When I started making hair products it was out of necessity. There wasn’t anyone I could ask questions to in local hair shops or salons. They only knew what the labels were telling them, same as me. After researching and learning more about ingredients I would stand in Sally’s for hours going over labels. I just wanted something to hydrate, detangle and define. But everything made for curly hair that was promising either had ingredients I was allergic to or questionable ingredients like silicones. I often was settling for products that weren‘t what I needed because of a lack of available options.
The biggest issues I was finding is detangling my daughters super thick curly hair. Everything I tried was just lacking the required slip for those twists and tangles. I started researching what would create the best slip while protecting her strands. I spend some time discussing one of these ingredients in a previous post. Skipping ahead to my created products, I’ve found detangling her hair before and after washing can be super beneficial and hydrating making it easier to style. The detangler also works as a great pre-poo protecting our scalps from harsher oil stripping cleansers. Preparing your hair for cleansing can be a great time to encourage growth and scalp protection. Many shampoos strip natural oils away. Pre-poo can help minimize this. Some with thicker 4 hair types may want to section their hair before cleansing, this allows easier access to the scalp and helps you thoroughly cleanse away buildup. Now we have to find a good shampoo and figure out what our wash schedule should be. Not everyone can simply wash their hair. Shampoos without sulfates is a must. Try to find shampoos with aloe, bamboo, vegetable glycerin, etc. These ingredients help protect the Hair from being too dry. Ingredients like guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride and hyaluronic acid deeply moisturize your hair and make it appear fuller, even in shampoo. Try to avoid washing every day. Stretching your wash day to every three or four days is a great schedule for many hair types, others may need a little less. Over washing our hair can lead to more oils being produced and cause your scalp and hair to feel and appear greasy.
Conditioning your hair can be more than a simple one step process, even after finding the right products for your hair. Some find conditioning weighs their hair down. This can be avoided by using conditioners that are meant to soak into the hair strands. Ingredients like Hyaluronic Acid, hydrolyzed Quinoa/Silk/rice/etc. Others need heavier conditioners. Heavy conditioners can be used for styling (stretching and hold) as well as hair health. Ingredients like cocoa butter, beeswax, and Shea butter are heavier moisturizers that can help you stretch the coils out. A step often forgotten about is sealing your hair. You put all this work into finding a good wash schedule so you’re not stripping natural oils or causing your scalp to over produce oils. Taken the time to find the right moisturizers and detanglers. Don’t forget to add oils at the very end. Make sure hair is completely damp yet. In order to seal in moisture there must be moisture on the hair. Applying the oil to wet hair will lock that moisture in and prevent the hair from drying out. Babassu, coconut, jojoba, castor, and sunflower are all great options and relatively cost effective. You can also oil your scalp, it does not need to be wet to do this. Use small amounts to massage your scalp and apply the rest left in your hands to your strands. When applying oil while hair is dry, you need to be careful not to choose an oil to heavy for your hair and you want to use penetrating oils like avocado, olive, and macadamia nut oils. Be sure to not apply too much as you will weigh the hair down and will need to wash more to remove it. Next time let’s chat about styling gels and creams. We all know there are tons of options. It’s hard to choose but there are a couple things to watch for.