I don’t know about you, but when I stand in the store looking at all the products that claim to make you beautiful, it really confuses me. At best you could go broke trying all these chemical-rich products and at worst you could undermine your health. Not to mention you may not even get the results you’re hoping for.

When I started learning about all the health hazards of those ingredients I couldn’t pronounce, I started looking for simple products from natural sources. On that quest, I came along baobab oil. What a find! I’m loving baobab oil for hair health and its other benefits.

There are so many things in nature from which oil can be extracted or pressed and each has its own constituents which make it ideal for one thing or another. Baobab oil comes from the seeds of the Adansonia tree which are native to Africa. The oil is commonly used throughout Africa because it is silky and has a mild scent. There are nine different species but the seeds can be cold pressed from any of them.

The Adansonia tree is a remarkable tree, both unique in appearance and a strong survival ability. It can live thousands of years, in part because it can survive many years of drought by  storing water in the trunk. 

Baobab oil has many healing properties making it ideal for a variety of uses. It’s an emollient, which means it’s wonderful as a moisturizer. This makes baobab oil for hair conditioning a popular use. It is also great for healing chapped lips and as a daily moisturizing lotion. The antioxidant properties prevent free radical damage to your skin.

It also has an insulator property that protects your skin from excessive temperatures – both hot and cold. The cicatrizant property promotes healing, making baobab oil great for reducing the appearance of stretch marks and healing wound and surgical scars. The rejuvenator property works to rejuvenate skin cells.

You can also use baobab oil as a massage oil. As a non-siccative, it does not leave the skin completely dry although it does absorb well. There are even spas that are offering baobab massages. The omega fatty acids in baobab oil have anti-inflammatory properties that can help with various inflammation issues. It can be used to heal inflamed gums - but take care not to ingest it because it’s not considered an edible oil. Although it is non-toxic, the disproportion of omegas can lead to a pro-inflammatory response.

Although not yet considered safe for consumption, some of the components are believed to be good for lowering cholesterol so more testing is needed to see if this is a viable use in small doses. If you want to consider using baobab oil for this purpose, be sure to find a product that has had the anti-nutrients removed.

I really like baobab oil  as a hair conditioner and scalp treatment. Baobab oil for hair leaves it softer and quite silky while also adding volume. It is healing as well as protective, so you can overcome past damage as well as prevent further damage from the sun and free radicals.

You use baobab oil as you would other hot oil conditioning treatments. You gently warm a small amount and apply it to your scalp. Cover your head with a shower cap for a few hours to let it do its job. If you do not want to heat the oil first, you can instead put it on your hair and sit under a hooded dryer or use a blow dryer to warm it up. After that just wash your hair, as usual, to take off the residual oil. Baobab oil will go rancid so don’t heat more than you plan to use for the treatment. Don’t worry about having an oily smell as baobab oil smells wonderful!

You can also use baobab oil in between hot oil treatments. Just put a drop or two on your hands, rub together, then touch through your hair to make it shiny and glossy. This will help provide protection from UV rays and pollution contaminants that can damage your hair.

Baobab oil is also great for scalp issues and dandruff. I’d recommend putting the oil on before bed and letting it stay on all night. You can do this for intensive hair repair as well.

If you enjoy making your own skin care products, you may find that you can make them even better by adding baobab oil. Try adding it to a whipped shea butter or another moisturizing recipe you make. You can add baobab to store-bought organic conditioners to give them a boost.

You can also use baobab oil straight. It works wonderfully as a face moisturizer and you can also use it for your fingernails and toenails to make them soft and easy to care for. It will also reduce breakage. A friend said it even helped her psoriasis and rosacea!

Probably not. While you can find Adonsonai digitata seeds for sale online, unless you are in an arid zone, primarily USDA Zone range 10a to 12, you won’t have much luck with germination and survival. That’s really a shame since the pulpy fruit makes a nutritious lemonade-ish drink and the young leaves are tasty when cooked, with a taste like spinach.

Luckily it is an easy matter to find good quality, organic and pure baobab oil for sale from online merchants and you’ll also find it showing up as an ingredient in high-end natural skin care products.

​​​​​I really love that baobab oil contains vitamins A, D, and E along with Omega 3, 6, and 9 which all help with the damage my hair can go through, particularly during the dry winter months. I no longer need to use conditioner because doing a hot oil treatment every couple of weeks and touch up dabs every few days works wonders. My hair feels softer than it ever has and is never oily. Give it a try for yourself and I am confident you’ll love the experience.