Thursday, June 27, 2013

Naturally Me! Natural Hair Care


It’s all about Natural Hair Care.

Let’s start out by saying that “Natural” can mean anything.  For me, natural means the elements of natural ingredients that I use in my products.  I believe that anything that contains elements of nature and the use of the earth to grow your ingredients is what Natural is all about. Keep in mind that many products that say “Natural & Organic” doesn’t necessary mean that they are.  There are a lot of naturally prepared skin care products available, but what works for one may not work for another. 

The bottom line with any skin care product one the market or handmade is that you have to decide what works best for you.  Research and read ingredients.  Take a few moments to check out what the ingredients are by using Google and find out if it works well for what you are striving to achieve.  Here are a few questions that I would ask myself.  Are you concerned with Preservative?  Are there a certain percentage of natural ingredients you are looking for in your product?  How important is fragrance?

I am a natural girl; my hair is cut short, no color, no perm, and no curly kit. Don’t get me wrong, I love when I see my “Girlfriends” with color in their hair.  It’s a personal preference.  I use to put color in my hair on a weekly basis. I know how that works cut & color.  God forbid, you are caught with new growth coming in and you don’t have your locs colored.  So again, it’s up to you.  I now just started to rock my patches of gray in my hair.  That’s the only color I need.  Let’s face it, I earned those gray hairs and why should I use bleach to get rid of what is rightfully mine?  No vanity here.

I have an exclusive line of hair care products; Love my hair butter is one of my favorite, which is made with African Shea Butter, Amla Oil, Jamaican Coconut Oil, Vitamin E & Pro-Vitamin B-5 and other strengthening ingredients. Let’s talk about it further with the benefits of each.  We also have a concentrated hair conditioning Masque”; our PH balanced hair masque covers the cuticle layer which results in hair smooth and bouncy and not feeling weighed down.  This masque hydrates repairs dry and damage hair and is super thick like buttercream icing.   Also repairs breakage and split ends.  It helps with tangles and makes hair more manageable.   Our hair masque is made with Aloe Vera Leaf Juice, Pro-Vitamin B5, Coconut Oil, Vegetable Glycerin, Wheat Protein, Sunflower Extract, Horsetail Extract and other hair nourishing ingredients.

African Shea Butter is made from the Karite, Nku and Bambuk trees.  Shea butter is also known as Butyrospermum Parkii or Vitellana Paradoxa a common wild tree.  African Shea Butter comes in a variety of colors that range from a cream color or slightly off white to yellow or yellowish gray.  It also has a distinctive nutty scent.  The benefits of Shea butter for hair and skin are amazing.  Shea Butter contains five essential fatty acids Phytosterols, Vitamins E, D & A, Allantoin (good for healing skin irritations).  The combination of ingredients helps neutralize free radicals damage, reducing fine line and wrinkles, age spots as well as stimulating collagen production.  Shea Butter moisturizes hair and acts as a natural conditioner.  It can also repair and protect split ends and protect hair shaft against weather damage or brittleness and breakage.  Shea Butter makes hair shiny and smooth.  Excellent for dry scalp.

Jamaican raw virgin coconut oil extracted from organic coconuts. This is a different consistency than the regular Coconut Oil.  It’s thick and melts beautifully into any products that you need Coconut Oil for.  The process for this oil is labor intensive; the end product is exquisite, unlike any other coconut oils on the market.  This is one of my favorite to work with in my hair products.

The Amla (Emblica offcinalis) tree is indigenous to India and many Indian women use oil produced by the Amla fruit as a hair conditioner.  Amla Oil benefits for hair are that it has the ability to penetrate scalp and strengthen hair at the root.  Helps to prevent gray hair; has Anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties; is an antioxidant that has doubled the power of Acai Berry and Pomegranate.  This product leaves hair soft to the touch.

Vitamin B-5, also called pantothenic acid, is one of eight B vitamins.  Vitamin B-5 helps the body produce energy and promotes the health of the skin, hair, eyes and liver.  Panothenic acid also helps red blood cells.  Provitamin B-5 is also called Panthenol which is a derivative of Vitamin B and is in most of the hair products; Pro-Vitamin B5 can penetrate into the hair shaft and moisturize dry and damaged hair.  It also gives luster, body and bounce, as well as repair damaged hair. 

Let’s talk shampoo:

Most people don’t think about shampoo, in fact, many use plain soap.  Why People?  What you use on your body is not what is needed for your hair.  My husband is the offender of this.  He is also the offender of buying commercially made products.  It’s my fault, I am so busy making luxurious products for my customers that my husband is left to fend for himself.  I am a Bad wife. Ugh! I need to do better.  Thank goodness my husband has received other goodies from me.

The most important thing when you are looking for a shampoo, please make sure that it is a moisturizing shampoo.  Moisturizing shampoos gently cleanses and restores your natural moisture without adding weight to your hair.  I love using a blend of Aloe Leaf Juice, Jojoba, Meadowform and Horsetail extracts to my shampoos because it hydrates and leaves hair softer and more manageable with the addition of shine.  My shampoos are perfect for all hair types because it’s sulfate, No Parabens, Synthetic Dyes or Fragrances.

When I transitioned from permed to natural hair, I wanted to know how to do it seamlessly. Here are a few ideas that you can use to get started or continue on your path to a successful head of natural hair.  First, use products that are specifically for Natural Hair.  Natural hair products focus entirely on the natural wave or curl pattern of the hair and moisturizes the hair from root to end.  (Like our “Love my Hair Butter, Moisturizing Hair Oil and Hair “Masque”).  Second, get use to your new look, for a long time you have been applying chemicals to your hair, now is the time for you to get use to the new look without chemicals.  Some people will not like your “natural do”, oh well, but YOU make sure that you love your natural do.  It will not be easy, it takes time to transition from what use to be Your Norm to the New Normal, but it will work out in the end if you take the time to work with your new look.   Third, check out all the hair magazines, I remember when I was looking for a style to rock I would pick up several magazines to look at the braids, locs, and Fro’s.  I enjoyed Black Hair magazines because they had so many different styles.  The key is to have fun.  Don’t let one style dictate your hair outcome.  Be creative, be you.

Fourth, if you are thinking of cutting your hair off, that is a personal preference for that individual.  I would honestly suggest to anyone, research first, and find products that will work well for your hair.  Don’t purchase something that you will be stuck with.  Find products that you can get samples of and try them out.  Don’t be afraid to find businesses that sell samples. We want your business and you as a loyal customer.  Be your own hair attorney and do your due diligence. 

 A lot of women with long hair have a problem, what should I do with this if I am going Natural?  There are a lot of opportunities to be creative.  In fact, today, I was chatting with a hair newcomer and she is trying to decide how to go about transiting from perms to natural. She has a beautiful head of hair and I told her that she has so many opportunities to rock a style with her length.  I love the natural twist that a lot of women are rocking now.   I believe that she will do very well with the transition and I hope that this blog will be able to give her and others some new ideas.

Finally, ask questions.  Find someone who has been through the transition and ask them how, what, when and where. 

I believe that you will do fine with your new do.

Please visit us at http://www.naturalproductsbytmb.com to see our samples.  I believe that reading about something isn’t the same as sampling the product.  How do you know if it will work for you unless you venture out and try it?

 Hair "Masque"
Love My Hair Butter
Sulfate Free Shampoo

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