OIL
Ricinus Communis Seed Oil/Castor Seed Oil
- oil
The oil pressed from Ricinus Communis. It is one of the heavier plant oils — rich on coarse or dry hair, and enough to flatten fine hair.
- products in our library
- 6
- of researched products
- 0.1%
- on the label, in our conditioners
- usually #12
- most common in
- Conditioner
- in water
- Oil-soluble
At a glance
Four things worth knowing about how this ingredient behaves on hair.
How much of it is left on hair between washes.
What it takes to get it off the hair again.
Where the class sits between an ester and a butter.
How much it slows water leaving the strand.
| Property | Level | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| Buildup risk | Needs a cleanser | 4 of 5 |
| Rinse-out behaviour | Rinses with a cleanser | 2 of 5 |
| Weight | Rich | 4 of 5 |
| Sealing | Strong | 4 of 5 |
What it does for a formula
What Ricinus Communis Seed Oil/Castor Seed Oil does
The general function first, then how the role changes by product type where we have researched it.
Coats the surface and makes hair feel more pliable.
Sits on the outside of the cuticle and holds moisture in.
Smooths the feel of the strand without adding hold or cleaning.
It takes a surfactant to remove, which matters on a low-detergent routine.
Charge
Charge is not recorded for this ingredient.
Solubility
Needs a surfactant to remove. On a low-detergent routine it can build up over time.
Where it appears
Where it appears
One row per product category in our library: how many products list it, what share of that category that is, and where it typically sits on the label.
| Product type | How common | Typical position on label ? |
|---|---|---|
Conditioner
2 products
|
secondary · #12 | |
Finisher: oil
1 product
|
supporting · #6 | |
Heat protectant
1 product
|
secondary · #18 | |
Leave-in
1 product
|
secondary · #14 | |
Shampoo
1 product
|
secondary · #18 |
| Product type | Products | Share of category | Median position | Earliest position | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conditioner | 2 | 0% | 12 | 12 | secondary |
| Finisher: oil | 1 | 0% | 6 | 6 | supporting |
| Heat protectant | 1 | 0% | 18 | 18 | secondary |
| Leave-in | 1 | 0% | 14 | 14 | secondary |
| Shampoo | 1 | 0% | 18 | 18 | secondary |
We have not researched differences by product type yet. The reading below comes from where it sits on the labels in our library.
Position footprint
Every listing in our library, by position on the label.
| Positions | Zone | Listings |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Leading | 0 |
| 4-8 | Supporting | 1 |
| 9-15 | Secondary | 3 |
| 16-25 | Lower | 2 |
| 26+ | Trace | 0 |
How to read this
US labelling rules put ingredients above 1% in descending order of amount; below 1% they may be listed in any order.
So position tells you about relative amount only above that line, and we never convert a position into a percentage.
Who should pay attention
Formulation guidance for specific hair conditions, limited to the label positions where it applies. It is not a conclusion about any finished product, or about you.
Coats the surface and slows water leaving the strand, which is usually what coarse hair that dries out fast is missing.
A thin oil layer lowers friction between strands and flattens the raised cuticle that scatters light and catches on its neighbours.
Near the top of a list an oil is weight before it is anything else, and fine hair shows that first at the roots.
Read where it is listed in the first three ingredients or positions 4–8.Read from this ingredient’s chemical class. Where we have researched the ingredient itself, that reading replaces the class one.
Why it matters to shoppers
What seeing this ingredient tells you, what it does not, and the limits of our own method.
- softness and shine
- a softer feel
- something that lasts through the day
- moisture that stays on coarse or porous hair
- an exact safety score (we do not publish one for any ingredient)
- how a finished product performs, which depends on the whole formula, not one line of it
- the exact percentage in a bottle, because label position never converts into a number
- a secondary oil, listed below the main ingredients in our conditioners
- it was on the printed ingredient list of every product we counted (we read labels, not marketing copy)
- that a product is right or wrong for you
We do not publish safety scores or hazard grades. Where a regulator has published a restriction or a use condition, we state it and cite it; otherwise we describe what the ingredient does and stop.
Commonly paired with
The ingredients that most often appear alongside this one in our library. We leave out the near-universal ones, because they pair with everything and tell you nothing.
- Benzyl Alcohol · 6
- Coumarin · 5
- Geraniol · 5
- Benzyl Salicylate · 5
- Citronellol · 5
- Hexyl Cinnamal · 5
- Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone · 4
- Hydroxycitronellal · 4
- Cetrimonium Chloride · 4
- Hydrolyzed Corn Protein · 3
The number beside a name is how many products in our library list both.
These ingredients tend to appear together to carry the formula and let it dry, give it a scent, and improve feel after rinsing.
Found in these products
The most prominent placements first. The badge is the position on that product’s own ingredient list.
Garnier Fructis · Finisher
Curl Multi-Use Oil
#6 on the label · $1.57/oz
L'Oreal Paris · Conditioner
Elvive Dream Lengths Split End Sealing Detangler Conditioner
#12 on the label · $0.44/oz
Redken · Conditioner
Extreme Length Conditioner for Longer Stronger Hair
#12 on the label · $2.23/oz
L'Oreal Paris · Leave-in
Elvive Dream Lengths Curls Leave-In Conditioner
#14 on the label · $0.78/oz
L'Oreal Paris · Heat protectant
Elvive Dream Lengths Frizz Killer Serum Leave-In
#18 on the label · $2.35/oz
L'Oreal Paris · Shampoo
Elvive Dream Lengths Restoring Shampoo
#18 on the label · $0.43/oz
Identity
What this entry is, and what our references call it.
No public-domain structure depiction is available for this entry.
Ricinus Communis Seed Oil/Castor Seed Oil
- emollient
- ricinus communis seed oil / castor seed oil
- ricinus communis seed oil/castor seed oil
For your hair?
Whether Ricinus Communis Seed Oil/Castor Seed Oil matters for your hair depends on your hair.
6 products in our library list itWhat this ingredient does, and where it sits on the labels we have researched.
A verdict on any product that contains it, and never a safety grade.
We do not physically test your hair. Everything above comes from the ingredient lists in our library and from published references. The consultation is what turns it into a plan.
References
Seed entry, sourcing in progress Written from our reference work; primary sourcing is still being attached.
No published source is attached to this entry yet.
How this page was made
- Every number above is counted from the ingredient lists in our own product library: 6 of 6816 researched products list this ingredient. Nothing on this page is written per ingredient.
- The dots are levels, not scores. Each one comes from what kind of ingredient it is (its chemical class, charge and solubility) or from where it sits on the labels we have.
- US labelling rules put ingredients above 1% in descending order of amount; below 1% they may be listed in any order. Position tells you about relative amount only above that line, and we never convert a position into a percentage.
- The prominence bands (leading, supporting, secondary) are the same ones the product pages use to read a single label, applied here to the median position across a category.
- We do not publish safety scores or hazard grades. Where a regulator has published a restriction or a use condition, we state it and cite it; otherwise we describe what the ingredient does and stop.
- Identifiers and references appear only when a published source is attached to this entry. Without one, we leave the row out rather than fill it in.
- This is cosmetic information, not medical advice, and nothing here diagnoses or treats a health condition.
- Entry last updated 2026-09-22. Product-page methodology: the product library.
