Hair oil is a nice solution to help us rejuvenate their health, making they looks glossier and even grow better. While hair oil is beneficial, depend on what oil we used, we can get different benefit according on their own properties. Castor Oil vs Mineral Oil are two type of oils often used both in skin and hair care due to their moisturizing feature. If you wonder what each oil can offer, go check our article below to see which the better option is.
In this article, we are going to give you information about:
– Are you currently looking for a hair oil
– What are Castor oil and Mineral oil
– What Castor oil and Mineral oil are derived from
– What Castor oil and Mineral oil can offer to you
– How to apply Castor oil and Mineral oil
– Castor oil vs Mineral oil
Choosing Hair Oil
Our mane will improve our confidence when meeting other people and let us enjoy the slow wind blowing them when the weather is nice. All people want to have a beautiful and healthy hair both men and women but unfortunately, not all of us are capable of enjoying them without putting much effort. There are many of us who use chemical treatment to either color or style their hair which in a long time can cause a hair damage that trigger several hair issues.
Hair issues are not an unusual thing since most of us have experienced them in our live or probably there are some who are still struggling to find the solution. Due to many concerns about harmful substances, many of us swift to natural product which is proven to be working effective and safer. One of the natural products that has been raved by beauty enthusiast in the last several years is hair oil to help treat those dry and damaged strands. Read also: Olaplex vs Kerastase here.
While all hair oil is good and have several benefit, not all of them will be the same since depend on each raw material where the oil is derived, different oil may deliver a different result as well which is why before going to shop for a new hair oil, it is better to check what each oil can benefit you and pick the one match with your hair condition better. For example there are oils used to moisture hair to keep them losing moisture and in check all the time to avoid frizz.
There are also hair oils used to help our scalp to grow more hair or making sure the roots are strong enough to support the hair. This type of oil is often used by people who are suffering from thinning hair to support a new growth. In addition, there are also hair oils made to gives a refreshing look to your mane because dull hair not only looks unhealthy but also unappealing. This type of oils usually will help protect hair from damage caused by UV rays.
About Castor oil and Mineral oil
If you are already prepared to look around what the market has to offer and find that suitable hair oil, now is the time to check their properties. Hair oil is widely used and available so it can be hard to decide on which brand or what kind of formulation to pick thus, it is best to set several features you need from the oil first to quicken the hunt. Today, popular hair oil formulation are marketed by big brands but they are not fully natural anymore.
When raw material enters a manufacturer, there is a high chance they also add several additional ingredients to both make the oils even more potent or to ease the application. In the past, we used to avoid hair oil due to how greasy they can make our hair look like but now, manufacturers formulate their oil to be silky smooth to apply thus, user can do re-touch anytime they want. However, for those who prefer a more natural solution, single oil may fit your taste more.
Oils main benefit when applied on skin or hair is protecting the moisture but may also offer other kind of positive results. For those who are worried about a thin mane may want to try Castor oil and Mineral oil. The first has been used mostly for growing more hair but the latter is rarely known to offer the same benefit yet, there are some people who are in quest of getting thicker hair with mineral oil so probably there is some evidence behind it as well.
Castor oil and Mineral oil Origin
For starter, Castor oil is a type of vegetable oil because it is derived from castor beans hence it is called castor oil. The oil is very versatile because we can use it in food preserving, as medicine, on skin or hair care as well as precursor to industrial chemical and lubrication as an alternative to petroleum. In its pure form, the oils is slightly yellowish in color and very pale with a distinct taste and odor. Today we can get them by various brands in bottle or other compartments.
As for Mineral oil, this is derived from crude oil that is produced industrially and the same like the oil we put to lubricate our car or bike, often called as petroleum. Before going to be marketed and used, crude oil undergoes a process of purification and it is refined until becomes a slippery fluid which then used in various cosmetics. In sense of from where the product derived, the oil is indeed has an organic origins but it is not a guarantee for the safety.
Mineral oil is liquid with a clear consistency and has no odor so it won’t be very visible when put on a clear bottle. Some people may confuse mineral oil with petrolatum or petroleum jelly but they are different because petroleum jelly is formed as the part of the oil drilling process which gain the name “rod wax”. It is through refining and distilling processed then, created petroleum jelly.
Castor oil and Mineral oil Benefit
Everything becomes more legit when backed up by researchers because at least we know that there is a real effect we get from something and this including when applying beauty products as well. The lack of evidence on something often pull us off from something and it is always good to find as many information as possible so we can pick the best solution to our problem. While other vegetable oil like rosemary oil and vitamin B have been proven to work on thinning hair, unfortunately not yet with Castor oil.
It can be said that this oil gaining so much popularity based on hype alone and reviews from people who have tried and see the benefit from it but not from experts. Taken from Allure, according to a chemist and author Perry Romanowski, the oil will not grow hair and there is no evidence providing enough proof. However, at least Castor oil is not damaging and safe enough to be used as beauty treatment while on the positive side, it does provide some conditioning effect.
In addition, Castor oil also has another positive side because it has an antimicrobial properties which should be useful to handle those fungal infection on scalp that can eventually lead to hair loss. It will help dealing with inflammation as well but still, there is no evidence it can cause hair growth. The most logical explanation to hair growth in Castor oils treatment is a healthier scalp means a better environment for hair growth in case we have scalp issue.
Moving to Mineral oil, we are not recommending to use this type of oil especially on skin like scalp because there several issues going with the oil and the most frightening is it believed to be contaminated with cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PHAs which is constructing 30% of it. While the study was conducted on untreated technical grade mineral oil, they also found that those cosmetic grade oil still contains hydrocarbons based on milk and fat samples collected from women.
The reason why Mineral oil is used as hair care is because it has similar property to coconut oil in term of helping hair retain the moisture inside especially for those who are battling with frizzy hair and not for hair thinning or to regrow hair. This oil’s molecules stay on top of the hair unlike coconut oil or other vegetable oils that will be absorbed the longer it sits. The result is it can work well to keep untamed hair but does nothing on the inside moisture level.
Applying Castor oil and Mineral oil
If you are still interested to use Castor oil and Mineral oil, we can apply them from time to time to deal with dry scalp and frizzy hair. For Castor oil, put a few drops in scalp the massage gently or apply some on the tips to condition both the scalp and hair while Mineral oil is recommended to be used on the hair only such as on tips or stray hairs which is hard to deal with without some help. Applying mineral oil on scalp may cause our hair becomes greasier.
Comparison
Now, let’s compare Castor oil with Mineral oil. The difference between them are the original source, safety level, and main property. Castor is a vegetable oil and easier to absorbs by skin, fairly safe to use except for those who are allergic, and nicely conditioned our hair or scalp as well as has antimicrobial properties while Mineral oil is derived from petroleum, not very safe due to carcinogens and keep hair from losing its moisture.
Castor oil vs Mineral oil
Castor oil Mineral oil - Derived from vegetable
- Derived from petroleum
- Absorbed better
- Stay at the surface
- Conditioning and antimicrobial
- Keep hair from losing moisture
- Safer
- May contain carcinogen
Conclusion
All in all, the decision is all yours to make because we may have different opinion on which the best option is. However, considering the safety and benefit, we do recommend user to choose Castor oil because it is safer and at least have something more than just conditioning especially for scalp issue.