I recently attended a natural hair event. While it was good for those who were on the verge of transitioning or those who were brand new to the idea of caring for their own hair, it did very little to address the practical side of hair care.
The idea of caring for your own hair sounds great but the reality of the day to day aspects of hair care it is where most people give up.
Unsurprisingly majority of the women at the event had locs; long, short, thick and thin, they were all out in their droves. On the day there seemed to be a misconception that to go natural you have to grow locs, obviously we know that’s not the case but that’s a subject for another day.
The area where many of us get confused at the beginning of our hair journey’s is product selection, in particular, deciphering the ingredients in each bottle of shampoo, conditioner or styling product you purchase.
Knowledge is power so giving yourself the opportunity to learn what to look for when purchasing new products is way more useful than random product recommendations that may or may not work for you.
Giving you a breakdown of every ingredient you will ever encounter would also be way too much information, and truthfully rather boring. All you want is to know what to buy right?
Well, we all know the red flag ingredients like sulfates and petrolatum/mineral oil* but a lot of us still don’t completely understand ingredient lists in general. Most importantly you should know that ingredients are always listed in the order of their volume in the formulation of the product. Simply put there will be more of the first ingredient than the last one in the product.
In the US the minimum meat content allowed to be labelled as ‘Pork Sausages’ is 42%. Now I don’t know about you but if my sausages are more than half made of anything other than meat, they are not worth my money. ‘Pork flavored breadcrumbs’ would be a more accurate description of these sausages. The same principle applies to hair products.
If you are buying an oil based hairdress or hair butter, you want to make sure that the headline ingredient shows up as one of the first few ingredients in the list. No point advertising a product as a coconut oil* hairdress when another oil is the first ingredient but manufacturers do this all the time. Take a look at the example on the next page:
the blue magic has Petrolatum for a first ingredient, petrolatum clog the pores on ur scalp, thats bad. Its better for your hair when your hair products are water base, as in water as the first ingredient….
I have been natural for all my 50+ years, always used grease. Can you explain how my hair is mbl with so called clogged pores
My late mom used grease & water Sulfur 8, posner bergamot,Dixie Peach & others)on my hair when i was a kid & my hair was long down my back & healthy. As a teen i had one horrific relaxer that took it out, then went to a huge afro in the 70s ( used Afro Sheen,Vitapointe, Pink Oil Lotion, Blue Alberto VO5), then a curly perm til 2009. Now back to natural. I tried a lot of the new products: Carol’s Daughter, Shea Moisture,Curls, & my staple, Qhemet Biologics. I was so glad to see so many new products for our hair, but I ‘d been surprised by all the anti grease talk since we all used it back in the day & had healthy hair , so i never really accepted that view.But this past winter,which has been super snowy with seriously dry air that was causing my hair to split & break even tho I wore a wig as winter protection for the past 2 winters. So I decided to go back to grease last December: Blue Magic, Dax & Pink Oil Lotion. ! I use it to seal my twists after using a water based leave in, like the Qhemet products, or just plain water. I hadn’t used any grease since around 1980, & just like back in the day ,my hair stays soft & moist between washes & I’m retaining length. No more broken pieces of hair in the shower, & split ends. I think it’s best to do what works for YOUR HAIR and to pick products from both old school & new school. Kinky Curly has been my summer staple for the past 3 summers but from now on ,grease will be my fall/ winter staple !
well to each his own….I am jus sharing the info I kno that has helped me…..I am not the only natural person who shares the same sentiment
Lies. If you use a sulfate shampoo then it will not.
My hair loves that blue magic..idk why…but I do put water on my hair before hand…so that takes care of that.
same here. i use it as a sealant. i learned to do what’s best for me and not what other people think i should do.
loool blue magic i can’t believe people still use that stuff
I pick what suits me I’m not one to get all caught I this all natural this all natural that…don’t use this don’t use that…sometimes naturals go way over board as if being natural began yesterday….
Agreed. Only we know what works best for our own hairl.
Amen sista!!!!
I’ve been natural all my life, and this always does my hair just fine..if I use it right
I do not like As I Am line. Does nothing for my hair. Judging by the post, blue magic works best. Go figure.
Blue is great especially when I do my knot outs. .
I only use jojoba oil, coconut oil, black castor oil, olive oil, Shea butter…I read labels b4 anything goes into my hair…
I haven’t seen a bald headed person yet from using blue magic I use it in my kids hair and my own
Stil use blue magic in my daughters hair but da younger one hair obsorbs it way to quickly idk no wat to use in her hair any more.. can sum one give my sum advice baring in mind she has coolie hair..
Way to go ! Same here. I think grease got a bad rap because in many cases it wasn’t being used correctly. Also, I believe grease was condemned to get people to abandon it & go for the new products. Looking back at my childhood days, my mom would use it on my hair when it was damp & she’d wash my hair every 2 weeks. It was always combed & braided daily & I never had dandruff or scalp problems, just long healthy hair. Same for many of the students at the schools I taught at. But there were..and still are… kids whose moms didn’t do that; they just put grease on top of grease,didn’t wash their hair enough ( once every month or more with all that grease build up) didn’t keep it combed & braided daily & it always looked dull,dirty & grungy . That,to me, is where the clogged pores came from. Very old school black folks I knew didn’t believe in washing your hair too much. They’d go 2 or 3 months without washing !
