Why I'm Not a Product Junkie (Anymore)

I still remember the day I found out about the curly hair market. It was right around the time I discovered natural hair's biggest resource and biggest culprit of product junkyism-

Youtube.

I was so excited to learn about all the styles you could accomplish with naturally curly hair. I promised myself that only the finest products would touch my head and as soon as I could, I ran out and spent an obscene amount of money on a very well-known line of hair products. As if that wasn't enough, I then went to a health/vitamin store to buy "pure" and "organic" coconut oil and other products that I saw being raved about on Youtube. Don't get me wrong, the products were wonderful, but when they ran out, I knew there was no way I could spend that amount of money on hair products again.

What's a curl to do?

FIND SOMETHING ELSE.

So I did. Remember that fancy coconut oil I mentioned? I spent a whopping $9 for a 6oz jar. Rummaging through my mother's spice cabinet a few weeks later, I saw a HUGE tub of this stuff-

Guess how much it cost? Five dollars and twenty-eight cents. And so began my recovery from the product junkie lifestyle. I want to leave some tips for those of you out there who may still be struggling with this.

RULE 1: DON'T BUY ANYTHING ELSE UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED USING WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE.

I mean it! Most newly naturals go through an initial purge of their hair cabinet once discovering the dangers of ingredients like petroleums, mineral oils, parabens, alcohols, sulfates, and "cones". This is understandable. Use up what is in your cabinet, and what you don't want to use, give away to your friends. But please, please, please do not rush out and buy every single product that claims to work curly miracles. (I will address this more in my next point.) Buy one or two products at a time, and try them. There's no need to go broke buying entire shelves and lines of items.

RULE 2: THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A MIRACLE PRODUCT.

Products are products no matter how you slice it. It doesn’t matter if it costs 2 dollars or 20 dollars, it’s still just a product. No magic, no miracles. Just product. Pick one that works for your hair and your wallet, and stick with it.  There’s nothing wrong with trying something new once in a while, but if your motive is to find a miracle cream that makes your curls do something they were never intended to do…have fun.

RULE 3: IT’S HAIR. PLAIN, SIMPLE, HAIR.

Who said having curly hair had to take over your life? It doesn’t!

People have this strange perception that curly and kinky hair is something wild and uncouth, something that needs to be controlled and contained. In a way this is understandable. There is work involved in caring for your curls, but isn’t that true of all tresses? Curly hair requires a different kind of care, but not a harder one.

So buying product after product and poring over hundreds of videos to figure out the perfect way to care for your hair (like I did) isn’t necessary.

Curlfriends, don’t let your hair take over your life. Let it enhance your outer fabulousness!

And DON’T become a product junkie.

Love and Peace.