Last week, one of my friends was reminiscing about when she was a child living in Southern China decades ago.
One of the things she remembers is women putting gel on their hair that makes their hair slick and shiny.
She recollects being told the gel was made from a tree.
Anyone knows the name of the tree?
What part of the tree is used for making the gel?
How is the gel made?
Thanks.
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About Norma Chang
I am the author/publisher of 2 user-friendly Chinese cookbooks:
"My Students' Favorite Chinese Recipes (updated edition)" and
"Wokking Your Way to Low Fat Cooking"
A gardener who enjoys cooking and eating and loves to think outside the box
A garden volunteer at Locust Grove Heritage Vegetable Garden
Conduct hands-on cooking workshops for teenagers
Conduct cultural programs for children and family
Conduct healthy cooking classes for adults
Garden to Wok 
Is it just in Southern China? I have no connections there, unfortunately. I do in Taiwan but they probably don’t put gel in their hair. 🙂
Hello Maureen,
I don’t kow if it is just in Southern China, I don’t know much about the practice in Taiwan, may be some people there do also.
Don’t know about the gel, but I’ve been using Organix Moroccan argan oil which makes my hair shiny. Previously used Biosilk for same result, but Organix is lower priced.
Hello Jo,
Where do get those products?
Any drug store, Target or Walmart. Like another reader, I’ve also heard of deep conditioning your hair with coconut oil.
Hello Jo,
Thanks, I am going to look into this.
Could it be zaojiao 皂角 / Chinese honeylocust? The gel looks deep black..
Hello Angie,
When you say the gel looks deep black, how do you get the gel? From the leaves or the pods?
From what I know it’s from the pods. But how to extract them is unknown to me.
Hello Angie,
Thanks, I will pass the info onto my friend.
I can’t help you on this one, but I hope someone can. I’m curious myself.
Hello Marta,
I hope so too, will post if I get an answer.
I wish I knew about this my friend this gel sounds interesting!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Hello Uru,
I am hoping someone in the blogging world can give me an answer.
If Malaysia, coconut oil… 🙂
I don’t know!
It is all so intriguing. I will keep searching.
Hello Linda,
Please post the info you find.
i guess it’s amber gel,
perhaps……
Hi Norma, I thought the tea tree, a native of Australia, was what we were looking for. Upon further investigation, I found the tea tree oil at a health food store. It did not smell like something that you would put on your hair. The search goes on!
Hello Linda,
Hopefully we will find the answer we are looking for.