No mineral or petroleum oil, in moisturizing products water should’ve the first ingredient, no cones and no alcohol !
thats all I was trying to say hun….
I swear the old school grease is the best. I remember back in the days everyone hair was long healthy. I personally use to use the new grease that is out, it actually dried my hair out, causing it to break easily. I now went back to the old school grease now my hair grows too fast. I guess it’s what in style to use new stuff with a cute label. Lololololololo
Nothing wrong with petroleum in the scalp.it doesn’t clog pores. People say that cause it sounds cute.
Exactly Valerie Jolly I been natural for all my life since birth and some of the very products that get knocked kept me with a head full of thick healthy hair all my life. .
I grew up with Royal Crown my Mother used it on all her daughters hair no problems.
I think we had some of that too , & sometimes mom used Johnsons’ baby oil on my hair
Hey I still got my Blue Magic to grease my scalp!LoL
Me too Christina Allsmilexx Evans it makes my hair grow I don’t use much but it does the trick.
I love blue magix.that was a staple in my house. Growing up.grease even though i havent used in forever is fine on my hair.as ladies have said what works for them i agree to do.cause also for me pink oil has always been good.
Old school blue magic you can never go wrong! Sometime we go so caught up in the new age hoopla !
I thought something had my scalp drying up
As am works wonders for me just luv the line
Everyone’s hair is different, so something that works for me might not work for you doesn’t make it bad or doesn’t work, I feel it depends on your hair type some ppl hair need grease every day other once a wk some never. I personally always used blue magic never had a problem.
Who still uses blue magic?! They should’ve banned these products by now. I remember my mom using this on my hair back in the ’80s-I always had dandruff & scabs on my scalp.
Petroleum is bad in any form, it shouldn’t be in or on our bodies. Just because it hasn’t been banned by the FDA, don’t be fooled.
Personally I don’t think blue magic or grease had anything to do with hair being long when we were younger. It’s the fact that there were absolutely no chemicals in our hair (aka natural) and it was kept mainly in twists and braids, which was our protective style. It kept our hair protected from the elements and daily styling. Petroleum is not a moisturizing ingredient. Do you see relaxed girls who still slather grease in their hair with hair down their back? No. Grease is not the answer. Just my opinion though, not responding to anyone or offending anyone.
A lot depends on your hair type. I have used Blue Magic in the past and never had a problem with it. As for the other two, never used them so I don’t know how they would react to my hair. Maybe I should “test” the waters and see for myself.
I’m a unapologetic product junkie so fortunately or not (lol) I’ve tried all the products above. I usually use them for twisting. I love the As I Am Double Butter Cream. I alternate between it and another butter I love for twisting my hair, Camille Rose Naturals Almond Jai Twisting Butter. I love products with natural ingredients and these two are tops.
http://www.curlkitshop.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=336
Yes,check labels!!!
Check for quality ingredients, Sulfate Free products!!!
Blue magic is good with me
blue magic hands down
KeraCare for me…. soft and healthy!!!!
Cantu Shea Butter
Blue magic is awesome. Kera care is cool n I’ve only tried as I am curling jelly which I love
Blue magic works awesome on my 4b hair… So does as I am…but for the price blue magic all day!
As I am
I goin get me som blue magic, its me and my daughtr thats natural, as i am looks costly, i dont care whats n it i jus need a greasy fro. Lol
Blue magic all day
i always love blue magic coconut oil
I try to stay away from blue magic but I never get the same results using anything else. Blue Magic hands down for me
I use palmers hair succes, and my hair loves it
I use extra virgin olive oil,my hair loves it….but,I was raised on blue magic: the blue grease! Bergamot: the green grease!
It’s fall again folks ! It was cold dry air this morning & we put the heat on last night. I put away my KinkyCurly a few weeks ago when it started to get cooler & went back to my trusty Blue Magic. I use it with Carol’s Daughter Healthy Hair Butter and old formula S Curl. I revisited Carol’s Daughter after being off it for about 2 years because it didn’t work that well on my hair but I heard great things about the Monoi line,tried it & it’s stopped my breakage. Apparently some folks don’t like it that some of her products have been reformulated & they don’t work as well on their hair. However, it sure works much better on mine !! I wash with Monoi, use aloe vera juice as leave in, use a medium amount of hair butter on each section of WET hair, then follow with a fingertip tip of Blue Magic bergamot, & spray with the S Curl. I get soft moisturized non greasy hair & my afro looks nice & stays moist all day. All I have to do to refresh moisture is to spray with water at night & twist or braid. No need to add more grease. It doesn’t even shrink up because of the blue magic & since i only use a teeeeny little bit on each braid/twist it’s easy to wash out.
HEY BLUE MAGIC USERS Which Blue Magic do you prefer ? What other old school greases do you like?
I prefer the green bergamot & the Super Sure Gro. I have the coconut one but my hair,which loves coconut oil,doesn’t care for it so I use it on my skin. May give it another try after adding some organic coconut oil. I have the blue one,too & it’s good, but I think the green makes my hair softer. I think it’s because my hair likes the olive oil in it. I also like Dax pomade & Cocokui
what about on kids hair
BM coconut oil is bomb!! Old school but works