Anyone ever hear of castor oil destroying hair?

Irish Guitarist

First I'll start off by saying I'm male so maybe 'beauty' isn't the right forum but I'm not sure where else to put this.

In around October of 2015 I started growing a beard. At the time I heard about the benefits of Jamaican black castor oil for hair growth. The idea is to rub this oil in your beard (or hair), leave it on for forty minutes or so and wash it off in the shower. I bought a bottle and it did nothing so I just forgot about it.

A few months later I had let my beard grow naturally and it was a little over an inch long. I didn't need to do anything to keep my beard in shape but for some reason I decided to try the castor oil again. I used it every morning for about a week. One day I used far too much. I washed it off in the shower and it seemed okay for the rest of the day. However the next day I woke to find my beard in a terrible state. It felt rock hard and matted with needle-like hairs sticking out of this matted mess.

I washed it thinking there was some castor oil left but I couldn't fix it. I spent the next few weeks trying to repair the damage with hair conditioner but finally shaved it off. I immediately let it regrow but after about three weeks it became apparent it wasn't going to grow back properly. I tried shaving and letting it regrow again but the same thing happened. Eventually I shaved and kept my face shaved for three months before trying again. I've now been growing it since early February. My beard still refuses to grow properly and is still in a terrible state.

I've asked for advice on a couple of forums. No one will believe me about this but I'm absolutely 100% certain the castor oil destroyed by beard permanently. My beard was almost as soft as the hair on my head before I used the castor oil. The texture changed overnight after using it. I also applied far too much in certain areas and those are the areas that are damaged. My sideburns feel soft while the hair under my chin feels like straw. This isn't just normal beard coarseness. It barely feels like human hair. I was happier about my appearance with a beard but it's becoming apparent I'll never be able to grow one again and am going to have to shave it off for good.

Has anyone ever come across castor oil doing permanent damage to hair? If not beard hair has anyone tried using this on their head and had negative results? As I said I can't find anyone to believe me that new hair is growing back damaged nor can I find any information about this online.

Airyfairy12

We all react to products differently, castor oil wasn't suited you.. maybe you had an allergic reaction? or it did something to your hair follicles.

wordofwarning

I find it hard to believe. Women use bleaching products which often destroy the texture of their hair, but the new growth is healthy. People of African origin use relaxer, which is the same chemicals as drain clear to remove the kink in their hair. Yet the new growth of their hair is the same as prior to relaxer.

Castor oil is just vegetable oil. It is completely safe to put on your hair.

It seems a bit far fetched that a product's millions use suddenly resulted in damage to your beard after using it one day

retro:electro

It's unusual alright, but I remember reading something similar except it had happened to a girl when she put it on her eyebrows.

https://www.google.ie/amp/www.marieclaire.com/beauty/news/amp22831/castor-oil-eyebrow-loss/

There must be something in it that made you react.

Leonela765

no i have't heard about castor oil destroying or damaging hair i have been using castor oil since last week.

It seems unlikely that castor oil could have had an effect on the hair yet to grow or somehow mutated your hair follicles. It might have wrecked the original hair but I think whatever is going on now is down to some other factor. What else have you changed in your diet or lifestyle, or are you using a new product on your face/beard?

zapper55

I've used castor oil on my eyebrows and lashes on and off for 4 years as its the active ingredient in those pricey brow grow products. All it's done is improve them.

WiseOldOwl

zapper55 wrote: »

I've used castor oil on my eyebrows and lashes on and off for 4 years as its the active ingredient in those pricey brow grow products. All it's done is improve them.

Does it help grow your lashes? Those serums are so expensive but I was thinking of getting one as lashes so short. Someone did mention castor oil before to me.

zapper55

I think it made mine thicker but considering how cheap it is, no harm in trying it.

blurtle

For softening the hair and perhaps recovering from this prickly mess described, olive oil applied sparingly may be better.

Alex4114

Castor oil works very well for hair. Especially the eyelashes. You may be allergic to some of the ingredients.

ShatterProof

Maybe op used castrol gtx instead of caster oil

bo0li5eumx12kp

https://www.bustle.com/p/11-things-to-know-about-castor-oil-before-you-add-it-to-your-beauty-routine-7076432

It is documented, some folk have lost their eyebrows.

Thought to be from additives to the castor oil.

Article recommends organic oil free of additives.

ILoveYourVibes

I would never use castor oil on hair ...the texture is so ...sticky...and its generally low quality.

bo0li5eumx12kp

I actually found many oils need to be mixed with a base oil for delivery.

Emu oils seem popular but coconut oil is so readily available, gives a good clear overtone (unlike olive oil = yellow), and smells okay.

Basically just mix a few drops of the treatment oil (lavender, rosemary, castor etc), with the base/delivery oil = easy to apply, great results.

I did this with the Castor oil which when applied raw is unmanageable, and now I'm reasonably confident it can replace other styling products as the consistency gives great hold.

.....

Some reports of castor oil are concerning, but I got a reputable brand organic oil off amazon and thus far (two days in), nothing too extreme to report.

Ordered some lavender and rosemary oil also, 10 ml bottles for mixing with the base oil cause, data on them suggesting they can have similar efficacy to minoxidil for hair thickening - yeah, I just gotta try them.

Sugar_Rush

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5596646/

Abstract

Acute hair felting is a rare disorder of scalp hair. In this condition, the hair becomes twisted, entangled as a hard stony mass resembling a bird's nest. Sudden hair matting has been reported earlier in the literature after vigorous use of chemical and herbal shampoos. Plica polonica is a patchy area of hair matting occurring in due course of time in neglected hair or underlying psychiatric illness. This case is interesting as the whole scalp hair matted immediately after using coconut oil and castor oil following washing. Growing long hair and taking oil bath are cultural and religious customs in South India. The high viscosity of castor oil and long hair had contributed to sudden felting of hair. This disorder of hair is irreversible and the hair should be cut off. Acute nature of this disorder will result in a serious psychological impact on the patient and the family.