For the past year and a half, I’ve been dealing with lumpy, under-the-skin breakouts along the sides of my face. They pop up with irritating consistency — as soon as one starts to phase out, another sprouts right up. A couple of months ago, I reached out to both my dermatologist and esthetician, who agreed that was probably a combination of hormones, stress, and diet.
Also a couple of months ago, I ran out of my usual hair oil. When I went online to repurchase it, my wandering eyes led me to Briogeo’s B.Well Organic Cold Pressed Castor Oil, which claimed to not only help smooth and tame fried hair, but also to help with strengthening and growth. As someone with frizzy hair who’s quarantine goal was to grow out their chin-length bob, I was intrigued. And after seeing rave review after rave review for the oil (“I have flyaways and two kids caused tons of postpartum hair loss: This product has helped so much!” “Believe the hype! This oil is worth every penny!”) I decided to make it mine.
Once I started using Briogeo’s B. Well Castor Oil every day for a couple weeks, a few things happened. First off, I quickly fell in love with how easily it helped me tame flyaways and frizz — running a tiny amount through my ends and scalp, I found, quickly added shine and luster to my fried, bleached ends without the slightest hint of heaviness or greasiness. It also has helped me a shocking amount with hair growth — since using it daily, I’ve noticed that my hair has started to grow at a much quicker pace (about three inches in the last month — suddenly, I can put my hair into a bun). Per the advice of one reviewer, I’ve also been using the oil on my brows, as well, which has helped me grow back a little bald patch I acquired after a botched tweezing job.
But arguably the best thing about the oil is that since I’ve started using it, my cheek pimples have completely gone away. It took me a couple of weeks to put two and two together. Unlike a lot of hair products I’ve used, which incorporate potential irritants like sulfates and perfume, Briogeo’s ingredient list is incredibly short: it consists entirely of cold pressed castor oil. Now to be clear, I probably wouldn’t rub this hair oil all over my face (the formula wasn’t created specifically for facial application, meaning it could do some pore clogging). But it’s such a clean product that the small amount that transfers over from my hair to my skin when I apply it has caused no issues at all. If you have acne-prone skin, or if you’re looking to find a product that will help nurture and grow dry, damaged hair, or if you need something to tame flyaways, or if your eyebrows are looking a little sparse, or if all four of those things are true, this is going to be worth a buy.
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