I’ve been doing this natural hair blogging thing for coming up on four years now, and I really must say it’s wonderful to sit back and think of how far we’ve come.
Most really well known natural hair care brands were only available online. Carol’s Daughter was one of the first to make it mainstream, via Sephora. Now Miss Jessies and Jane Carter are at Target, and so is Curls. Kinky Curly is available at Whole Foods and Hair Rules is on sale at Ulta. Multitextured hair products are in the spotlight, and now the titans of the industry are doing it big and fabulous in a popular retail store near you. And even while the big names are moving units at Target and Whole Foods and Ulta, there’s a new group of kitchen entrepreneurs and mixtresses making hair concoctions to impart moisture and beauty to our texture of tresses.
Here’s a list of who’s got next — and if you listened to The Nappturalite Radio Show last weekend, you may have heard me discuss some of these items already!
Next time I go to New Orleans, I got a hair salon I need to check out. Beauty On De Bayou is a natural hair salon that specializes in locs, twists, braids, and cornrows — and in addition to that, the owner, Dwana Makeba, also makes her own amazing natural hair products! Makeba’s Magnificents is a line of hair and body products that is truly dedicated to maintaining our natural beauty. If you like your natural hair products to be made from the most essential oils and purest ingredients, you’ll love their stuff. The Hair Buttah is pure shea with a touch of fragrance. The Coconut Remix is a loc gel made of honey, aloe vera, and coconut oil. It smells SO amazing. The Hair Oyl is simply olive oil, fresh grown rosemary, and it comes in scents like citrus, mint, or frankincense — makes my hair so shiny and fluffy. Their rosemary and peppermint shampoo is just $5 for a 4 oz bottle, and it’s so tingly and potent. Makeba’s includes a magnificent array of products, check out their hair and body goodies!
Naturi Beauty is a phenomenal brand on the rise being made by a remarkable woman. Shelley Chapman has much knowledge to impart when it comes to living healthy, eating healthy, and taking care of natural hair. She currently has two products available for sale — Naturi Quench, which is a really thick moisturizing cream made with hemp, jojoba oil, aloe and honey, and Naturi Curli is a light holding cream that isa blend of coconut oil and aloe. My hair loves both of them, but my curls really respond to the Naturi Curly, especially when my hair is wet and fresh from a conditioner wash. It smells delicious, and especially made my often dry-looking ends look healthy and strong. Love this stuff!
I’m going to include Jessicurl on this list, but judging from their beautiful packaging and the list of salons and stores nationwide that offer their products for sale – they’re a little bigger than indie! And any regular visitor of Naturally Curly would be familiar with Jessicurl, the inspiration for her to sell her products was born on the Naturally Curly message boards! Their products are some kinda wonderful, and give great results for my white friends with curly hair, as well as women of color with a kinkier texture. The Too Shea Moisturizing Conditioner and the Weekly Deep Conditioning Treatment are must -trys for natural haired bellas of any texture. I used the Weekly Deep Conditioning Treatment last week for my Sunday beauty ritual, and it made my hair so soft and made detangling so easy. I am in love! And for those of you with coils and curls that need definition, I love the Confident Coils Styling Solution! Just about every Jessicurl product I’ve tried so far, has impressed me tremendously. One word of advice – spring for full size products. If you’ve got super thick, big hair, these trial size items may not do much for you, even though they’re great for travel!
Lately I’ve had the wonderful experience of getting to know some truly indie brands, that are selling their products online and reaching consumers via Twitter. Some of these brands only have one product available for sale, but the products are amazingly good, and specifically made for naturals!
Mahogany Queen’s Honey Coconut Shea is intended to be a multi-use product, good for pre-poos, styling, or even on your skin! But I love it best when my hair is slightly moist, and I use it as a styling agent. It’s made with shea, coconut oil, coconut cream, avocado oil and honey – and smells lovely, like a more heady version of Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk. I know not everyone loves that scent, but I do!! $12 for an 8 oz container. Can’t wait to see what other products Mahogany Queen offers next!
I’ve made mention of Safi Hair Care before, but allow me to rave in detail. During the in-between months of late winter/early spring, my hair didn’t know WHAT to do. Safi Hair Care’s avocado shea hair butter came to the rescue! It’s a dense, very moisturizing product that I think would be great for anyone who believes in doing twists and protective styles. I used mine in my usual wash and go and it’s a bit too heavy for that, but when it came to going out and dealing with the elements, Safi helped to keep my hair strong and shiny. And it’s just $10 for a generous jar on Etsy!
If you’re deep into natural hair blogs, of course you know Fleurzty of Texture Playground. Her blog offers amazing information and inspiring photos of natural hair, as well as guides on how to care for your hair. Currently at her Boutique de Fleurzty, she has FOUR products available for sale! I can’t wait to try the other three, but so far all I’ve tried is her Hydrating Hair Butter. A little goes a long way with this product, and for me it works best when my hair is soaking wet and I’m fresh out of the shower. Hydrating Hair Butter is made with coconut oil, mango butter, kokum butter, shea butter, sweet almond oil, lemon and ylang ylang essential oils. My hair LOVES coconut oil, so I am head over heels for this stuff! It’s become a daily must-have.
Whew! Those are some of my favorite new hair products, all made by women with natural hair for women with natural hair, and there’s guaranteed to be something in there for every texture!
Have you tried any of the brands I mentioned? Which are your faves?
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