Shea Butter and Palm Kernel Oil Scalp Treatment

Palm kernel oil is a white to pale yellow oil with very little smell, pressed from the kernel of the palm fruit, and it melts near body temperature, so it blends easily with shea butter in a scalp recipe. It is not red palm oil. Baraka's unrefined shea butter is made by hand by the women of the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, Ghana.

Palm kernel oil for hair: a two-ingredient scalp recipe

Melt equal parts palm kernel oil and shea butter and massage the mixture into your scalp. Leave it on under a shower cap for 30 minutes to an hour, then rinse thoroughly with warm water. That is the whole recipe, and it uses 1/4 cup (60 ml) of each.

Palm kernel oil is white to pale yellow and solid at room temperature, and it melts near body temperature. Shea butter is also solid at room temperature and melts on contact with skin, so the two melt together with very little effort. Palm kernel oil has very little smell and carries no colour into the finished mix. Shea butter's natural colour runs from ivory through cream to pale yellow, and a mild nutty smell is normal and not a fault. Shea butter is traditionally used on dry skin, lips, hands, feet and hair.

The two palm oils are often confused, so here is the difference. Red palm oil is pressed from the orange flesh around the stone. It is deep red-orange, has a savoury, earthy smell and stains cloth and surfaces. Palm kernel oil is pressed from the kernel inside the stone, and it is the opposite in both smell and colour. This recipe uses palm kernel oil only.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (60 ml) shea butter
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) palm kernel oil

Directions

1. Melt the shea butter and palm kernel oil together in a microwave-safe bowl or over a double boiler.
2. Let the mixture cool until it is comfortably warm to the touch, not hot.
3. Massage the melted mixture into your scalp with your fingertips.
4. Cover your hair with a shower cap and leave it on for 30 minutes to an hour.
5. Rinse thoroughly with warm water.

Storage

Make only as much as you plan to use. If you have some left over, keep it in a clean, closed jar in a cool place away from heat and direct sun. Both ingredients are solid at room temperature, so the mixture will set firm and can be gently melted again. Shea butter keeps 2+ years when stored properly, away from heat and direct sun.

Palm kernel oil for skin: what to know

Palm kernel oil is used mainly in soapmaking, where it gives a hard bar with quick lather. This recipe is made for the scalp and hair and is rinsed off, so it is not a skin recipe.

On its own, palm kernel oil is white to pale yellow, solid at room temperature and melts near body temperature, with very little smell. If you want something for dry skin, lips, hands or feet, shea butter is the ingredient traditionally used there. If you have a skin or scalp concern that keeps coming back, ask a doctor or pharmacist.

Palm kernel oil benefits: what it brings to a recipe

The benefits of palm kernel oil are practical ones, and they come from how it behaves in a recipe:

• It melts near body temperature, so it melts easily and blends smoothly with shea butter.
• It has very little smell, so it does not compete with the mild nutty smell of unrefined shea butter.
• It carries no colour into the finished mix, unlike red palm oil, which tints anything it goes into.
• It is solid at room temperature, which gives a mix with shea butter a firm set.
• In soapmaking, it gives a hard bar with quick lather.

Benefit of palm kernel oil: why it suits this recipe

The main benefit is that it stays plain. Palm kernel oil adds no colour and almost no smell, so a mix with shea butter keeps the shea butter's own character. Because both ingredients melt near body temperature, you only need gentle warmth to combine them, and you can work the melted mix into the scalp with your fingertips.

Baraka's shea butter is unrefined, strained and filtered only, with no refining, bleaching or deodorising. Its colour and smell can vary a little between batches, which is normal for an unrefined butter. Every batch is made by hand at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, Ghana.

To make this recipe, you can pick up the oil here: Baraka palm kernel oil is the palm kernel oil used in the recipe above.

This recipe was originally published in "40 Haircare Recipes and Blogs".

Quick answers

Palm kernel oil for hair

In this recipe, palm kernel oil is melted with an equal amount of shea butter (1/4 cup each) and massaged into the scalp. Cover your hair with a shower cap, leave it on for 30 minutes to an hour, then rinse thoroughly with warm water. Palm kernel oil is white to pale yellow and has very little smell, and shea butter has traditionally been used on hair. Baraka shea butter is made by hand by women's producer groups at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, Ghana. More in Directions:

Palm kernel oil for skin

Palm kernel oil is used mainly in soapmaking, where it gives a hard bar with quick lather. It is white to pale yellow and solid at room temperature, melts near body temperature, and has very little smell. It is pressed from the kernel inside the palm fruit's stone, so it is not red palm oil.

Palm kernel oil benefits

Palm kernel oil is used mainly in soapmaking, where it gives a hard bar with quick lather. It is white to pale yellow with very little smell and adds no colour to a finished product. It melts near body temperature, so it blends easily with shea butter. It is pressed from the kernel inside the palm fruit's stone, so it is not red palm oil.

Benefit of palm kernel oil

The main benefit of palm kernel oil is in soapmaking, where it gives a hard bar with quick lather. It also has very little smell and adds no colour, which suits it to blends where you want neither. It is pressed from the kernel, not the flesh of the palm fruit, so it is not red palm oil.