Yes, I said it: "Natural Hair Products are SO OVERRATED!"
The Natural Hair Industry is a multi-million dollar industry
that is founded on the basis that products black women have been using on our
hair for years and years and years are suddenly bad for us… My mother wasn’t using Shea Moisture to grow hair
down her back, she was using Pantene Pro-V. IJS.
I’m all for more natural products, but not if it costs me an arm and a
leg when it’s really not all that serious! And if it ain't broke, don't fix it... well, unless you can make it look broken and make million dollars off of it!
Natural Hair product junkies are often plagued with the
constant search for the ‘most natural,’ and ‘most healthy’ products to use on
their hair as certain things have been deemed to be bad for your hair. I’m writing this blog post NOT AS A
COSMETOLOGIST--because I am not-- but as a girl who has gone natural for the 3rd
time… but, this time, I am not wasting excessive amounts of my hard earned cash
on unnecessary hair products because someone thought it was healthier! According to Mintel, by the year 2020, women
will be spending $1.4 billion on hair products, a very large portion of that number
being natural hair products targeted at black women.
Here are a few things that I think every natural sista should keep in mind:
1) Too much of
anything is bad… Moderation is key. If
you apply too much of anything to your hair, the results may not be as they were intended. Any product. Any formula. Any excessive use of a thing can bring more harm than good. For example, if I apply gel to
my hair every day for a week, I’ll have a caked up head of gel. The gel will weigh down my curls and there
may be product residue built up. But, it's not the gels fault... it's my fault. I
could have just wet my hair a little bit and reactivated the gel that was already on my
hair OR washed my hair to prevent product build up.
2) Know what mixes
well… Like I said, too much of anything is bad. But so is a bad combination of things. I know a lot of people prefer
sulfate-free shampoos… but, I don’t have a problem with sulfates. Sulfates strip your hair... but that's not a problem in moderation. It gives you a fresh, clean slate for the products that you are going to apply. I strip my hair clean, so that I can build it
back up from the inside out. If you
never ever use a sulfate, then you could risk clogging the follicles of your hair due to product build up and that could stunt your hair’s growth. A lot of people blame sulfates in shampoos
for their lack of moisture when they just failed to moisturized their hair. Know what mixes well.
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| Picture source: Google Images |
4) What works for you,
works for you. You don’t need a
commercial or an article to tell you whether or not something works for your
hair. It’s not about what you use, it’s
about how you use it! Yes, healthy hair is important, but no one has
PERFECT hair.
5) The time you spend
reading ingredients on the Natural Hair aisle can be spent elsewhere.
6) The money you
spend on the Natural Hair aisle can also be spent elsewhere.
7) Again, I’m no
professional. But, these are my thoughts
on what works for my naturalness.
Thanks for reading!
Here are a few great articles that explain why sulfates,
parabens, and silicones aren’t that bad:
Silicones: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: https://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/kinky-hair-type-4a/silicones-good-bad-the-ugly/
Should You Avoid Parabens? Get the Natural Hair Facts.: http://www.curlynikki.com/2015/03/should-you-avoid-parabens-get-natural.html
Ask The Experts: When is it Okay to Use Sulfates on Your Curls?:
http://www.essence.com/2015/12/01/ask-experts-when-it-okay-use-sulfates-your-curls
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