As ingredients from botanical sources gain prominence on the skin care market, many brands and skin care users are looking with increased focus at castor oil. Across the web, numerous claims can be seen about the uses and effects of castor oil: everything from moisture and soothing to hair growth. At Skin Actives, we use castor oil in a number of products, so we wanted to deliver an accurate portrayal as to why we use it. No speculation or exaggeration, just the straight facts—the Skin Actives way. 

Does the Science Support the Buzz?

As the usual skin care marketing machine kicks into high gear, claims of castor oil’s significance have been predictably inflated. We always caution against depictions of a given ingredient as an end-all-be-all solution to skin concerns. That being said, castor oil does have some distinguishing features that improve its function as an ingredient, which is how it ended up in a diverse array of Skin Actives products. 

One standout feature of castor oil is its fatty acid profile. Being extracted from the castor bean (don’t worry—the bean’s harmful components are left behind in processing), castor oil emerges with a unique fatty acid thought to confer anti-inflammatory effects. Additionally, the structure of this acid causes it to behave differently with respect to other fats. The details of this interaction are extremely fine-grained, but we’ll explain their value below.

Making Rich Serums with Castor Oil 

In general, there are two applications for castor oil in the Skin Actives lineup. 

The first is as a nutrient-rich oil. In order to support the skin’s natural growth and defense mechanisms, many Skin Actives products seek to deliver a full complement of beneficial nutrients in addition to the headline actives. When formulating an oil-based serum, this balancing act becomes doubly important: it is essential that our choice of ingredients neither adversely impacts the other actives nor causes unwanted irritation. 

Here castor oil reveals its usefulness. Not only does castor oil include moisturizing and fortifying lipids, but the oil’s unique fatty acid profile may provide a soothing quality. This is why you can find castor oil in products such as Brow and Lash Serum and Vitamin C Serum 15%.

Castor Oil as a Subtle but Effective Cleanser 

The second application for castor oil is in cleansers. While an oil as substantial as castor oil may not seem like an obvious choice for a cleanser, we assure you there is a scientific basis for this approach. As we detailed with the launch of our new Gentle Perfecting collection, cleansing is not strictly about the removal of pollutants and grime. As much as irritation and blemishes can be caused by external factors, they can arise from the skin itself—namely, a failure to defend itself properly due to a poorly functioning skin barrier. 

This is where castor oil’s most detailed feature comes into play. On an atomic level, castor oil possesses a unique structure that alters how it attracts and repels other fatty acids. The words “attract and repel” may ring some bells: yes, we’re talking about the skin barrier. 

Much of the skin’s resilience to irritation and blemishes comes down to its ability to moderate what it accepts and what it denies from the environment. In keeping with this principle, our new Repairing Cleanser aims to soothe and clarify the skin not by stripping the surface, but by nourishing and restoring the skin barrier so that it can balance itself. 

And what ingredient did we turn to for the right mix of fortifying lipids and anti-inflammatory effect? You guessed it: castor oil. 

Does Castor Oil Work for Hair Growth? 

Some of the most heavily marketed castor oil products online are intended to support hair growth. As we discussed above, castor oil does have a unique fatty acid profile and the hair can benefit from a rich supply of nutrients. In that sense, castor oil may help with hair growth—and we include it in our own Double Action Hair Serum. That being said, we mainly attribute the effectiveness of Double Action Hair Serum to more powerful ingredients targeting the hair and scalp system on a direct level. 

While castor oil may confer a marginal advantage, Skin Actives’ Keratinocyte Growth Factor (KGF) is a powerful driver of hair growth where it matters most: within the skin. Of course, the skin needs plentiful nutrients to fuel the structural process of assembling and maintaining hair, so fatty acids such as those found in castor oil are important. But those nutrients can be sourced from a variety of ingredients—and other nutrients like vitamins are also significant. KGF is the central active that stimulates the skin’s mechanisms for growing and supporting hair. Serving it with a side of castor oil couldn’t hurt—but KGF is the main dish. 

In other words, if you’re reading up on castor oil for the purpose of supporting your hair, try it with the purpose-built blend of actives in Double Action Hair Serum. To broaden the effects to include additional protection from oxidative stress and graying, we recommend upgrading to Advanced Ageless Hair Serum with ROS BioNet and Apocynin. 

Keep the Science of Castor Oil in Mind 

As with many ingredients we have examined in this blog, castor oil can be found in a variety of applications across the skin care market: sometimes with good reason, other times without support. Having a firm grasp of when and why you’re using castor oil will help you achieve the best results. For moisturizing and anti-aging serums, castor oil provides fortifying lipids in a soothing package. In cleansers, the unique fatty acid profile of castor oil can help the skin barrier achieve a healthy balance.

With these details in mind, you can separate the science from the hype and make the best use of one of skin care’s most subtle but significant ingredients.