Oil Reviews: Part 4 - Avocado, Marula and Baobab

Avocado

Avocado oil makes a great all purpose oil for natural, curly and coily hair textures.  Even organic and fair trade versions are relatively inexpensive.  It moisturizes quite well, without being overly greasy.  It is however a wet oil, so I would limit it as a finishing oil to just on wash day (especially for free hair in dry weather) and on the ends in between washes.  Otherwise, for pre-poos, deep conditioning and oil rinsing – have at it.

It also is a great moisturizer for skin, but I prefer it at a lower percentage in blends, because it is a little heavier.  It comes highly recommended by many for people with sensitive skin.

Marula

This amazing oil, along with its two counterparts tsamma melon seed oil(reviewed in the previous blog ) and baobab oil, is one of the most celebrated cosmeceuticals to come out of Southern Africa.  It is extremely nourishing for both skin and hair and is starting to show up in many mainstream hair products.

I find it to be a lighter wet oil when used on skin, though most people experience it to be a very fast absorbing dry oil.  The fast absorbing quality makes it ideal for moisturizing the face, for people with oily skin and for curlies with baby fine hair that can’t handle heavy oils. 

It is expensive as all get out so on thirsty curly hair it is best used as a sealing oil or finishing oil between washes.  (Yes it is light enough for this.)  If you can afford it, I don’t see why you could not try it as a pre-poo or oil rinsing oil, but at over $11.00 per ounce, on average – unless you buy it in bulk, that is prohibitive for most folks, especially if you have more than one curly head of hair in your household.  It is also great in a blend with other expensive oils if you want to stretch it out a bit, or whipped with your favorite butter.

I feel that the fairly traded product from Shea Terra is the best quality baobab oil that I have experienced, but if you plan on buying a ton of it, New Directions Aromatics has the best price I have seen on it.

Baobab

This is one of my favorite oils for the face, when I have it on hand.  It also works really well on the hair and acts very similarly to both marula and watermelon seed oil in its nourishing and absorption tendencies.  That is to say, it is light, yet highly emollient.

For some reason that I find rather baffling, it is cheaper than marula oil.  In my perception, having been raised in Zimbabwe, I thought marula trees were more abundant than baobabs, therefore the cold pressed oil of the latter would be more “precious.”  Clearly, there are some facts in play that I do not understand because that is not the case.

Either way, it is still more expensive than your run of the mill health food store or beauty supply oil, so realistically for most families, it will be used as a face oil, or a finishing/ sealing oil on wash day and between washes. 

It works on every hair type and is available from Shea TerraOrganics and From Nature With Love, at an amazing price I might add.