Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Natural or Not?

Methylparaben, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamide DEA,Sodium benzoate,cetrimonium chloride, PROPYLENE GLYCOL just to name a few of the ingredients that I found while browsing the aisles in the Beauty Supply store. What's more interesting is that a lot of these ingredients I found in products that claimed to be natural, for natural black hair and even in some "Loc" products. Now I know I can be a little slow sometimes to understand some things...but most of us who decided to go natural whether wearing locs, a fro, or twists & braids, decided this route for a reason. In doing so we enter the realm of the unknown with hair care products. When I went natural my hair products did not. I still used products that claimed they were natural and had a black woman with nappy hair on the label but failed to understand fully what I was putting in my hair.

Growing up the trademark product for little black girls hair is grease. And back in the day it came in two choices Blue or Green Burgamont Hair grease. Not only did it smell, but I felt weighed down after getting my hair done. If you were seen with a dry scalp it meant your mamma didn't love you, so the greasier the better. Fast forward 20 years later we're now learning that petroleum and mineral oil found in most hair grease is bad for black hair care. We need to become more educated about our hair. Choosing to wear your hair natural means so much more than what's on the outside. The chemicals in shampoos, conditioners, moisturizers and loc sheens are harsh and dangerous. They only produce a layer of buildup which if you're a loc wearer in a few years you'll be complaining of your hair being dull & dry.

Instead stick to Water(daily moisturizing), Olive oil, Black Soap(shampoo), ACV rinses monthly (small amounts). Also don't get caught up in thinking your hair is supposed to shine like a freshly waxed Cadillac. Figure what your hair type is and appreciate it and be grateful you've got it!

Peace.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Very informative post. I fully endorse this. I myself do not use much product because I don't trust most of the products on the market that claim to be natural.

In fact I plan to experiment with making my own natural concoctions for my hair soon.

Titus 2 Thandi said...

It's posts like this that helped me on my journey as a newbie..Hmm,considering i'm only in my 11th month, I'm still a newbie I guess!

PhePhi said...

i couldn't have said it better myself. like chinue said, i don't trust most products on the market either. i use a spritz combo of water/almond oil/peppermint oil/aloe vera juice to spray on my braidlocz every day. i wash my hair w/dr. bronner's castille soap. THAT'S IT!! if my hair looks dull i'll rub a little almond or jojoba oil on it. thanks for the post sis!!

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