CultureHealth and Beauty

The Case of the Hair Care Rip Off. Hair care companies I am looking at you!!!

Singer Conya Doss. Image via IslandMix

OK I am going to get some folks mad and other folks may threaten to sue but I do not care. I am not getting into the hair wars #Teamwigs,weaves,natural,relaxed,scurl,jerricurl,Hawaiiansilky, texturized,wavecap,hotcomb,flatironed,hairdyed just as long as it looks good but I do know a rip off when I see one. I know when I see a company trying to bank off of my sisters’ hair by hook or by crook.

These companies are ripping you off. Why you may ask? They are taking advantage of the fact that you went natural. These companies are repackaging the alteration of your hair by selling you a magical curling custard that promises to change your 4B/4C hair into a 3C. They are promising to do what relaxers do without permanently altering your hair. No guilt for giving into Dark and Funny, right?

Can I honestly ask you a question? How many full jars or bottles of crap have you went through with hardly any or minimal results?  I can. TOO DARN MANY!!  I thought for some the purpose of going natural was to avoid chemicals and or save money. It seems like those companies are still digging deep in your pockets by pitching unknown garbage that you are letting seep into the pores of your skin. Could you believe I spent $35 bucks on a conditioner? A conditioner with a fancy French name that I can’t even pronounce. By the way, I still have it in my cabinet. It turns out that VO5/Sauvé for $.98-$1.05 and an olive oil spray for $4.99 (been a fan since 2000) works better for me. That is all I use. I flat-iron once a month and I rarely use the spray (by the way I workout every day too). It is useless to flat-iron in the summer here in Memphis so I just sleep in flexirods or I wrap my hair and go. Call me a conspiracy nut but they are still doing what you didn’t want these companies to do to you in the first place.

Well if you do not believe me about the repackaging of our hair all I ask you to do is to take a look at the models promoting the garbage. I don’t see 4B/4C models. What I do see are mostly biracial or multiracial models pitching the trash. There is nothing wrong with that but the companies should be honest enough to tell you what their product can and cannot do.

So here is some advice as if I am qualified to give it. Learn from our elders. Yes, they did it without all the mythical chemicals, magical conditioners and funny smelling hair oils that promise to turn your hair into the same texture as the model on the box. Our grandparents and great grandparents had plenty of hair. They took care of it by simply washing it, doing a press and curl, putting it in hair rollers and/or applying light oil to it. They used olive oil or whatever. By the way, the same goes for you relaxed women. Ya’ll are product junkies too. I have been natural and relaxed so I know.

***I am not a professional. My advice is for entertainment purposes only. Ok now back to your regularly scheduled program.***

My advice is to sleep in a satin scarf, rarely use oil, avoid heat, no pulling with scrunches and rubber bands, try using flexirods, eat healthy, drink water and enjoy life. Basically leave your hair alone. You do not need a lot of stuff. That’s a marketing company’s way of making us codependent on the latest trend. They want to make us feel inadequate about ourselves so we can buy their junk and feel better about ourselves. Folks the reality is that happiness doesn’t come in a bottle.

Anyway give Miss Messy’s, Yucky Funky Mustard, Scam and Lovely, the YouTuber’s pitching the garbage, Harold’s Brother, Mixed Fixed, Mystical Suzie’s Elixir and others a rest and save that money for a trip you will never forget. And remember its just hair.

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14 comments

  1. Quesha 31 July, 2012 at 12:04 Reply

    I cannot understand the product junkies. I go to my stylist and she sells me the products to use on my hair between appointments. I cannot buy alla that expensive stuff for it maybe work. And I got super duper thick and shrinking hair. The curling products laugh at my hair!!

  2. SIMPLYTOYIN (@simplytoyin) 1 August, 2012 at 02:58 Reply

    Whaaaa **mouth open** you have never heard of miss doss? My heart be still ### ok panting over - she is one of the best musicians i’ve ever seen live. And she is too stunning! Bougie, you are so right! I started mixing my own hair stuff about a year ago. To be honest i’ve never really used any of those products listed up there but have read mixed reviews. My most important item is organic coconut oil, only because I like to cook with it as well (amazing for an english breakfast. Oooh the tomatoes braised!) as mix it in hair stuff. Meh, just me. My relaxed friend and one natural tried my mix es and they like it. So it is old school kinda in the kitchen but not by the ‘hot stove’. Ooops sorry for long essay! Great write up :

  3. Glo 6 August, 2012 at 13:02 Reply

    My eyes should be stuck due to the number of times I’ve rolled them after seeing another “product review” for some concoction promising “curl definition.” How many times has a someone insisted that they have to spend $20-$35 on SHAMPOO because they are “natural” or “transitioning” now. Chile BOO. I’ve been natural for 10 years. Suave is JUST FINE.

    I’d like to extend this to the sisters who choose to loc their hair, but run to their loctitian (who proceeds to charge them $65 to retwist NEW GROWTH), every 3-4 weeks because they are afraid of their texture. I’m not knocking retwists, I’m just saying that if you are going to be stuck in a salon once a month, you might as well stick with the relaxers.

    Additionally, I hate to break it to many folks, but you don’t need some $15 “locing gel” to start and maintain your locs. Seriously. I’ve had mine for 6.5 years and it’s just not necessary.

    These companies are capitalizing big time. Rant over.

  4. Lydia 13 August, 2012 at 19:42 Reply

    How dare you speak truth like that?!?!? It’s so true. Many companies that were originally manufacturing companies full of cheap mess is now all of a sudden spending their money on natural alternatives? I think not. Yeah they have omitted a few important things, but if you look at the ingredients, there are still ingredients you can’t pronounce and are not sure if they are natural or not. I think I’m going to run a few through the Cosmetic Database. I might bust some companies out. lol

  5. Ciara Reese 4 January, 2013 at 07:51 Reply

    The best thing for natural hair is “natural ingredients” . If I can’t cook with it i,or eat it, it is not going near my hair. Maintaining a healthy diet it reflected in natural hair. Many of these people who surrcomb to this marketing sceme will be back relaxing after feeling as though they have tried everything with no avial.

  6. Genise 4 January, 2013 at 10:54 Reply

    So true Bougie Black Girl! I feel the same exact way. I found a product that works for me and I’m sticking to just that product!

  7. Gail 23 January, 2013 at 16:45 Reply

    Speak the truth! I read your post $92.00 to late. I was very disappointed with the results (sticky and hard hair). I am sticking with my Suave conditioner & grape seed oil.

  8. Evie 21 February, 2014 at 20:41 Reply

    I am a recovery product junkie (there, I said it). I became that way due to my attempt to find products that worked for my 4C, low porosity hair (UGH). This hair journey opened my eyes to a lot of things; things I’ve heard about or read articles and books about, but I had to experience it in order to understand the significance.

    I’m not trying to leave out the experiences of women with other hair types but it seems like 4 types face more external resentment than other textures, and due to this resentment, some women learned to hate their own texture. I know society has a part to play in this kind of self-hatred but we have to take accountability for ourselves to see our beauty and own it like the godesses we are. Down with the hair texture caste system! COUP D’ETAT!

    Okie dokie, my rant is over. ^_^

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