Are You Doing Too Much using Natural Hair DIY Products?

As naturals, we use all sorts of things in our natural hair; from Aloe Vera, to Okra Gel, Palm Oil, Molasses Hair Mask, Guava Leaves, Rice Water Rinse, Onion Rinse, Clay Washes. 
Are we doing too much to our natural hair? What do you think? Here is my opinion.

Watch below or click here:

How to Know if a Product is Working for Your Child's Natural Hair

By DiscoveringNatural

As I was saying good night to my oldest daughter last night, she asked me this question: "How do I know if a product is working for my hair?" You see, over the years, I have been teaching my girls how to care for their hair. Click here to see them in action.

Here is my answer to her and I know that it can also help you with your hair as well as your child's natural hair.

What is the Purpose of the Product?
On all products, there is a purpose given to that product. Look at the product below and focus on the red circle.

This product claims to clarify, nourish, and grow. Let's focus on the CLARIFY portion because that is the claim that can immediately be seen after use. When your hair is well clarify, it is clean of all product buildup, dirt and grim. If after using your hair, your hair doesn't do what it claims it should do, then it is not the right product.

How Does Your Hair Feel After Using the Product
Understanding your hair is very important. If after using the product, your hair feels worse than it did before using the product, then it might not be the right product for you or your child.

Going back to the product, it claims to Strengthen, Grow, and  Restore. Let's focus on the STRENGTHEN part of that claim. If prior to using this product on a consistent basis  your hair does not feel strengthen (reduction in breakage), and your hair continues to be in the same state it was prior to use, then it might not be the right match for you.

Product Does What It Says It Will Do
Now, this is the best situation. If a product does what it says it will do, of course it could seem it is the best choice for you, however, make sure that in every season, the product still works well for you. There are some times when products that use to work, might no longer seem to work. This does not mean you need to get rid of the product, it just means that maybe you need to use the product in a different climate or environment, or with other products. Here's an example:

       Janet bought a new product, Jericho Moisturizing Cream. This product claims to leave hair feeling soft and hydrated. Janet uses this product after washing her hair and applying some extra virgin olive oil on her hair. The product has worked well for Janet for 6 months doing these steps: WASH, APPLY OIL, APPLY CREAM. One day, Janet decides to apply some gel in her hair after apply the Jericho Moisturizing Cream. The next day, her hair is dry, and several weeks of doing this, her hair continues to be dry. Janet decides to stop using the cream and goes in search for another moisturizing product.

In this scenario, it is not that the product Janet was using was not working, the issue was the gel that when combined with the cream, causes adverse effect. As naturals, we tend to like combining products and mixing different products, it is important to understand the ingredients and how the product works before attempting this.

If you like this blog post written by Sola of DiscoveringNatural, you can find her on her Youtube channel, DiscoveringNatural,  for more natural hair tips. Click here to visit her channel.

For The Product Junkies: How To Downsize Your Product Stash

Happy Friday everyone!

This post is dedicated to product junkies in recovery or attempting to do away with their lavish product lifestyle *wink*. I'm talking mission elimination. If you realised that you have too many products, or simply want to trim down and keep a standard few, keep reading to discover how you can do it without feeling like you just lost a part of you (lol)!

1. Function

The best question to ask is: Does the product work well, a.k.a does my hair love it? If not; toss, giveaway or sell it . If you can't decide whether or not your hair likes it, better to let it go. The aim of this exercise is to retain products that your hair absolutely loves. There is no use in keeping things that just barely work, or need a lot of "fixing" in order to be the bomb.

Might I suggest that this is a great opportunity to retain 2-in-1 products* such as bentonite or rhassoul clay (cleanser and conditioner),  oils which will work as sealants, scalp oils and preshampoo treatments, and conditioners which manufacturers say can be used as both treatments and leave-ins. Multifunctional  products will reduce your stash and save your cash.

2. Quantity

 When downsizing you want to limit your products to one in each category;

1 Sulfate free shampoo

1 Clarifying shampoo

1 Balanced conditioner

1 Moisturising conditioner

1 Protein conditioner

1 Leave-in conditioner/moisturiser

1 oil

1 heat protectant

1 setting lotion

3. Maintaining the current stash

Reducing your products is the easy part, the hard part comes in maintaining your now reduced stock. Implement a buy-to-replace policy. Only buy a new one when you are out of the existing type. E.g if I want a new sulfate free shampoo, I make sure I have finished the old one, or there is literally 2 or 3 cm left in the bottle.

Bonus tip. If you really, really want a new product ( and I mean REALLY), opt for the sample size as a tester. They are usually free or available at minimal cost. This has the effect of reducing the craving for a new product purchase whilst having little impact on the size of your stash. But just so you don't get out of hand with your product purchasing, set a limit. For example one sample size product every two or three months. And stick to it!

You will find that not only will you have reduced your stock, you will reduce on the amount of money you spend on products.

If all else fails and you can't let go, invite  hair friends over - they'll steal all your products from you, then you can go about point nr 2, and buy one of each category. You're welcome!

*except two in one shampoo and conditioner. This is really bad for your hair actually. I sense a demystifying post coming up

How do you go about downsizing your product stash?

Is The Product Junkie Phase Inevitable?

Hello everyone!

Compliments of the season!

'Product junkism' is a term that has been passed around a lot especially in the natural hair community. A lot people don't realize they are product junkies until it's pointed out to them. They're just used to stockpiling products(consciously or unconsciously) in their stash until it becomes a mini store.

As I was ruminating over this topic, I realised that many if not most naturals pass through the 'product junkie phase' at one point or the other. Some at the very beginning of their journey, others like me, at the middle. Somehow, you find yourself searching for that product that will keep your hair soft and manageable for a longer period.

For instance, I recently found out that my curls are 4a. Imagine the horror after claiming 4c for almost two years. Believe me when I say that single discovery changed the game for me. Before now, I wondered why my twists weren't as defined and voluminous like my 4c counterparts. I questioned a lot of things. My hair was highly porous and wasn't able to retain moisture extensively. Mind you, my hair was healthy even though I had to moisturize daily. But then, I met Natmaine at NITC12 and explained my predicament. Let's just say I had to go back to the drawing board. When I started my journey, I decided I wasn't gonna bother myself with technicalities like hair type and porosity. Right now, I'm not very such that was a good decision.

This new realization meant that that I had to change my techniques and search for 4a friendly products.

Hello, product junkism!

For a few months now, I've been trying out different products, searching for that moisturizer that will keep my hair moisturized. But instead of stocking products up, as much as my hoarding capacity can allow me, I'm giving them out.

So, back to my question.

Is the product junkism phase inevitable? Were you able to find your holy grail products without passing through that stage? Or are you like me? Let's give each other moral support.

Love, coils and curls.
eBunite