I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if the first thing you wanna know is “What the heck is ghee butter?” Or, more specifically, what is clarified butter? Good question.
Basically, butter is made up of butterfat, water, and milk solids. When butter goes through the clarifying process, only the butterfat remains. When it’s going through a particular clarifying process that started in Southeast Asia, it’s known as “ghee” (which is Sanskrit for “sprinkled””>.
Anyway, I started using ghee butter because, earlier this year, I stumbled on an article about all of the health benefits that it has. Not only is ghee butter loaded with vitamins A, D, E, and K, it’s also lactose-friendly and has a pretty impressive shelf life (there’s no need to refrigerate it and it can last for a century!”>. Ghee butter also lowers cholesterol levels, maintains gut health, aids in weight loss and, because it lubricates connective tissue, it can even make you more flexible (plus, it evens out skin tone and hydrates dry skin, too”>.
But what does all of this have to do with my hair? That’s also a good question.
Image by iStock/skyNext
One day, while perusing YouTube, I put the word “ghee” in, just to see what some vloggers had to say—and boy, did they say a lot (you can watch some of the videos here, here and here“>! So many were talking about how ghee butter is an awesome pre-poo and hair detangler, while also being a way to prevent split ends and hair fall, that I had to give it a shot. I picked up a couple of jars of Kelapo Ghee Clarified Butter at my local Walmart, and headed home to see what all of the hype was about.
Here’s my take on it.
Ghee butter kind of reminds me of coconut oil, in the sense that although it starts off solid, once it comes in contact with body heat, it melts into a liquid. Although some people complain about the smell (it’s a got a mild nut-like scent to it”>, that doesn’t really bother me (plus, you can put some essential oils in it to defuse the smell”>.
Since I was looking for an oil that I could apply to my hair on a daily basis, that’s what I used it for. I do like the fact that it’s not super-greasy, and it does seem to absorb into my scalp quickly and easily. What does drive me a little batty is the butter has a slight gritty feel, and can sometimes leave a little bit of residue in my hair if I don’t spend a few minutes rubbing it all in.
Because of that, I don’t really use ghee butter as a go-to maintenance hair oil anymore. Sometimes what I will do is melt a couple of teaspoons of it, along with a teaspoon of olive oil, and use it as a hot oil treatment. Now that? That is an amazing way to try ghee, because it brings a lot of sheen to your hair (it’s one of the best ways I’ve experienced in a while!”>.
I guess my bottom line with it is, if you’re looking for a low-maintenance kind of hair oil, ghee butter is probably not your best bet. But as a pre-poo or hot oil treatment, you can’t get much better than it. You really can’t!
Have you ever tried ghee butter? Are you interested in trying it? Share your thoughts and experiences with us in the comments below!
