I have been doing the Castor Oil challenge for about 2 weeks now and have decided I am going to take a week break to gauge the problems with my hair that have occurred after starting last week Monday.  Over the last week, I have noticed some dryness on my scalp and it also felt a little itchy.  After checking my scalp last night - I found that I have started to have dandruff.  This is really unusual for me... because I am not a dandruff prone person.  I haven't truly changed up my hair routine at all over the last 2-4 weeks, so I don't understand the problem that has happened.  My only conclusion is that it may be that the castor oil is working its magic and removing the dead cells on my scalp.  However, the problem is that I don't like dandruff and it's driving me nuts.  I'm going to stop for a couple a days - maybe a week and re-evaluate the situation.  Stay tuned.

xoxo
Honey

Well, I have completed my first week using Castor Oil on my hair.  While it was a bit of a challenge and some what difficult the first day to get used to the sticky consistency of the product, I have made it through the first week and so far so good.

Here are a few things I noticed:

• The hair nearest to my scalp, my roots, have really been feeling a lot softer lately.  This is the hair that gets touched by the Castor Oil majority of the time - so I believe it is truly working.
• My scalp has gotten a little dryer. The first day - it was moisturized and nice, but the 2nd and 3rd applications left my scalp dry and with some dandruff thereafter.  I'm not sure if it's because it is removing the dead cells on my scalp - but if this keeps up, I will have to stop using the Castor Oil - I don't like a dry and itchy scalp.
• I haven't noticed any growth yet or added thickness to my hair.  Whether it may be the Castor Oil or just the heat that has been coming due to summer on its way, my hair has been shedding a lot more than usual the last week, which has been leading to tangles - but I work it out.

That's it for this weeks recap.  I did not measure the length of my hair yet and will do so today or tomorrow to see if there has been any change. :)

xoxo
Honey

So I figured I would stop in and update my stats when I started the challenge.  I've included a photo which shows my starting length.  My hubby helped me measure... from my shoulders to the tip of my hair - it was 13 inches long. I will continue to measure each week as I'm going through the process.

My first impressions of the castor oil...
I'm using the regular ol' Pharmaceutical Castor Oil that you can find at your local drug store and/or pharmacy.  I had thought about it over the last few days and decided to use this one because that would really allow me to test if it is truly just Castor Oil that does the trick or if I would need some special miracle (expensive) product to get any results.  We will see as time progresses.  The Castor Oil I'm using is odorless which really does help with application as well as leaving it on my hair overnight.  I applied the castor oil using my fingers and applied and rubbed it into my scalp and roots of my hair.  Let me start off by saying that castor oil may be a little oily - but it also has a sticky texture... so it was a little difficult to work it into my hair.  After getting it worked in - I put my hair up into a high pony tail and left it as is.  I went to bed shortly after.

When I woke up this morning... let's just say that my hair was not what I had expected.  My neckline and hair line had slight oiliness to them - so I may not be able to do this process every day, but it was not as bad as I thought it would be. For the most part - the castor oil soaked into my head pretty well.  My roots of my hair were actually pretty soft... not as oily as I had originally thought.  My major test will be to see if I break out from using this and leaving it on my hair overnight, but I'll update on that in the next week.  I'm crossing fingers that I don't break out because I have worked to hard to clear up my complexion the last few months.

All in all - for day one, I am pretty amazed.  Like I stated, my hair is pretty soft... I noticed it immediately when I woke up this morning.  If anyone is reading this - can you please advise me if I should be adding this to my entire hair - not just the roots or scalp.  I don't think that would be do-able... but I figure I would ask.

Alright then - day one, down! I am going to be doing this every other day for the first week I think... that way I can gauge if I will be breaking out at all.

Talk to you soon,
xoxo
Honey

I wanted to be sure to go ahead and write this down before I had forgotten about it. lol We all know I have selective amnesia. lol

Today, or shall I say... tonight, starts the first day of my Castor Oil  Challenge.  Basically what I am going to do is apply Castor Oil (nothing special - just the pharmaceutical kind) to my scalp a minimum of 3 times a week.  Research suggests that Castor Oil has properties that will allow your hair to strengthen as well as grow thicker.  You can read a little about the challenge here.  I will not be participating in the challenge that is listed on that blog but will be doing it on my own and tracking the progress.  Before I apply my first application tonight - I will have my hubby take a photo of the length of my hair and we will move forward from there.  Each week I will update the blog and state my findings for that week.  There have been several research studies that have shown a significant change over the course of 3 months of taking part in this challenge... so I am truly excited.

After the birth of my twins 2 1/2 years ago, my hair has been shedding tremendously.  Not to mention the fact that I do color and/or bleach my hair several times a year.  But, I thought this challenge would really be beneficial for me to at least try it out.  I do not normally do any heavy damage to my hair during the summer.  Most of my hot tools are used on my hair during the Winter months and I normally color or color treat my hair prior to the summer heat arriving... so this will give my hair some time to truly rejuvenate and repair itself.

I'm excited to see how it all works.  I will be back tomorrow to post my starting length results as well as photos prior to my first application.

If you are interested in joining me on the challenge, comment below or check out my Facebook Page where I will go ahead and list results or link my blog posts as I progress.

Have a great week!
xoxo
Honey