A few years ago right after by BC I was still searching for shea butter. I stopped by my local African beauty supply store to see what kind of shea butter they had. I saw some shea butter that looked okay and started talking to the sales lady about shea butter and how I'm going to use it in my hair. I continued to tell her I was going to try to whip the shea butter to make it soft and easier to apply to my hair and scalp. Somehow during our exchange red palm oil came up, she told me that they use it in pine soup and to cook other dishes at which point I told her I tried it in my hair a few months ago and didn't like it because it was staining my pillow case. Her eyes became so wide and she looked at me shocked, she even called over the other sales ladies in the store so that they could hear me repeat what I said. I told them again that I used it in my hair as a light moisturizer and scalp lubricant but it stained my pillow case so I stopped using it.
At this point they looked mystified and wanted to know who had told me to use it in my hair and I said I saw some ladies online using it and bought some to try it out. Some of the women began to laugh and some just stood there looking at me with the expression of "really?" plastered on their faces. These women were from Ghana and had never heard of such a thing. Oh well, I guess I schooled them on another use of red palm oil...
6 comments:
I'm Nigerian and I was also surprised when I heard people use palm oil for their hair. We use it for cooking and it's notorious for staining clothes and countertops. I think the confusion came in with Ojon, where the main ingredient in their DC is palm oil. There are actually different types of palm oil. Red palm oil is made from the fruit of the African palm. The other type of palm oil and palm kernel oil are made from the fruit and nut of a different species of palm found in tropical climes. Then there is the palm oil used in Ojon products, and that comes from the South American palm. So in a way both you and the ladies in the store were right
@ Lurker
Thanks so much! This info is great, yeah I wasn't sure about the palm fruit, different species produce different oils and butters... interesting:)
@ Lurker
I do not agree. Red palm oil is for the exterior part of the nut. It is like coconut. There and exterior green and beige part. That is what is grounded, and coocked with water to form oil and red sauce base. THEN you have the inside of the the nut like coconut again . That inside has a hard white round nut that is oily: We extract Palm oil from it. In my country we use both: Red palm oil and palm oil to cook and some people use palm oil for hair too. I'm from West Africa.
Oh yes! Google palm oil and you see the image of the fruit. Red and white in the middle.
hahah...funny story. I've actually used palm oil on my hair. As well as mayonaise, & avocado. Polynesians do it too. THere needs to be a business that refines these products a little better so they aren't leaving "pillow-talk" stains on your bed.
ahah I can just picture the looks on their faces! I'm Ghanaian too and I have heard of using this on hair, but I doubt I will be using it anytime soon. I'd rather eat it than have it on my hair!!!
much love. x
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