Sunday, October 11, 2009

"Girl, let me grease your scalp"

Every black girl raised by a black mom has heard these words before. In fact, even in we are old enough to do our own hair, we feel that our hair cannot thrive without the thickest pomade on the market. We part our hair and we slick that pomade on. We think that the grease/pomade hydrates our hair and allows it to grow. I am sorry to inform you that these products contain petroleum. I'm serious, look at the list ingredients on your bottle.

PA-Trol-E-Um

told ya so.....

Petroleum and Mineral Oil (usually found in baby oil) should be minimized or avoided. If you do use them I would say to not put it on the scalp because these substances tend to clog the pores which inhibits its ability to breathe and absorb moisture and nutrition. Also they are not easily absorbed into the hair and attract dust.

I would suggest that you use oils instead of pomades. If you use products with these oils, try to use the ones that have the least amount of petroleum or mineral oil. You can figure how much petroleum or mineral oil is in a product by where in the list the substance is located. The further down the substance is in the ingredient list, the less that amount of that substance is in that product. So, try to use products where petrolem and mineral oil are listed near the end.

Some natural oils to try are coconut oil, avocado oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, and sunflower oil. Oils are best applied to wet hair to help hold in the moisture already there. I suggest that you experiment to find the oil that works best for your hair type.

~still chasing honey

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