Knowing what is in your products

As I've mentioned before, I plan to provide a lot of information about natural hair and general hair care on this blog. So, to get the ball rolling, I'm going to try to cover a couple of major topics in hair care over the next couple of months. I could just jump in and tell you what to use and what not to use, what to do and not to do, and move on. However, I would rather tell you things that will help you to understand why you are choosing one product over the other. Let's get started, shall we?

I want you to take a look at all of the products that you have for your hair. Forget what the commercial says about making your hair longer and 20X stronger. Forget what the bottle says about providing moisture to your thirsty hair. Instead, turn that bottle of shampoo, conditioner, hair grease, leave in, or what have you, over. Get used to doing that. Those long lists of words under "ingredients" actually mean something. They are what really tell you about the product. The first thing that you should realize is that the ingredients are listed in order of quantity. So, the more of an ingredient there is in the product, the higher on the list it will be. Therefore, you should glance over the entire product list, but pay special attention to the first five ingredients, as they are what make up the bulk of the product. What ingredients are you looking for? I'm glad you asked.

Water: The ultimate moisturizer! A moisturizer isn't a true moisturizer if it doesn't have this as the the first ingredient. This is good for conditioners, leave ins, or daily moisturizers to have.

Humectants: These are meant to draw moisture into the hair or skin and help to retain it. Honey, glycerin, propylene glycol,sorbitol, just to name a few, are all humectants. These are good to have in leave in conditioners. Since they enable the retention of moisture, it should be used in a water based product. Also, for you ladies trying to maintain the sleek and straight look (naturals and relaxed), that is probably not the time to draw moisture in the hair (read: from straight--> fro). So avoid them during those special moments when you need your hair to stay straight.

Petrolatum & Mineral Oil: These two ingredients block moisture from getting into the hair. Things with this are better used as sealants (or I prefer not at all), but SHOULD NOT be used as a moisturizer.They do not moisturize! So all of those hair greases that you think are moisturizers? Turn them over, and see how, more than likely, these two ingredients are in the top 5 (or even the first 2). Get rid of them or push them to the side. You will continue to have dry hair if you use these as moisturizers and be left wondering why your hair isn't getting anywhere.

Silicones: also known as cones, are the long list of ingredients that end in -cone. Dimithecone, cyclomethicone, trimethicone, etc. Now, some people will say that silicones are bad and block moisture from the hair. Not entirely true. Silicones can have a lot of benefits (shine, softness, color retention, manageability). The problem is that people tend to use heavy silicone laden products (ie: serums) on a daily basis that build up on the hair shaft and overtime, this results in dry hair. There are different types of silicones, some of which are water soluble and some which aren't. The ones that aren't take several washes to remove (ie: pure dimethicone). Another time when the issue of cones arises is in those people who follow a no poo regimen. For now, I'll say that if you are going to use a silicone product, try to stick to those that are water souble like PEG/PPG manufactured (PEG-modified dimethicone) and dimethicone copolyol. I personally try to avoid cones all together.

Proteins: some products will claim to strengthen your hair but not have one protein in the whole ingredient list! Proteins maintain the strength of your hair. Without it,your hair strands would become weak and susceptible to heavy breakage. The hair shaft is composed of protein. Relaxers break these bonds, making it more important for you to maintain your protein levels if you are relaxed. I will have to do a specific post for proteins later, as there is much more to choosing the correct protein for your hair. But, here are some proteins, just so that you get an idea of what to look for: keratin, wheat protein, milk protein, silk amino acids, collagen, panthenol, biotin, and animal protein. Remember that I said that the higher up the list an ingredient is, the more there is in the product? Keep this in mind for future topics when I talk about moisture protein balance. Proteins are most important to consider when looking at conditioners and daily moisturizers/leave ins.

Detergents: These are cleansing agents found in shampoos. This is another topic that I will go into detail with in the future. For now, know that there are harsh detergents and softer detergents. The most common ones are the sulfates: sodium laureth sulfate, sodium lauryl sulfate, & ammonium lauryl and laureth sulfates. All of these are harsh, rapidly strip the hair of all product buildup as well as moisture, and for the most part, should only be reserved for clarifying and followed by a good deep conditioning treatment (more on these later)....Milder detergents include cocamidopropyl betaine and . For now, look for labels that say SLS free, or sulfate free.

Oils: With the exception of the three oils that have been scientifically proven to be able to penetrate the hair shaft (olive oil, coconut oil, & avocado) to provide conditioning effects (great as pretreatments), oils do not moisturize! When asked what they do for moisturizing, many people say " I oil my hair." No. Oils should be used to seal in the nice moisturizer that you've chosen with water in it! Why is that? Because, if you remember from science class, water and oils don't mix. So by you layering a water based moisturizer with an oil, you're preventing (or at least slowing) the water based product from evaporating from the cuticle shaft.

Butters: many natural butters have special healing, moisturizing, anti-aging, and other properties. There are so many butters: cocoa butter, avocado butter, mango butter,Shea butter,etc. Shea butter, for example, has a lot of fats that make it suitable for staying on the hair shaft. However, it is best served as a sealant, although some people do have luck using strictly shea butter as a moisturizer. I would suggest doing what I do and mixing it with a water based product, or layering it on top of the moisturizer after the oil.

Whew....there you go. Use this as a starter list to assess the things that you currently use in your hair and to make needed modifications. Become knowledgeable about what the products you are buying are doing for your hair and why you are using it. This is one of the essential foundations for healthy hair growth. Don't worry. In no time, you'll be an expert at this!

Happy hair growing!

Bee