Overwhelmed by products

Here's the skinny, long story very short: Ive never ever taken care of my hair. Ive worn weaves braids for years and pressed my hair to death in the process. Got a perm in 2005 (like a month before i got pregger!) for the first time, transitioned with box braids for 3 months this year and BC'd in March. Felt good in my new twa as i walked to the beauty supply to buy some Bohemian curl hair to immediately sew in (lol). snatched my weave out last weaek cause I said enough, its just hair do you!

(co-worker said something off the wall to me about my hair but thats another post, i put homegirl in her place though!)

So, as I try to nurse my hair back to a healthy state I am completely overwhelmed at what products to buy. Its just too much, info overload.

Can you guys please just tell me what I should have on hand at all times. The essentials.

My hair is rough and dry to the touch and ashy looking. Last night I deep conditioned detangled twisted wet. My avatar is from Today.

Ima single parent of a 4 year old who just started kindegarten. I dont have the money or the time to go crazy with it .

Just need the basics to get this head back on track.

Thank you , you beautiful curly ladies you!

Your hair looks fantastic. What did you use? Did you like it. Trust me you don't need that much stuff. Most of the products you'll hear about are just optional.

Also, is your hair fine, medium or coarse?

Hi SummerSkye

Hair is coarse and thick. I washed with Everyday Shea shampoo, did a DC with CD tui hair smoothie. I applied tui hair oil to the scalp rubbed in some hair milk, and twisted it.

Basics: moisture, moisture, moisture

How to do that: moisturizing shampoo, moisturizing condish, leave-in condish, satin scarf or satin pillowcase for bed so the cotton linen will not remove all the moisture from your hair. Consider doing a pre treatment with oil or conditioner prior to shampooing. If you want to leave it on overnight, you can. Since it is cold now, you can leave it in a couple of hours prior to shampooing, if you can. Its cold now, so wear a satin scarf under any hats, caps, headgear.

Identify 1 or 2 oils your hair responds to (coconut, olive, jojoba are some of the beneficial and cheaper ones).

Read the ingredients on the products to ensure there are no harsh ingredients that will make the hair dry. Here is a short list: (SLS - Sodium Lauryl Sulphate
- Dimethicone - Silicone
- Cyclomethicone - Silicone
- Propylene Glycol - used in car anti freeze
- Polymers - aka: plastic
- Sodium Polyacrylate - the absorbent gel in baby diapers also used in most commercial hair gels
- PEG anything
- Heavy Alcohols as they all contribute to dry curly hair.
Ethy alcohol or butyl alcohol etc causes dryness. Whereas, vegetable fatty alcohols are not alcohol as we know it; they are fatty acids.

Silicones are not good for curly hair because it is hard to remove and may cause build up on the scalp.
You'll need a harsh shampoo with loads of SLS to remove silicones but then you are just stripping your hair of it's natural oils (sebum) leaving it completely bare bone dry.
Then you need a conditioner to restore the softness again. However, most commercial brands contain dimethicone, propylene glycol or cyclomethicone or some type of synthetic polymer. Then we're back to full circle again.)

These are the basics! Maintaining healthy natural hair does not need to be complicated. We are all here to help each other. Need to know something, just ask. WELCOME!

Loving me wrote:Hi SummerSkye

Hair is coarse and thick. I washed with Everyday Shea shampoo, did a DC with CD tui hair smoothie. I applied tui hair oil to the scalp rubbed in some hair milk, and twisted it.

Iwouldn't get much more complicated than what you're already doing. The only other things I migt suggest are a conditioner for cowashing that doesn't have any silicones. I personally don't cowash though. Shea butter or some butter based product might work since you have coarse hair. Everthing else is an optional treat! However, if everything you user today makes your hair look and feel the way you want, I wouldn't change a thing!

Yeah I think Im going to keep it simple for now, Ill add a leave in Conditioner and some shea butter before twisting.

naturalnolagirl1900 thanks for your response. You lost me after you said moisture moisture moisture though. LOL, im joking. I'll take your advice and do a pre treatment with conditioner prior to shampooing.

SummerSkye you had previosly asked me if I lliked my hair. answer "Absolutely!" (its just a lil rough , lol).

What do you use on your hair if you dont mind me asking?

Ready to get this hair out of ICU ...Thanks so much ladies!

Glad you like how it came out. It seems like you've got the right stuff though!

Currently, I do twist outs and braid outs. No more wash n go pony puffs (as seen in my avatar) for me, for now at least. Here's what I'm using right now:

Deep Conditioner - Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose when I'm feeling fancy.

Shampoo - Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle. It's cool. I don't get too hung up over shampoos but it cleans my hair.

Conditioner - Pantene Fine Hair Treatment. Cool. It's very light for my fine hair so ... When I'm feeling fancy I use the Pantene Color Hair Treatment. Great for detangling! I don't know if I love the fine hair stuff but I'm going to get all my money's worth, ya dig?

Leave In/ Moisturizer - Shea Moisture Coconut and Hibiscus Milk (sumthin like that. it's a long name!). I'm on my third bottle so I guess I like it!

Oil - whatever oil du jour! LOL!
Styler - Sometimes nothing. Sometimes Garnier Fructis Fiber Gum Putty. Testing out Curls (the line they sell at Target) Goddess Curls gel since I'm running out of the Garnier. So far so good.

As you can see I'm not a hair butter type of person. It weighs my hair down too much. I see thicker and more coarse haired ladies seem to do well with it because they like the weight.

I buy all my stuff at brick and mortar stores. Just a personal thing (I hate waiting!) so I can't speak to how good some of the other popular natural haircare lines that you can order online. I'm not to picky on how "natural" a product is either.

My advice is to think of what you need your product to do. Clean, condition, moisturize, seal the moisture, style. That's really five things. Some things can double up. A leave in can be a daily moisturizer. A regular conditioner can be a leave in or a deep conditioner. It seems like you have all you need now. Good luck with things. I was a single mom myself and I feel ya. I feel like being natural should be far less expensive than when I used to get my hair done every two weeks. And it can be.

Please report back, if you can, on how your hair holds up over time with your current products.