a specific regimen and have been quite pleased with the approach. For my liquid, I rely on water and an effective leave-In conditioner like Biotera Moisturizing Leave In (Yea, it's the cheap stuff from Sally's Beauty Supply). I top that off with virgin olive oil and then finish it all off with a Shea Butter concoction I made with shea butter, coconut oil and aloe vera gel. I two-strand twist with this recipe and let it dry overnight.

By the next morning I have naturally shiny (not oily) hair. Each day after that I repeat the LOC method, I just don't use nearly as much product just a little bit for retouching. 

The LOC Method worked for me, but what do you do to combat dry winter hair? And what's been your experience with the LOC Methods? 

About the Author

Jessica is a co-founder of Naturally Fly Wilmington. When she's not blogging, she's working as a fashion stylist or trying to assess the status of her hair.

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