Money saving tips

An email from Trece:

Hi,

My last perm was Thanksgiving of 2009. I wore the double textures for about a year and did the big chop in January of 2011. I got tired of the tangles and knots. Now that I have my TWA, it is extra dry and brittle. I have tried Kinky Curly products and the best thing is the Knot Today conditioner/detangler. I am getting so frustrated because most people I ask use very very expensive products. (They said nappy hair was expensive!) My mother uses Miss Jessie’s line.

I do not know what else to do. I use coconut oil by Palmer’s for grease. The only time my hair is manageable is when I get it pressed and then hop in the shower so that the steam can make it puff out. (I can’t stand my hair being straight anymore. It’s not me. I prefer my naps now.) My goal is a big afro and I just do not see my hair growing anymore. I am only 26. My hair now is long in the top and short in the back. I have broken plenty steel picks and combing is not an option unless it is soaking wet with detangler. The back of my head looks like a baby’s when they constantly sleep on their backs. I wear a satin cloth to bed.

I have worn some of your twist styles. I do mine when it’s wet, sleep in it, and then take them down maybe two days later. The curls are cute and it makes my hair look longer. I have done that for a year now and want a new look. The wash and go is fine if my hair stays wet. Once it dries, it shrinks.

It seems as if nappy is harder to manage than permed hair… I used to put anything in my permed hair and it was thick, long, and shiny. With this wool and bubblegum textured hair on my head now, I have no clue what to do with it. :-}

HELP!!!!!!

Thanks for reading.

I look forward to your advice.

Trece

Trece, thanks for your email.

First, I don’t think I have ever heard of anyone comparing their hair to bubblegum. What in the world? Someone explain it to me, because I can be dense sometimes. I get the wool reference, but bubblegum??

Natural hair can be harder than relaxed hair…when you try to treat your hair like it’s still relaxed and when you expect things out of it that it doesn’t want to do. You are upset that your hair shrinks…well, that’s the nature of natural hair. You can try styles that stretch it out like braids, twists, twistouts. You also said “combing is not an option” unless your hair is wet with detangler. Well…yes ma’am. The only time I comb my hair dry is when it’s flat ironed. Relaxed hair does not shrink…natural hair does…relaxed hair can often be combed when dry…most natural hair is hard to comb dry…a lot of relaxed hair shines…natural hair has more of a sheen…See where I’m going?

Next thing: You do not need to spend a lot of money on products. Natural hair does not have to be more expensive than relaxed hair. And guess what? There are a lot of relaxed ladies out there who spend a TON on product too.

Miss Jessies line? For me, it’s worthless. Well, not worthless because you have to spend an arm and a leg to get the products, but for my hair I can spend a quarter of what they cost and get way better products.

Kinky Curly? Great line, don’t get me wrong. But I can’t always spend the money on it. And it’s more helpful for wash n go’s which I pretty much stay away from now a days.

As I’ve mentioned, I am a stay at home mom at present. That means I can’t go crazy with the hair product spending.

I’ve done two posts with suggestions of money saving products that are usually available locally (you can see them here and here). But just for kicks, I will show you a low budget hair regimen. And if you use silicones, you have even more to choose from.

• Cowash: Suave Tropical Coconut Conditioner (1 dollar)
• Deep conditioner: Lustrasilk Shea Butter Cholesterol Plus (2-3 dollars)
• Sealer/Scalp: Coconut Oil (4.50 dollars–bought in bulk at 9.00 a pound)
• Moisturizer/Twisting Butter: Shea butter (6 dollars–that is buying it in bulk at 22.89 dollars a pound)

This is just an example of what I use. All together total, that costs 14.50 at most. Keep in mind that I have a LOT of thick hair and it is midback length, so I go through a LOT of product. I would think if your hair is shoulder length and average density, that you would not use near as much. When my hair was shorter, I used a lot less. 

The above list would last me over a month and I would have plenty of coconut oil and Suave left over. I would also be using the shea butter and coconut oil on my skin and my children’s skin on occasion. So to me, that is a GOOD deal. And I didn’t have to break the bank.

Now this may not work for you and that’s fine. There are so many ways to do things without going broke. I knew a girl who only used Suave conditioner and shampoo. She would shampoo once a month with the Suave shampoo, deep condition with the conditioner and some olive oil under heat, rinse, then she would twist out using the conditioner and leaving it in. She’d spent about 3 dollars a month on product and her hair looked great!

Now I had to look up the Palmer’s Coconut Oil you said you were using. I’m assuming this is what you have:

Here are the ingredients:

Mineral Oil (Paraffinum Liquidum), Microcrystalline Wax (Cera Microcristallina), Petrolatum, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Lanolin, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Vegetable Oil (Olus), Fragrance (Parfum), Benzyl Benzoate, Coumarin, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E).

“Coconut oil formula”? Seems like it should say “Mineral oil formula”. Sigh. C’mon now, Palmers.

This may be contributing to your dryness. This product has mineral oil, a wax, and petroleum in larger amounts than coconut oil. You would probably be better off with real coconut oil, both in price and quality. For 8 oz of coconut oil, I would pay about $4.50. This 8 oz jar cost of mineral oil coconut formula costs about 5-6 bucks from the pricing I see online.

Having said all of that, I have found that your hair care practices are as important (or even more so) than the products you use. Here and here are my suggestions for improving your moisture.

To reduce tangles, try washing your hair in big braids or twists.Do not allow it to shrink up. This has helped my tangles immensely. Dare I say, that it is necessary now.

My only other advice is to learn as much as you can, try different styles (YouTube is priceless for this), and learn to love your hair for what it can do and not get upset at what it won’t do.

Everything here was said with the utmost love and respect. Take care and happy hair growing!

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