When you buy products for natural hair checking the ingredients list is very important. There are some products that claim to be good for natural hair that just aren’t because they contain ingredients that are drying and even damaging to the hair.

Petroleum and mineral oil are drying to the hair and clog the scalp. These products may leave a temporary sheen on your hair but in reality they are preventing your hair from absorbing real moisture and causing the cuticle to dry out. Avoid products with these ingredients.

Instead of synthetic oils, use products with all natural oils. Coconut oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, avocado oil, almond oil, and castor oil are all examples of good natural oils you should look for in hair products. Shea butter, cocoa butter and mango butter are also quite good and nourishing for the hair.

When you look at an ingredients list the ingredients are listed by quantity. The ingredient there is the most of in the product is listed at the top. You want water to be near the top of that ingredient list. Water is moisturizing and curly hair needs lots of it.

Glycerin is another ingredient that is good to have in your hair products. It will helps  soften your curls and helps your hair retain moisture.

There are plenty of products for us naturals on the market today. Here are some of the most well known brands for natural hair:

• Carol’s Daughter
• Miss Jessie’s
• Karen’s Body Beautiful
• JessiCurl
• Uncle Funky’s Daughter
• Mixed Chicks
• Kinky Curly
• Blended Beauty

These are just a few of the most popular hair products for curly hair. There are many more.

Don’t just assume these products are good for your hair because they’re made for curlies. I’d still read the ingredient labels carefully. As they become more popular some companies start to use cheaper ingredients in their products. Products that were once good might not always be. I can’t stress enough how important it is to read labels.

Just as a side note about reading labels, I used to use Herbal Essence conditioner in my hair. I would actually use the conditioner as a leave-in and it worked very well. Then I moved to Europe. Here I could still get the same Herbal Essence I used in the States. I used it the same way and my hair started feeling really dry and damaged. Well it turns out that the company uses different ingredients in its European products. I didn’t read the ingredients list from the start and so I didn’t realize until I read something about it online. So always check the ingredients.

The great thing is that now that natural hair is more popular you’re starting to be able to find some products that cater to natural hair in regular stores. Target carries a wide array of products for naturals now.

You don’t have to just use products made specifically for curly or natural hair. You can use any products you want. Just read ingredients carefully to make sure the products won’t dry your hair. Stay away from petroleum products and cetearyl alcohol or cetyl alcohol. You want your hair to be soft and strong. These ingredients dry the hair making it more prone to damage.