People send us photos of hair oils from Downtown, from Instagram sellers and from supermarkets asking one question: is this price right? Here is the map.
What things cost
- Rosemary oil, ready to use, 30 to 60 ml: UGX 30,000 to 45,000.
- Batana oil, 60 to 100 ml: UGX 40,000 to 70,000. Real batana is thick, brown and smells smoky; pale yellow "batana" in a big bottle is not.
- Hair growth shampoo, 200 to 400 ml: UGX 25,000 to 45,000.
- Scalp serum with caffeine or peptides, 30 to 50 ml: UGX 35,000 to 60,000.
- Nourishing hair oil blends (argan, castor, jojoba), 100 ml: UGX 25,000 to 40,000. Ours is UGX 24,000.
These are Kampala retail prices for products that are what they say they are. Delivery adds UGX 10,000 in Kampala and more upcountry, so a UGX 35,000 oil delivered is UGX 45,000 at the door.
Four signs of a fake
- The price is a third of everyone else's. Nobody imports real oil at a loss.
- The label has no ingredients list, or lists "natural extracts" and nothing else. A real product names the oils and their order.
- It smells like perfume. Rosemary smells herbal and sharp, castor is almost odourless, batana is smoky. A sweet floral smell means fragrance oil.
- The seal is missing or re-glued. Refilled bottles are common. A factory seal is uneven and tears; a re-glued one peels.
What is worth paying more for
Not the brand name. Pay for the concentration and the form. A ready-diluted oil you can apply straight to the scalp is worth more than a tiny bottle of pure essential oil you have to mix yourself and can burn with. A shampoo with a named active, like caffeine or ketoconazole for a flaky scalp, is worth more than a "growth" shampoo that is really just a mild cleanser.
Where the money goes
If you have UGX 50,000 for the month: a rosemary oil at UGX 35,000 and a basic moisturising leave-in. If you have UGX 100,000: add a growth shampoo and a silk bonnet, which protects more hair than any oil. The hair care range has all of them, with prices shown before you add anything.
