Dominique Upshur Choosing Natural Hair Products
If you’ve got questions about choosing natural hair products, you’ll love this easy how-to guide and advice from guest blogger Dominique Upsher of Coily-Hair.com, a licensed cosmetologist with a studio in Brentwood, TN.
Choosing the right natural hair products for your hair doesn’t have to be a challenge! There are a few things that you’ll want to keep in mind, of course, but pretty much everything you need to know you can tell from the ingredients. Over time you’ll learn what your hair likes, what to avoid and you’ll have created a hair regimen that works for you.
When I first graduated from cosmetology school and started working with natural hair, I found myself buying up everything in sight, searching for that one miracle product. Thankfully, I’ve learned a lot since then, and I’m excited to share my findings!
Hair all ready to be washed!
Shampoos
There are a couple different types of shampoos. The first one being a clarifying shampoo. You’ll want to use one of these every few months to pull all the toxins out of your hair.
You know that feeling your hair gets when suddenly your hair products don’t seem to work anymore? I hear this all the time! That’s when you know you need to clarify. It means your hair needs to reset itself! Another time you may want to clarify is before you install a protective style such as box braids, crochets or a sew-in. Before putting your hair away for an extended length of time, go ahead and clarify.
There is also the moisturizing shampoo, which is your typical every week ‘poo. You may come across one that is sulfate-free. These types of cleansers maintain the natural oils on the scalp and hair, which ultimately leaves your hair with more moisture.
Conditioners
Deep, rinse-out and leave in, they each are applied for a different reason. A deep conditioner (sometimes called a hair masque) is pretty standard, and you’ll want to do this every month or so. Natural hair is pretty hard to over condition, so don’t be afraid of that.
These hair treatments work best when heat is applied, which helps to open the cuticle. If a hooded dryer isn’t available, you can always cover the conditioner with a plastic bag and wrap a towel around your head like a turban to keep your body heat in.
A Rinse out conditioner is just your run of the mill conditioner. Anytime shampoo touches your hair, you need to follow up with a conditioner. I like to go ahead and detangle the hair while my conditioner is in to help prevent breakage.
And finally, a leave in conditioner is typically in a liquid form. 99% of my clients can’t get away with just a leave in conditioner, and also need a moisturizer, something creamy, to really leave their hair moisturized. A leave in is more so for when your hair is already styled and just needs a moisturizer freshener.
Properly Moisturized Hair
Moisturizers
I could talk about moisturizers all day. This is my absolute favorite step! The African American hair scene has changed a lot: No more pink lotion, we want real moisture! Something I always check for is that the first ingredient is water. Water is your most pure form of moisture. You can NOT moisturize without it. You want to understand as many of the ingredients as possible. I love to see things like shea butter, cocoa butter, mango butter, things that I know are good for my hair!
The second thing I check for is what I DON’T want to see in it. I don’t wanna see any mineral oil, parabens, phthalates, and no petroleum. I don’t wanna see any drying ingredients such as alcohol! The more natural and organic, the better! If you have access to vegan, natural or organic hair products, definitely spend the extra money for it! Your hair will thank you!
Oils
You can’t really go wrong with your oil selection. Just make sure that you’re using pure oils. Some stores will have cheap imitations that will just weigh your hair down and leave it greasy. Your local Whole Foods or Amazon are typically better than your neighborhood beauty supply store.
Holding Products
Now, I know that baby hair and having your edges sntached is all the rage right now, but you wanna be careful with how much tension you’re putting on your hairline. For most of us, this area gets the most wear and tear. The area around our face is what we see, and we want it to look good!
I have a couple tricks for when it comes to edges: I like to go ahead and prep them ahead of time so that I don’t have to manhandle them. Applying a holding product and then tying your hairline down flat is a great way to smooth your edges. No need to keep brushing your edges each day! Once they’ve been smoothed down, you can just touch them up with a little additional edge control and tie them down before bed.
We’ve found quite a few gems over the years. Some brands that we love are: Moisture Love hair products, Beija Flor Naturals, and Kera Veda. Some companies will even let you purchase small samples to test out before committing to the whole bottle.
About the Author: Dominique is a licensed cosmetologist. She’s been doing hair professionally since she graduated from Paul Mitchell The School of Nashville. She owns her own hair studio in Brentwood, TN where she resides with her husband, son and daughter. In between working and juggling her family, she enjoys shopping and working on her website: Coily-Hair.com.
