The Case for Crisco

Yep, you read that write this post is all about Crisco.  Crisco is well known for frying up chicken, making pie crusts and now for natural hair.  I know many of you are probably looking like o_O

and I get it because when I heard about it recently I had the same confused face.  I remember back to my childhood and my cousin’s friend Ki-Ki put Crisco in her hair because she was out of grease, we called her “fried-chicken-head” the entire weekend.  But passed the ad Hominem let’s look to the facts about Crisco.

Crisco was developed by Procter & Gamble back in 1911 as the first vegetable shortening as an alternative to lard.  Crisco is hydrogenated vegetable oil which is the process used to make oils a solid at room temperature (this process was originally developed for use in soap making). Crisco is specifically comprised of soybean oil, palm oil, mono- and diglycerides, tbhq and citric acid; so basically its oils, emulsifiers and preservatives.  Hmm doesn’t sound so bad, right?

Crisco can be used in the same manner you would use any solid state oil or butter (coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, etc) for natural hair which would be as a sealant to seal in moisture.  You can also use a pad of Crisco as a pre-poo to help soften the hair though I have to admit I imagine it looks something like this : 

–its better if you don’t ask why exactly this video exists or look at any others on this channel.

All jokes aside I do live by the motto if it’s good enough to eat, it’s good enough to put on your hair.  As on overall reminder oils/butters do not moisturize hair, rather they are used to seal in moisture as part of the layering process.  If you are interested in using Crisco it is fairly cheap to try and if you do not like you can always whip up a batch of cookies.  Below is a hair recipe for Crisco hair pudding:

Vannesa’s Crisco Cream

• 1/2 cup Crisco (or any vegetable shortening)
• 2 Tablespoons Castor oil
• 1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon Aloe Vera gel

Place ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until well blended.

And there you have it folks, the case for Crisco.  I must admit even after knowing all this I still cannot bring myself to use it, but you never know what I might do in a pinch.  What about you, are you convinced?

Credits: derby city naturals