**REVIEW** Majestic Pure Pale Pressed Castor Oil

Yes, I know. I just did a castor oil review a couple days ago. That was for what's called a "cold pressed" castor oil. This is for a "pale pressed" castor oil. Specifically, this one:

                    Majestic Pure's 100% Pure Castor Oil (cold pressed & hexane-free)

I have to admit that, before now, I never paid attention to the different oil "pressings". What I did notice immediately when I got this pale pressed oil is that it's so much thinner in texture.

When I saw just how thin this was, I worried that it wouldn't be a "good" castor oil. Except for Jamaican Black Castor Oil (BJCO), all the castor oils I've used have been either thick or super thick. This one was as thin as table syrup. I love me some Majestic Pure, as you guys know, but I was trying to give this item the side eye at first!

Because I was curious about this (and the color, which is a yellow-ish hue), I went looking for info. All I could come up with was that different "pressings" produce differences in oils.

Okay.

To be honest, I really only care the most about whether this would be moisturizing. It is, and the good thing about it's thinner texture is that it makes a great skin moisturizer.

Thick castor oil (like the one I just recently fell in love with) is great for dealing with hair and skin at it's driest. Because a thick oil is heavier, it takes more time for it to absorb. What I learned using this thinner oil is that it's easier to apply on my skin in place of lotion because it absorbs much faster. It still does a the job of moisturizing my skin (and holding in more hydration from, say a shower or bath).

When I applied this to my hands, it only took a couple of minutes before it was absorbed and I could touch paper without staining it. Cool.

I decided that there's a place for both types of oils in my routine. Still, I wanted to understand more about this whole "cold vs pale" pressing thing. I'm no expert, so take what I learned with a few grains of salt:

• Cold pressing leaves the oil more "virgin" because there's no heat used in the process.
• Pale pressed oil has a lower acidity. Pale pressed oil is from the first pressing of the castor bean.
• (source for info includes this specific page)

Um, that's about all I learned! Sorry. Hahaha...

If any of you know more about the subject, be sure to fill me in. 

For now, I am loving this oil. I like the fact that I can apply this to my hands and the rest of my body just before I get dressed. I like that it absorbs almost like a lotion (I just need to fill a small bottle to fit in my purse and gym bag), and most of all, I like that it really does work.

One warning: Don't over-apply. Just because this is thinner, I went a little overboard when I put some on my hair. My body heat begin to warm the oil and I had it dripping down my neck! A little bit goes a looong way, trust me.

Again, I have to say that I've used quite a few products from Majestic Pure by now. They seem to be a real stand-up brand and they do stand behind their products. By the way, this castor oil, other than being "pale pressed" is also hexane free.  There is a 100% refund guarantee.

Peace
--Free


Disclosure: 
In exchange for providing my fair and honest review, I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using AMZ Review Trader. Regardless, I only review products that I have personally used and can give an opinion of.

**REVIEW** Organic Castor Oil from Cammile Q

Sometimes, I have a brand reach out for me to try something because they read the blog and know what sorts of products I like reviewing. This was the case with this:

That's a 100% Organic Castor Oil from Cammile Q.

You guys know that I have tried a couple of different castor oils. I've mainly been using Jamaican Black Castor Oil (JBCO)  - which I sometimes call BJCO or Black Jamaican Castor Oil!

"Regular" or JBCO, when it comes to whatever kind, there is a big difference in castor oils.

What I like so much about this one is that I can use it in a lot of different ways. There is no odor or fragrance so I feel more confident about using it to extend the scent on perfumes and the fragrance oils I wear as perfumes. (I'll get into the specifics of that in a moment.)

This one is very, very thick. Love that. I had tried another castor oil that was super thick, but it did have a sticky or "tacky" feel to it. I didn't mind that when using it on my hair or on my feet, but it wasn't as nice when trying to moisturize all over after a shower.

My original intended use for the Cammile Q castor oil was as an eyelash/eyebrow moisturizer. It's only been a few days, but I can't wait to see how this works down the road. What I did was take one of the wands from an empty mascara, cleaned it really well and stored it in a plastic baggie. Now I use it to apply the castor oil to my lashes and brows at night after I clean off my makeup.




I like using the oil on my lashes and brows, but we all know I'm a maniac about my the hair on my head! I found ways to incorporate this castor oil into that care regimen. Because this is thicker than my JBCO, I especially like to use it as a hot oil treatment. Once again, there's no odor. Also, if I rinse out the treatment with conditioner instead of shampoo, I find that more of it remains to moisturize my scalp. If I want lighter oil on my scalp during the day, I can use the JBCO.

One other way that this works is as a protectant (not exactly a carrier) oil for when I want to apply EOs  to my skin as a fragrance. The reason this works well is because, while it does protect my skin from the strength of the EO's, it also helps to make my fragrance last longer. (I find that wetting the skin with warm water, blotting, and then applying the castor oil before a perfume or fragrance EO is the best way.)

