I’ve been natural for a long time. When I first decided to go natural I didn’t really think much about the products I used, but as time passed I began more and more interested in using natural products. It seemed like using natural products was a natural extenstion of going natural for me.

Why Natural Products

Many conventional products have synethic ingredients that aren’t exactly healthy for your hair. Tightly curled hair is quite fragile and tends to be dry. Using a product that is drying and harsh will cause your hair to break off. Here are some ingredients to avoid in hair products.

• Isopropyl Alcohol dries the hair and causes breakage.
• Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) strips the hair by dissolving the natural oils.
• Propylene Glycol (PG) detoriates the proteins in the hair.
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) is a foaming agent that stips the hair of moisture.
• Petroleum dries the hair.
• Mineral oil is a petroleum byproduct that dries the hair.

These are just a few of the ingedients that you should be putting on your hair. They will dry the hair and make it more prone to breakage.

You should also avoid artificial preservatives and artificial fragrances. Everything that you put on your hair gets on your scalp and absorbs into your bloodstream. Remember that when you’re choosing your hair products.

Natural Ingredients

There are plenty of natural ingredients you can look for in hair products that will nourish the hair and add to its general overall health. Oils and butters are great on our hair. Look for products that contain ingredients like these.

• coconut oil
• almond oil
• olive oil
• avocado oil
• jojoba oil
• castor oil
• shea butter
• water
• glycerine

Some people’s hair responds well to some of these ingredients and some don’t. Like I know some people who have problems with glycerine actually making their hair dry and I know some people whose hair loves glycerine. You have to be mindful of which ingredients work best in your hair.

You can even buy some of these ingredients separately and mix them together to make your own products. I make a hair butter that I use with I twist or braid my hair with shea butter, almond oil, coconut oil, glycerine, rosewater, honey, and aloe gel. I put all those ingredients in my food processor and whip them up really good. You can do the same thing with products that work really well in your hair.

Product Brands

There are quite a few brands of products you can buy that are made for curly hair. I’m not a product junky so most of these products I haven’t tried. I tend to keep my regiem very basic. Here are some brands for curly hair to look out for. You can buy these products in beauty supply store, at Target or online.

• Bee Mine Products
• Blended Beauty
• Jessicurl
• Carol’s Daughter
• Karen’s Body Beautiful
• Oyin Handmade
• CURLS
• Kinky-Curly
• Uncle Funky’s Daugther
• Deva Curl
• Miss Jessie’s
• Mixed Chicks
• Curl Junkie
• Jane Carter Solution
• KomazaCare
• Mop Top
• Brown Butter Beauty
• Surls by Sisters Smith
• Taliah Waajid Black Earth Products
• Afroveda

I hope this list gives you a good starting point for hair products. Just choose a hair line and start trying the products. There are lots of videos on YouTube of naturals reviewing products. Check a few of them out to help you decide what you what to try.