Hello ladies
I am so excited to kick of this new series of posts about buying hair products.
Whenever I am buying products, I always come across ladies at the stores looking very confused.
Many ladies, especially those who are not a hair journey, tend to focus on what the products claim to do as written on the front of the product bottles or on the descriptions at the back. Trying to decide what products to buy based on what the product claims to do is what leaves most ladies perplexed, in my opinion.
For example, before my hair journey began, if my hair was breaking I would simply head to the product store and look for “something” that claimed to stop breakage. If you are familiar with hair products you will have noticed that almost all products claim to fight breakage, make your hair soft and bouncy, etc. So how do you know which ones can actually do what it claims?
To become a savvy hair product shopper there two things you need do:
- Know what products you need.
Buy what you NEED for hair care (not what you have seen around and are interested in, not some miracle hair growth product). Be aware of the function of the product you are buying. - Focus on product ingredients not product claims.
It’s all about being familiar with some of the ingredients which are good or bad for our hair.
You don’t have to become an ingredient guru. With this series, I intend to give straight to the point and practical tips to make buying hair products a lot easier. First up is shampoo.
What Do You Need: Shampoo
You need two types of shampoo on a hair journey:
1) – A sulfate free shampoo: this is a gentle cleanser which can to be used for regular cleansing (weekly, every 10 days or every two weeks)
2) – A clarifying shampoo: this is a harsh cleanser which is used to remove stubborn dirt. It should be used occasionally (once a month or every 6 to 8 weeks)
How To Buy
A Sulfate Free Shampoo
- Products are usually grouped together by brands, eg, Crème of Nature products (the brands shampoos through to its styling products) will usually be grouped together.
- Start by looking at the shampoos of the brands you are familiar with. Look at the front of the bottle and check to see if sulfate free written at the front. Do not be distracted by statements like gentle cleansing or moisturising shampoo.
- If the front does not have sulfate free written on it, read through the ingredient list at the back. It SHOULD NOT CONTAIN any of the following ingredients
-sodium lauryl sulfate
-sodium laureth sulfate
-ammonium lauryl sulfate
-ammonium laureth sulfateShampoos that contain these ingredient are NOT sulfate free. - If the brand you are looking at has shampoos which contain sulfates, look through the shampoo products of another brand. You could also ask the store assistant for help but do let them pressure you into buying a sulfate shampoo if they do not have a sulfate free one.
A clarifying Shampoo
- Start with shampoos of brands you are familiar with. Look at the front of the bottle, is clarifying shampoo written at the front?
- If the front does not have clarifying shampoo written on it, read through the ingredient list at the back. It SHOULD CONTAIN any of the following ingredients
-sodium lauryl sulfate
-sodium laureth sulfate
-ammonium lauryl sulfate
-ammonium laureth sulfate - Shampoo that contains sulfate are strong enough to clarify and are usually very easy to find because most shampoos contain sulfates.
My Personal Favourite Shampoos
Sulfate Free
My go to sulfate free shampoo is Creme of Nature Argan oil Moisture and shine shampoo. I absolutely love this shampoo and so do my sister and my mum who has natural hair. I believe that if shampoos were made in heaven, this would be it.
Clarifying Shampoo
My clarifying shampoo is Organic Root Stimulator Creamy Aloe Shampoo.
Additional Tips for Buying Hair Products in Nigeria
1) Don’t wait
Do not wait until your staple products (the ones you use regularly which works well with your hair) runs out before restocking. If your product has finished and then you try to get more there is a high chance (in Nigeria) that the stores you buy from may all be out of stock of the product at that particular time. You would be forced to buy something else which may not work well with your hair. So it’s wise to plan ahead and restock in due time.
2) Double stock or buy big
If you have a product that is a staple that you KNOW your hair loves, if buy two or buy a big bottle/jar if you can afford to.
Even if the stores have loads of it in stock at that particular time , don’t take it for granted, by the time your product runs out they may all be out of stock. So if you buy big or double stock you should be covered for a few months. This is especially helpful with deep conditioners. Most ladies on a hair journey will use up their deep conditioners at a much faster rate than their shampoos so make sure you are well stocked on your fav deep conditioners.
I hope you have found this post useful. I realise that this series will probably benefit newbies me than hair journey veterans however I do hope that every reader gets something it.
What do you struggle with the most when trying to buy hair products?
x
Lade
Learn | Change | Grow
Hello Lade,
This post has been really helpful.
Until recently I’ve always been confused when buying products.
However, I’ve realized that surfing the internet and reading online reviews before buying products can be incredibly helpful.
Author
Hello Wunmi
Thank you……
The internet is a great research tool…… and I love reading product reviews too.