Other ways I've tested this out is by adding it to the hand lotion I keep in my purse, adding a little (about a full dropper full) to a 16-oz tube of shampoo. The shampoo was a clarifying one that has been sitting in the bathroom cabinet for months. I figure it will be less stripping with the oil added to it. Also, I am using the oil on my little nephew after his baths. He's inherited his daddy's tendency to "ash up". Most lotions just roll of that child so I've been using oil on him ever since he was about 2 years old! He'll even ask me if it's time to out on some "oy-yul")

Of course, this is just a really nice sealant after washing and/or conditioning the hair. Apply to the ends with a the fingertips is you don't want much oil on your hair.

Finally, this is going to last. It's thick and doesn't take a lot. The trick when doing hot oil treatments is to use just what you need. I don't like warming my hair oils over and over. What I do is put just enough in a baggie (about a half - or little more - of a dropper) and warming the baggie in hot water. Then I can drizzle my scalp with the oil. I hate wasting stuff so this works best for me. Also, I've noticed that, just like my hair, my skin works better at absorbing moisturizing products when it's damp and a bit warm.

When you look at this on the Amazon product page, it looks small. The bottle is actually bigger than I thought.

USDA certified Organic

Like I said, I love my JBCO, but I love this unrefined castor oil too. It's unscented and thick - without the tacky feeling. There is a 30-money back guarantee, just in case you aren't as impressed as I am.

If I get the chance to check out some of the other Cammile Q products, I will let you know. In the meantime, you can go over and take a look.

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** Deluxe Botanicals Castor Oil

This 100% pure & organic castor oil by Deluxe Botanicals surprised me. Pleasantly.

It's not the first castor oil I've used, of course, but it's the first "clear" castor oil I've used since I was a kid and my Mom and one of the Grands would make us kids eat a spoonful everyday. Ick.

This one is not for ingesting. It's for the hair, skin and nails.

See?

When I got it, I noticed that unlike, the castor oils I've been buying locally (black ash oils), this one was in a bottle with a dropper. I love having a dropper for oils because they make it easier for dispensing and adding to other bottles.

Where this oil surprised me right off the bat is with how freaking thick is is!

The other castor oils I've used are not thin or watery, but this one is so thick that it reminds me of corn syrup. And that is part of the beauty of it.

Because the oil is thick, I thought it would be too heavy for using as a moisturizer. I don't want a thick, greasy mess left on my hands, and I really don't want to use anything like that on my face, right?

No worries. I did test it on my face (and neck) and it really didn't bother my pores. I just rubbed some water and a drop of the oil in my hands and patted it onto my face and neck before bedtime. I think it helped a lot because the house is really dry with the heat turned up for winter. Ugh!

Of course I mainly wanted to test this on my hands and nails. The Deluxe Botanicals goes on thick, but not too sticky and, after about 2 or 3 minutes (maybe less), it has absorbed completely. I mean completely. My hands (and nails) were very nourished without any sign of greasiness.

When I tested the oil on my body (legs and feet), I got the same results. I just let the castor oil absorb before I on clothing.

Because thisi is a 4-ounce bottle, I'm not going to waste it using it full-body. I added several dropperfuls to a bottle of the lotion I'm taking with me on vacation and left it at that. I'm saving the rest to use on my hair and nails (and my feet).

When I'm not sponge-curling my natural hair, I like to do a 2-strand twist of cornrows overnight. Tonight, I did my twist-rows, then used the castor oil on my scalp in between rows. I want to see how my scalp feels tomorrow when I take my hair down. I will let you know at the finish of this review.

My pre-bed look:

Looking like Celie! LOL

I just oiled my scalp bewtween the twist-rows

This oil is also supposed to be good for acne treatment, but I can't test for that. I do know that when I remembered to try it on my lips it felt great. (If your lips are currently chapped and peeling, apply the oil and let it set for a minute, then do a mild cloth or sugar scrub. I noticed that this worked excellent with some sugar for a scrubbing.) There isn't a strong taste to it, thank goodness. I'm going to try using it a few minutes before I apply lipstick because, for some reason, some lipsticks suck all the moisture right out of my smackers.

Finally, the $14.48 Prime price seems reasonable to me for the 4-ounce bottle because I will be adding this to other products and saving some for direct application. This works well enough to add to my oil purchases in the future and I'm glad that I got to try it out.Also there is a 30-day guarantee. If you don't see results, you get your money back. Good deal.

I checked out Deluxe Botanicals Facebook page and noticed that they share some nice tips and hints. I especially like the "Essential Oil Conversions" chart.

Peace
--Free

DISCLOSURE: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

**REVIEW** Caribbean Roots Black Castor Oil by Aveya Beauty

Remember back when your mom or grandma made you take a spoonful of castor oil every so often? No? Okay, maybe that's just me. And I will never forget how I hated seeing that spoon coming at me!

