What do you guys think? Do you only look for products that use models that look similar to you?
xoxo
Here’s the twitpic with my hair with the condish only:
12 thoughts on “Using Products That Aren’t “For” Your Natural Hair”
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What do you guys think? Do you only look for products that use models that look similar to you?
xoxo
Here’s the twitpic with my hair with the condish only:
Comments are closed.
questfortheperfectcurl.com 
My favorite shampoo of all time isn’t for “us” either. Nexxus Therappe. I had natural hair until I left for college, and this always felt great on my hair. No tangles, good moisturizing, etc.
So when I wound up natural again, I tried several of the new things for natural hair, and nothing measured up so I was glad I had this on hand. None of the things that people tout felt good on my hair at all.
I’ve never seen anyone else mention it, but I also love that since the company sold the name it is now mass market (it used to be a salon product but people were reselling it so much in other outlets that the company kind of gave up and started over with another line, which in my opinion is inferior to this original formulation).
Oh, Nexxus Humectress is really similar to a lot of the creamy moisturizers too. Again, much cheaper, and available in stores. I think it gets ignored b/c it has mineral oil and was never marketed to black women, but again, was great on my hair in high school, and I have always had a lot of hair and had no problems with those ingredients. (it would be like KBB Hair Milk/Ambrosia, whatever it is called now).
I don’t know, I’ve only ever had to rely on “natural” or “black” products for greases, butters, sheens, and of course, when I had one, relaxers and the related accessory products.
After my BC four months ago, I got a major case of the PJs trying to figure out which products would be my HGs. I got sooo frustrated with trying to weed out the mineral oil, petrolatum, parabens, sulfates, and whatnots. No more BSS for me. womp womp.
And then I discovered shea butter! And then I discovered…. Oyin (*ahhhhhhhh*)!
And honestly I’m still kinda confused but I’m having a good ol’ time with my products lol. Seriously though, I do tend to be skeptical about brands like Garnier, Aussie, and Herbal Essences, which tend to be marketed toward people who do not have hair like mines. But I do like to smell good, and Hello Hydration IS a kickass detangler. I can’t really afford a lot of the higher-end, organic stuff. Shea Moisture is the best I can do. And my hair likes it. End rambling 🙂
my mother was a beautician when i was younger, so i grew up with salon products, products that weren’t necessarily for “us”. i’ve carried that over into my natural journey, but it is nice to see models with hair like mine.
i can’t believe you went out and bought that damn tangle teezer! i knew right from jump that crap wouldn’t work on my hair, so thanks for confirming it. oh, and share that twitpic with us!
Wait wait no! I love my Tangle Teezer! I just can’t detangle on dry hair with ANYTHING because it picks my hair out like nobody’s business! I’ll add the twitpic to the post. 🙂
Yes I certainly agree with you for us to review the ingredients to find out if this product regardless of advertising is right for you and your hair. I know when I go into any store with hair products I be looking my a** off to see what could work and not work by reading ingredients. At same time I think the controversy around our hair and textures come communicated to us to “only use” what has our face advertised for the product. Now there are companies making products universally for all hair types. I think for some of us who get easily frustrated for our hair, we find hope at the end of the tunnel (metaphorically speaking) as we see someone on the advertisement or in the media with our hair type and a hair regimen we can follow.
I will say I can be guilty also to look at an advertisement and think well they must have ingredients specially customized for my hair type. Why not buy and test? We do know some of the products aimed towards our hair STILL may not work for our hair. We all have our own unique hair that may or may not like what others use. Then you think Mixed Chicks, at least I did, I was like is this only for biracial people like Blended Beauty. It would not stop me from trying it. It get rather confusing for us who are following hair forums, Youtubers, reading hair articles, and looking at entertainment stars and guessing what should be or should not be used on our hair. I think most of us have been taught to think that it is not good to use products considered for white people on our hair. My aim is to find moisturizing ingredients regardless who they are advertising to.
Wow! I heard the Blended Beauty story, and ,yes, that put me off of trying their products. But I completely agree with you. Who cares about the advertising! The first line that I was really into was Curls. I went into a salon looking for Miss Jessie’s (I was a newbie…) and they said “we don’t carry that anymore, but we do have CURLS…” And that is when I started experimenting with products.
The problem is the misconception that our hair is composed of different stuff! And it’s not it just looks different. 🙂
HA! “Beachy-Wavy that somebody scrunched up in her head.” HA! LMBO! That was so funny! In any case, I use whatever works. I have chosen not to try mixed chicks (sp?) for the same reasons as you. I can’t handle a ton of glycerine or protein, well not as a leave-in. I mean, when my hair was relaxed I would usually do a wash/condition with products marketed to white people, and then style with black hair care products. But now, with my natural hair, I like the fancy stuff.
And another point, I don’t like the scent of most products that are supposed to be for black hair!! I like fresh n’ clean, or sweet. But they tend to make black hair care products smell like burnt vaseline, or just sweaty a**!! It ain’t right!
LOL! Well let me clarify, when I say products “for” us, I mean a lot of people were criticizing companies that ARE the “good” stuff, like Curls, Kinky Curly, Mixed Chicks, Blended Beauty, Curl Junkie, etc….all because they either didn’t like the name, models, or felt as if they were not being “catered to” enough on the site. I wasn’t really talking about BSS products, because we all know those are icks. I can see not using Blended Beauty because they had some drama with a biracial forum a few years ago and pretty much said they didn’t want black people using their stuff, but people perceived companies using more models with 3b hair rather than 4a/b as them dismissing consumers with that hair type. Personally, I didn’t find it that deep. I encourage people to send in photos of their hair to these companies if they feel underrepresented, or to buy it anyway. I RARELY look at models because they are always wearing wigs and weaves in commercials/marketing ads anyway.
I’ll admit that I had never thought to try the Gionanni line of products, cause I just didn’t think they were “For” black hair, but that is now my favorite conditioner, so it just goes to show, just because you may not be the target market for a product, doesn’t mean it cant’ be beneficial to you.
As long as Im okay with the ingredients, I use whatever I like. When I see the Tresemme commercials for their Avocado and Aloe conditioner I see white women hair. Im not white but I be using the ish outta that conditioner!!
Also, Aussie isnt marketed towards me but that joint half way empty!! xD
But I know what you mean, since some of my relaxed friends are a little surprised when the see my stash of Herbal Essences and CHI and all my other “white marketed” products.
However at the same time when I was at Target, I saw a handful of white people (men and women) shopping in the Ethnic Hair Care aisle. I will admit though, I was thinking “You know you in the WRONG aisle 0_0”
And one time when I was browsing the hair boards one lady admitted to shopping in the ethnic aisle because its cheaper than other commercial products…
I know this is off topic, but gurl what nail polish is that? I love it!
Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in Sonic Boom. I love these polishes b/c they really dry in like a couple of minutes so they’re great if I want to paint my nails quickly before I go out!
Oh so true! I have opened up so much more about hair since ‘going natural’. Ingredients and knowing your hair are the keys…and having a good sensai like Elle. :