Can You Use Castor Oil After a Keratin Treatment?

Written by Camelia Smith

Updated on July 01, 2023

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Castor oil is a sure-shot way of cultivating more hair growth, but it isn’t exactly lightweight and easy to wash out.

Which begs the question:

Can you use castor oil after a keratin treatment or a color treatment?

The answer: NO.

Especially not within the first 3 weeks after you’ve had your Brazilian keratin treatment.

Why?

Because you’ll end up washing your hair more often, plus, you’ll need a more intense shampoo to rinse it out.

Let me explain more on why using castor oil on keratin-treated hair is a bad idea.

Why You Shouldn’t Use Castor Oil Straight After Your Keratin Treatment

My hairstylist doesn’t recommend using heavy oils after keratin treatments because they add extra maintenance and interfere with the results.

And I can see the reason why.

While I’ve been lucky to avoid this mistake, you’ll find a few unfortunate ones who have really messed up.

Here’s one example on Reddit:

Let me give you a few reasons why castor oil after a keratin treatment is a recipe for disaster …

Castor Oil May Blotch The Keratin In Your Hair

After a keratin hair treatment, there is what I call, a downtime for around 2 weeks. During this period, you need to allow the treatment to soak into the hair properly to get maximum benefits.

To speed up the process, you need to wash your hair less often and refrain from applying other styling products.

Why?

Because this helps the hair strands stay loose and not clump together, making your hair look uneven in places.

So this is what happens when you apply castor oil:

It makes your hair sticky.

Because of its thickness, your hair starts to clump together, forcing the keratin layers to blotch in places.

Related: How to fix sticky hair after a keratin treatment.

Coconut oil is not as bad, but I’ll still recommend avoiding it and use alternative products that provide the same benefits without putting a damper on your treatment.

Check out the better alternatives: Coconut oil alternatives for keratin treated hair.

It Increases The Washing Cycle

Wash your hair less to make your keratin treatment last longer.

Every professional salon hairstylist will tell you this.

If you use castor oil in your hair, you’ll end up washing your hair more because of its thick consistency and the fact that it requires more shampoo to wash out.

Related:
Washing hair after a Brazilian keratin treatment – Everything you need to know.

It May Cause Dandruff

Any sticky products or oils in hair may cause residues and flakes if not washed out within 2 days.

If you’re using castor oil after the treatment and trying to stretch your wash days, chances are, the oil is drying out and causing buildup on your scalp which, may cause dandruff.

Many people already complain about dandruff problems after a keratin treatment even without using any coconut oil or castor oil.

Flaking is part of the process when the extra keratin layers that did not soak into the hair start to fall off or build up on the scalp.

Applying castor oil may make the problem even worse.

It May Compromise Your Keratin Treatment

Castor oil can also lead to felting and matting of the hair, creating friction in our hair strands.

It is essential to allow your hair strands to hang loose and straight so that they don’t tangle up and rub against each other.

Applying castor oil will make the hair stiff and prone to tangles, which can put a serious damper on your keratin treatment.

So for those who are battling thinning hair and want to improve hair growth, it’s better to wait for 3 weeks before you start using it again.

Still: I would suggest patch testing beforehand to see how your hair behaves.

What Oil to Use After a Keratin Treatment

Most hairstylists recommend using argan oil on keratin-treated hair.

Argan oil has healing benefits that help the hair recover and heal better after any chemical treatment.

To make it even better, it is super lightweight and contains antioxidants.

I personally use the Lanza keratin Argan oil and find it to be the best in the market for keratin-treated hair.

It smells delicious, goes on light as a feather, doesn’t leave any greasiness behind, and it’s transparent. It’s like a barely-there oil I can just slather in my hair and forget about it.

The best thing is that even if I don’t wash it out for a few days, it doesn’t make my hair feel greasy or begging for a wash.

Lanza Healing Keratin Hair Oil

Check Price

Final Thoughts

Use the wrong products, and you’ll end up with unpredictable hair and the risk of undoing the treatment altogether.

Heavy and thick products like castor oil and coconut oil are not recommended for use after keratin treatments because:

• They are hard to wash out
• They make your hair sticky
• They can potentially revert the keratin treatment

Instead: Use lightweight products like Argan oil which are keratin treatment-friendly.

About the Author

Camelia Smith

Camelia Smith can color hair, perform keratin treatments, bleach hair, and even cut curly hair. She is our go-to person whenever we have hair treatments and styling questions.

She's also currently training as a freelance makeup artist and is passionate about helping others feel beautiful in their skin. When she's not writing or doing hair, she's usually spending time watching British period dramas.