If you are too young to remember stuff like that, then I have to tell you something: no matter how I hated it, I have learned that Mom and Grandma knew what they were doing. Castor oil is one of those things that is good for you, inside and out. My elders used it as a moisturizer, a "hairdress" (treatment), a lip balm, and a remedy for constipation. Being young back then, I wanted nothing to do with it. It tasted horrible and, besides, I preferred the cute little tubes for my lip balm.

Flash forward all these years and I'm back on the castor oil. I still haven't gotten a taste for ingesting it, but I have discovered the benefits of using it externally. I'll get to that in a minute. For now, let's talk about this:

Aveya Beauty produces this Black Castor Oil that smells better than what I remember from my childhood. Actually, I have tried a couple other brands of black castor oil since those days so I can compare this one to what I have used before. Looks like Aveya has some other quality products I'd like to try (I'm already trying another product of theirs).

I'll cover some more castor oil info in a moment, but about this one:

• There is the faintest of scents to it (you'll see why this matters to some folks in a moment)
• It's one of the first "heavier" oils that I've been able to use right out of the bottle without having it just sit on top of my skin. It soaks in so quickly that I carry it in my purse use it during the day. If I wait just a few moments, it has absorbed enough that it doesn't smudge papers or clothing.
• I love what it does for my hair. Applied to damp hair, it seals the ends so that I don't get so much frizz once the hair is dried.
• Because of the nice absorbency, I can use this on my face without getting a lot of buildup. Best thing is, it makes a really nice oil cleanser if I mix in a little bit of fractionated coconut oil and use wipe with a baby wipe.
• After I had been using it as a hand moisturizer, I noticed that my nails and cuticles were getting a lot of the benefits. At their driest, the sides of my nails get that ashy white look from the dead and damaged skin because I wash my hands a lot. I'm planning to do a cuticle scrub with this oil, using it and a little bit of baking soda and an old toothbrush. Then, I will re-moisturize with the oil. Can't wait.
• Speaking of scrubs, I have been using sugar and another oil to exfoliate my lips. After the next lip treatment, I'm going to balm up with this castor oil. I plan to do a heavy coating of the oil and let it rest a while before I smooth it into my lips.
• Because I am noticing that it doesn't take a lot of this oil for regular uses (even the above lip treatment shouldn't take much), I'm happy with the size of the bottle. At first, I was wishing it had come in a little bit bigger size for the price, but it's working out to be a good value after all. (By the way, the label even instructs users not to use more than needed. That's a nice change from the old "wash-rinse-repeat world" method used to keep consumers coming back for more.

There is one gripe I have, but it has nothing to do with the quality of the product. It's the printing on the label. Other than the front, all the other print is so small that I actually had to use a magnifier app to read it... Seriously. And the label includes some good info - such as suggestions for how to use the oil and/or mix it with other products. 

To save you some squinting, here are the benefits listed on the label:

• Increase hair growth
• Thicken hair that's starting to thin
• Reduce and prevent hair breakage
• Eliminate dry hair
• Make hair fuller and shinier
• Deeply condition and moisturize hair and scalp
• Prevent dry scalp
• Boost your hair's overall growth.

Some of that is a bit repetitive, but it matches what I have been reading about the benefits of castor oil. One other thing I'd like to point out is that I don't personally find there is much difference in benefits between a good "regular" castor oil and a good JBCO. That's just my opinion though and other people might have a different take.

If you are buying via Amazon, Aveya discounts a limited amount of this product on a monthly basis, so there's your chance to give it a try. (The Aveya site offers what they call an "iron clad, bullet-proof guarantee".)

Now here goes some more general information about castor oils:

If you have checked out castor oil recently, you might notice that there are a few popular types out there:

• Castor oil - has a yellow-ish coloring unless it's filtered to a clearer shade.
• Black castor oil - gets its dark color from the ash of roasted beans
• Jamaican black castor oil - I don't know for a fact but, since not all JBCOs come from Jamaica, the name comes from the process, which is, I am guessing, a Jamaican invention. (This Aveya black castor oil, for instance, is a product of Haiti.)

 By the way, Black Hair Information offers up a wonderful history and some info on castor oil & JBCO. Glad I found BHI, which is now bookmarked.

The big difference in castor oils, other than the color, is the smell. The JBCO has a odor that a lot of people don't like (I do). BHI describes it perfectly as having the scent of burnt seeds.  "Regular" castor oil has a faint, well, oily scent, in my opinion, but lots of people claim it's odorless. Even though the JBCO does have a smell you might find unpleasant, I found that the odor dissipates very quickly. As for ingesting castor oil, it's not my favorite thing to do but, like I mentioned at the start, my elders were big on getting a little bit of it into the body for, um, cleaning things out... LOL

Here are some links to more info:

• Covers most of the benefits as listed on the label
• Interesting to see what the Times of India site says
• Some not-so-common uses
• Home Remedies lists some uses and warnings
• Black Naps (love that name!) has some great info about using castor oil on natural hair

Sure hope I gave you some good info - or lead you to it - if you have been thinking about using a castor oil in your beauty routine.

Peace

--Free

DISCLOSURE: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.