Jamaican Mango and Lime Peppermint Black Castor Oil Review

I was looking for a magic potion that would help my hair grow back after postpartum hair loss. I had heard that black castor oil was supposed to help. I found out about Jamaican Mango and Lime through Curly Penny on YouTube. Many years ago when I had tailbone length hair, I would massage my scalp every night with oils. I had hair loss after giving birth and figured black castor oil was a safe, healthy method to use to try to grow back hair.

Honestly speaking, I have my doubts. I've seen people say it works due to castor oil and its anti-fungal and antiseptic properties. Black castor oil is supposed to somehow be more potent. It's not actually black, but they add the ash back into the oil and that's when the magic is supposed to happen. I'll say this, I do think that castor oil has beneficial properties to it, however, I also think that the simple act of massaging your scalp can stimulate blood flow which in turn stimulates hair growth. They had a sale at Sally's, so I bought this.  

About Jamaican Mango and Lime: On my page about Jamaican Mango and Lime, you can read more about their company and see all my product reviews. I have reviewed other companies and their products as well and you can find those on my complete list.

YouTube: Watch my review and be sure to subscribe to my channel! 

Disclaimer: Per FTC regulations, I am disclosing that I use affiliate links. I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the links. It is a way to support my blog at no additional cost to you. You can read more here.

buy it here

Ingredients

First of all, let me say that it's hard to find their ingredient list. They're not listed on Universal Beauty or Amazon. Both of those sites only show the front of the product so it's not like you can zoom in and check out the ingredients. Luckily, Sally's Beauty does have the ingredients and you can see them below. I wish they would provide more information. I know that peppermint oil and carrot oil are essential oils, however, I think that they should state that. I'm also unsure how sunflower oil can be an oeloresin/canola/healianthus annuus. My understanding is that an oleoresin is similar to an essential oil. Canola oil comes from the rapeseed plant, not sunflowers, and healianthus annuus is the latin name for sunflower. I'm thoroughly confused.

I also feel a little bit duped. The front of the label says black castor oil, but when you read the ingredients you see that they've cut it with other carrier oils: they have soybean oil, sunflower oil, and grape seed oil. They also have essential oils, which shouldn't be such a big deal, but as you can see below, I'm worried about the dilution rates. I know these are all beneficial, but still. I feel like they've pulled a fast one. I thought there would be two ingredients: black castor oil and peppermint essential oil. Instead, there are 6 ingredients: 4 carrier oils and 2 essential oils. Since there is no water )or water-based product), there is no preservative.

I'm also slightly worried about their dilution rates. By law, ingredients should be in order. They go from the greatest amount to the least amount. According to their label, there are more essential oils than sunflower and grape seed oils.

Lastly, I feel like they should have included a disclaimer since they use peppermint oil and you need to be careful about using peppermint around children.

image taken from Naturally Curly

Stats about the Carrier Oils

If oils are stored in cool, dark conditions they tend to last longer.  Some people believe that comedogenic ratings don't mean much at all: Colin's Beauty Pages and Babe + Beauty.

• Castor has a 1 out of 5 comedogenic rating and a shelf life of about 5 years.
• Soybean has a 4-5 out of 5 comedogenic rating and a shelf life of about 3 months-1 year. 
• Sunflower has a 0-2 out of 5 comedogenic rating and a shelf life of about 3 months.
• Canola, I couldn't find the comedogenic rating and a shelf life of about 2 years. .
• Grapeseed has a 1 out of 5 comedogenic rating and a shelf life of 3-6 months.
• Almond oil has a comedogenic rating of 2 out of 5, meaning that it should not clog pores.

Smell and Texture

I got peppermint because I thought it would help stimulate hair growth. Upon using this product, I found that it reminded me of foot cream. For some reason, peppermint seems to be a popular smell for foot products. In hindsight, I should have picked a different scent.

Due to the fact that this is not 100% castor oil, instead 100% castor oil is one of six ingredients, it is not thick like black castor oil should be. It's a deep yellow color.

YouTube
Watch my review and be sure to subscribe to my channel!  

Size, Price, and Packaging

Since I bought it from Sally's, it wasn't that expensive. You can also buy it here. It's a good size and since I always forget to use it, I have no doubt that it will last me a long time. To be honest, I will probably end up giving it away for a couple of reasons. My hair is low porosity and doesn't like oils. I'm worried about the amount of essential oils in it.

The packaging is great. It's in a glass amber bottle. Glass is usually better than plastic when it comes to carrier oils and essential oils. The dark color helps keep out light.

Would I Get This Again?

In all honesty, I would not get this again. There are just too many issues. I find it odd that they have a main website that hasn't been updated in years. Their products on Universal Beauty (where I was recommended to buy them from their customer service people on Facebook) are double the price of those at Sally's. I have doubts about whether they have used correct dilution rates for their essential oils. I feel duped since they cut the black castor oil with other carrier oils. They don't have a disclaimer about using peppermint essential oil around children. Finally, the peppermint scent reminds me of foot cream. However, everyone is different. If you'd like to try it you can buy it from Amazon or from Naturally Curly.

Random Thoughts

Patch test before using.