Castor Oil

A thick, glossy oil pressed from castor beans.

A clear, yellowy, viscous oil.

Thick, viscous, and pretty sticky (for an oil, at least).

Nothing terribly noticeable—a bit “oil”-like.

Slow

Oil

Castor oil is really unique in the world of vegetable oils as it is primarily comprised of ricinoleic acid and more polar. Check out this wonderful article from Realize Beauty to learn more about how very cool this oil is!

In cosmetics it adds richness and a bit of a glossy sheen. It’s commonly paired with beeswax in cream cosmetics.

In soap, castor adds an amazing rich, bubbly lather in low percentages (5–20%).

In cleansers it helps amp up the cleansing power and pull gunk out of your pores. In the Oil Cleansing Method it is the primary cleansing oil—it’s so potent that using more than 20% can be very drying!

I’d say so! It’s inexpensive and has lots of uses, though if you aren’t making soap or lip gloss you can likely get away without it.

It doesn’t really matter, I usually choose whichever is cheaper.

It’s a rare thick, glossy oil with properties that are quite hard to replace in cosmetics and impossible to replace in soap.

It can make products sticky if you use a lot of it.

None, really—it’s pretty darn unique. You might be able to get away with using another slow-to-absorb oil in some formulations, but in situations where the uniqueness of castor oil is called for (like when working with Polyamide-3 or in soap), it’s very hard to swap out.

Include it in the oil phase of your formulations. Castor oil can be hot or cold processed.

I recommend including an antioxidant like Tocopherol (Vitamin E) in formulations using castor oil as I find it is prone to oxidizing.

Stored somewhere cool, dark, and dry, castor oil should last ~12 months.

Try blending castor oil with beeswax for a classic creamy cosmetic combination.

100mL (3.3fl oz); avoid the temptation to buy a big bottle as it goes rancid pretty quickly.

Buy it from an online DIY ingredient supplier or Amazon. You can also purchase castor oil at the pharmacy, where it is sold for constipation relief.