Did My Castor Oil Mix Go Bad?

[hot_pepper96]

I found a recipe on Pinterest for a Castor Oil Mix for my hair, which used a combination of Coconut oil, castor oil, and olive oil. I lowered the amount of castor oil because my hair is fine. Anyway, I was storing it in my bathroom cabinet and I hadn't used it in maybe 3 weeks. The next time I looked at it, which was 3 weeks ago, and it has like red swirly lines in it. Is it still okay to use? I've never seen anything like this before.

 

[kxlot79]

I've never seen that either. But when oil goes bad, in my experience, it has an unmistakably rancid smell.

Maybe your bottle had some other contaminant in it? If you weren't using the bottle for chemicals before, or at least nothing harmful, I wouldn't see anything wrong with continuing to use it...

On the other hand, most people would rather be safe than sorry.

HTH!

 

[hot_pepper96]

Thanks. That is exactly what I'm going to do. I can't trust it so I'm going to throw it out. Another question? Does Castor Oil have a expiration date? I bought two 16 oz bottles I believe in 2005 or 2006. Only one of them has been opened. I'm wondering if maybe I kept them for too long.

 

[snoop]

I think most oils are 1 to 2 years depending on the oil.

 

[Froreal3]

hot_pepper96 there is a sticky on the main forum for the shelf life of various oils.

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=664555

 

[kxlot79]

I personally view expiration dates more as suggestions than rules.

In my experience, the environment a product is kept in and the product's quality matter just as much as (if not more than) its age.

I rely more on changes in a product's color, texture, &/or smell than its expiration date. This is true especially for hair products.

More often, expiration dates refer to the degradation of a product than unusability. I've found that *sometimes* (especially in more ideal conditions), the loss of potency/efficacy of a product is negligible in the time between its expiration and when I finish using it. Generally, if I don't see mold, smell anything funky, experience a weird texture, or have the product substantially lose performance, I will continue to use it until it's gone...

HTH!

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