The blogs, the Gurus, the ‘experts’ always tell you do this or that to your hair because that’s the best method of hair care and the fact is if you don’t follow these conventional steps, your hair will break die and never grow! To ‘H-E double hockey sticks’ with all that, here are 3 unconventional aspects of hair care and wear that might get a side eye from that hair perfectionist.
Using mineral oil as a sealant – ‘O M GEE’ why in the world would you put mineral poison in your hair, don’t you know that stuff leads to icky bacteria that can eat your strands and make them disappear? Yea well not quite! If you need something with some sealing power, let me tell ya mineral oil* is the one for the job. Mineral oil* is also known as paraffinium liquidum and due to its dense properties it can seal in water or your favorite leave in conditioner* without any worry of dryness after 1 hour or even a few days of application.
Like much of the stuff we extract from the ground including water, mineral oil is considered dirty and is refined and purified for everyday use and can be found in many of our favorite pharmaceutical products. However, like with anything else you shouldn’t use too much especially if you don’t like that greasy feeling most oils* tend to give your hair.
Tip: If you are having a problem with sealing moisture on your ends and you feel a little intimidated by the naysayers, just try it and don’t tell anyone, my lips will be just as sealed as those strands.
Using cones as a sealant and part of your hair care regimen – Sweet baby Jesus please tell me I didn’t just use a conditioner that had silicone or dimethicone in it, because you know what they say about cones, they coat the hair and trick you into thinking you hair feels healthy when truthfully its dying on the inside. The truth about cones is that they are manufactured; silicone is created using silicon and oxygen.
Dimethicone is a type of silicone and based on the weight will be used for various things. The higher the weight of dimethicone the more industrial the use, the lower weighted dimethicone is found in personal care products and hair products and acts as an unnatural sealant a very good one at that. So good that you will have to clarify your hair to remove them most of the times! Other cool points for cones include, great slip in the shower, ease of detangling and shine.
Tip: if you want to flat iron* your hair one of the ways to protect the strands is by using a product with some cones in it to act as a semi heat barrier. Due to the properties of the cones they act as a very resistant sealant and can help with protecting the hair strand from heat application. (Still use your heat protectant* but if you want a little more help, cones can be a great backup plan.)
Not wearing protective styles – So you don’t ‘protect’ your hair and somehow you can’t seem explain all this fabulous growth and retention your having when you never ever twist , cornrow, and lock your hair up for weeks at a time. The truth is low manipulation is great for your hair because it is less prone to damage when you aren’t twisting and spinning it in a hundred different ways.
How you choose to practice low manipulation is entirely up to you and is never dictated by anyone else. Many women choose to just leave there hair out and enjoy the freedom of loose strands. Growth is not determined by the number of days in lockup but rather a host of different things such as overall health, moisture, protein, stress level and much more.
If you are an ‘out’ type of girl; don’t be afraid that it will cause your hair not to grow, or retain length.Just use your best judgment! Obviously in the middle of hurricane winds with debris flying everywhere is probably not a good time to rock that blowout.
What unconventional methods have you added to your hair care routine that has worked perfectly for you?
It seems like every since I used henna on my hair, cones have been a “no, no”… My hair feels like plastic when I use them. It dries hard and crunchy. BB castor and aloe hair lotion has mineral oil in it somewhere in the middle of the ingredient list and my hair loves this stuff (hate the smell of it though). I’m so mad that I bought trillions of other stuff that didn’t work for me prior to this. I don’t even bother using heat anymore or wearing my hair out. I’ve gotten lazy. (Protective styles every day wash twice a week and repeat)
Nice hair .
Fine out what work for your hair no two people will use the same product and it work, it’s a long journey for some and for other they can use just water and it work.. So ladies fine what work for u give it some time see if it’s for you if not try something else. We are all naturally beautiful. No comparing .