🙂
Lade
Hi Lade ,
Dis is like another wake up call for me. No wonder I love dis blog ,u seem to know just what i need to hear at any particular point in time. I started taking my hair matters into my own hands(stopped going to the salon) about 8 months ago and i have never looked back. Just when i started to hate wash days cos of all the matting and tangling , you taught me to wash my hair in braids and it has worked excellent. And just when i was wondering if i was really doing the right thing because( though my hair has improved in length and fullness) i still cudnt ran a comb freely thru my hair like everybody else, u addressed the combing issue. In fact u have been of help to me. I gave up combing early on my hair journey ,i only finger detangle. I use Hawaiian Silky herbal conditioning shampoo which is very mild (does not make hair squeaky clean) but i bought it knowing that it contains SLS but i didn’t really bother about that. Maybe its time for me to change shampoos and finally find a sulphate free one.
And oh the wig regimen ,dats what im currently on , thanks to ur advice im 3 months and counting, post relaxer. Don’t know if i can survive 5 months like you but so far thanx to the wig im finding it very easy to stretch between relaxers.
Pls pls pls for mysake keep up the good work.
Medaase!!
@zaezi aww girl i know how you feel . Lade’s blog has helped me big time , i’m 3months into my hair journey now and its all thanks to rehairducation. i only wish that i found this blog sooner and found out about hair care and hair journeys. I love that we can all inspire each other to grow long healthy hair. And about stretching for 5 months, if you notice that your hair starts breaking and cant handle it then you might as well end the stretch or else it will do more harm than good
Author
Thank you so much Maryam
It makes me happy that readers see progress with their hair and are better informed on how to care for it. it is certainly great that we can inspire each other….I am still so gratefull to all the bloggers and vloggers who inspired me to start my own journey.
if only we had all known.
Good advice about stretching, I always tell ladies to not over do it…..
happy hair journey
x
lade
Author
hello Zaezi
awwwwwwww, your comment is so lovely and encouraging, I’ll keep the blog going just for you 🙂
It good that a lot of the practices I recommend works well for you. I certainly think you should give a sulphate free shampoo a try…you know which one id recommend 😉
I am also glad the wig regimen help and certainly don’t push it to 5 months if its becoming to much for you to handle. no point in loosing hair by forcing a stretch….
When ever you do decide to relax, I hope it goes well….
xx
Lade
hi zaezi! please are you in ghana? if yes, where do you buy your hair products from? thanks.
Many thanks Lade. This was realllllly helpful. God bless you
Author
Thank you Akaoma
Glad it you found it useful.
x
Lade
Always very informative post…. Thank you for this.
Author
Thank you Hairlevation….x
Yes lade I can count on you any time, nice post . please give more info on deep and leave in conditioners and styling creams ingredients. Thanks so much in advance.
Author
Thanks pem 🙂
I am working on those posts and hopefully should be able to get one about deep conditioners on the blog today
x
Lade
i read your blog from time to time. I usually only retouch once every 4 months but I am a dye addict. I dye my hair constantly. I dyed it 3 months ago and then got the brilliant idea to retouch it. I told the stylist I had just put dye in in two days before but she did not tell me not to retouch it. To cut long story short. My hair came out in clumps from the Root in several large areas. I covered with weaves and wigs for 3 months and last Friday I shaved my head. I have a 1 and a half inch grown now. I need a stylist who actually knows about hair as I do not intend to stop dyeing it though I have decided to start texturising every 4 months instead.. I actually currently use this shampoo as well as herbal essence conditioner and sheamoisture keratin mask some times. Love your blog. It will end in praise.
Author
hello Mo
sorry to read about the issues you have had with your hair.
hair that has been recently coloured should not be relaxed. hair should be relaxed first and can be coloured 2 weeks + after relaxing prefareably with a semi-permanent colour or a rinse.
Ms Jolade at Oreola Salon in ( fola Osibo street) Lekki Phase 1 is great with hair. She’ll hook you up,
x
Lade
Lade you do too much! (in a good way,lol). I love love what you do. You use simple words and even find time to reply comments. And your blog is well ‘arranged’. Hugs
Author
Thank you Eddy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
🙂
I’ll try to keep it up and make it better.
happy hair journey
x
Lade
hi lade! could you please compare the ors creamy aloe shampoo and the ors uplifting shampoo? what are their individual roles and which one in your opinion is better for relaxed hair? thanks!
Author
Hello Kuukua
Both of these are sulfate shampoos which can be used to clarify your hair but should not be used for regular weekly washing. this applies to natural or relaxed hair.
Unfortunately dues to time constraints I cant do a blog post dedicated to just these two.
hope this helps
x
Lade
hey lade. you have been doing a great job. keep it up. please i need u to advice me on the products to use because am goin back to my natural hair and i dont want my hair cutting much. my hair is currently almost armbit level and i want to keep it that way. thanks.
tnx luv this alot
hi lade, i dnt know if u know the difference btw cantu with shea butter and cantu with argan oil. same benefit??
tnx
Do one have to use the two types of shampoos?
Author
Hello Zariat
This has been answered within the body of the blog post.
It is best to have both but if you can only get one then get a sulphate free one.
x
Lade