MANE-tenance Talk

In keeping with my theme this year to use and ingest more natural, quality products in my diet, I’ve decided to do the same with my hair.  Having my hair cut short has really given me an opportunity to see what truly works for my hair and what doesn’t.  There have been some surprises along the way. Below are some of the products I’ve experimented with over the past couple of weeks.

Moroccan Oil: Regardless of whether this is still a fad or not, I can honestly say that this doesn’t do anything for my hair. In fact, it really just dries it out. I’ve noticed over the past week or two that not only does my hair lose some of its curl when I use this, but mid-day, my mane is just looking shaggy as anything. I am not a fan.

Coconut Oil:  This was a surprise for me since I’ve been using this for a little while. Shockingly enough, this also does not do anything for my hair except dry it out in the end. At first it seems to really respond, but then it somehow falls flat. I used to put it on my hair the night before I’d shampoo it, but I noticed the last time I did this not only did it just kind of cake on my hair and not soak in, but my hair also kind of dried out a little bit. It was just weird. I am also not a fan.

Olive oil: Finally, something that works! My hair perks up and darkens nicely when I use olive oil. The only downside is I smell like a salad for a few hours.

Macademia Nut Oil: This one’s expensive, but man does it work!!  My hair really responds nicely to this. All of the curl comes back to my hair and it gets dark. I am a HUGE fan. This is my number one oil choice.

Yogurt:  I am also a HUGE fan of treating my hair with a yogurt mask. If you want some extra protein, you can add an egg or egg white to it and then put it in. This really worked. My hair grew a lot within the week after I did that. I’ve also used a yogurt mask with olive oil in it, and that worked nicely as well. What’s nice about the yogurt is that it is a gentle cleanser, it gets rid of dandruff, and if you have curly hair it gives your curls a nice boost. I highly recommend this treatment.

Honest Hair Nothing But Curl Wake-Up Spray: I’ll be honest—I’m not quite sure what this spray “wakes up”. I don’t really see a difference in my hair when I use this product and once I run out (it doesn’t harm it, it just doesn’t help), I probably won’t be buying it again.

Honest Hair Nothing But Curl Pure Pudding:  I L-O-V-E this product. Period. Yes, it does cake on after a few days and you have to co-wash it out or rinse your hair out, but it does what the wake-up spray probably should do.  When my hair is looking more fluffy than curly, I put some of this in and POW! I get some bangin’ curls for my ‘fro. This is a definite keeper.

As I Am Coconut Co-Wash: Perhaps it’s because of the coconut oil in it, but I’m not a fan of this. It really dries out my hair. I’m going to finish the jar, but once it’s done I’m going to be switching to Honest Hair Nothing But Curl’s co-wash and see how that works. Not a fan of this product.