African American Hair Products

Ever feel lost in the sea of endless choices when you cruise the aisles at your local beauty supply store? There are so many options that it's easy to get confused and suffer from "analysis paralysis" when you skim the labels trying to figure out which shampoo and conditioner is right for you.

Did you know that African American women alone spend over seven and a half billion dollars a year on beauty products (that's pretty insane if you ask me!)? I bet as much as half of those products never get used by the women who buy them. Don't spend more than you have to!

A high quality bottle of shampoo can cost as little as $6 for 8 ounces. Educate yourself about the types of products available, the ones that give others good results and learn how to figure out if they can work for you too. Don't be fooled into thinking products have to be expensive to work well.

My goal is to share some black hair product basics you should know before you go shopping and to help you work your way through the maze of hair products to hone in on the right ones for you.

What Are the Different Types of Hair Products?

There are lots of different Black and African American hair products, but for home use the choices are usually limited to the following:

1. Shampoos
   • Dry Hair Shampoos
   • Shampoo For Black Hair

2. Conditioners
   • Leave In Conditioner
   • Best Hair Conditioner
   • Conditioner For Black Hair
   • Deep Conditioner
   • Protein Conditioner

3. Treatments
   • Aphogee Treatment For Damaged Hair

4. Oils and Moisturizers
   • Wild Growth Hair Oil

5. Styling Products
   • Relaxers For Black Hair
   • Black Hair Texturizer

Most products indicate on the packaging what hair types they work best for. Get used to reading labels and ingredients to help you quickly figure out the ones that will work best for you.

Why Are Black Hair Products Different?

Are you wondering why we even need "Black and African American hair products" different from all the other ones out there?

• Black hair is the most unique of all the different types in the way it looks and more importantly the way it needs to be taken care of.
• Our hair is D-R-Y and there's no getting around that fact.
• The curl pattern that most people of African heritage have doesn't allow sebum (natural hair oils that come from the scalp) to travel down the length of the hair making it moisturized and supple.

When our hair dries out, bad things start to happen. It's harder to comb, it looks frizzy and messy, doesn't hold a style well and it becomes more susceptible to split ends and breakage. All of this means that we need extra conditioning in each stage of the hair care process.

Choose shampoos, conditioners, leave-ins and hair dressings with extra moisturizing and conditioning properties. For people with straighter hair these types of products would create a limp and weighed down look, but for our 'extra thirsty' curly, coily and kinky hair the only result is softness and manageability.

Which Ingredients Work Best for Black and African American Hair?

There are products for every hair type and texture, but generally speaking if you have the highly textured hair typical of Black, African American and mixed ethnicities your major concern should be choosing the ones with the best moisturizing effect.

It's helpful to know the types of ingredients that help Black hair to stay moisturized while not being too heavy on the scalp and weighing down hair. Here's a short list of some of the ingredients that are considered "good" and "bad" for our hair. The goods ones tend to be moisturizing and protective to our hair and scalp while the bad ones encourage pore clogging and dryness.

As with other things in life you may find that ingredients on either side work well or not so well for you. The key is to experiment. That said, if you happen to see most of the ingredients in the bad list in a product, chances are that it's not going to be very good for you hair.

Best Black and African American Hair Products

You can find a good selection of African American hair products in drug stores, beauty supply stores and specialty salons. The prices range from economy to upscale depending on where and which products you buy.

To get the maximum research done in the least amount of time before you buy, I recommend browsing and online resource like Amazon.com. They carry every black and African American hair care product imaginable and offer thousands of reviews to help make the decision making process easier. You can find the product you're interested in quickly and usually for a discounted price (most times with free shipping included!).

Here's a collection of some popular lines of Black and African American hair products sorted by hair type.

Natural Hair Products

• Blended Beauty
• Long Lovely Locks
• My Honey Child
• Kinky-Curly
• Greenridge Herbals
• Jane Carter Solution
• Kynk
• Naani's Naturals
• Oyin Handmade

Curly Hair Products

• Curl Junkie
• Mixed Chicks
• Miss Jessie's

Relaxed Hair Products

• Mizani
• Kera Care
• Wave Nouveau
• Organic Root Stimulator - Olive Oil

Hair Growth Products

When you're trying to grow your hair out about 80% of your success depends on the things you do to your hair and only 20% depends on the products you use. There are certain products I think work very well for hair growth, but the reality is that anything that keeps your hair clean, moisturized and healthy will work just fine.

I strongly recommend that you learn the day to day methods of care and styling techniques that work to grow you hair to greater lengths. This is what will put the power to decide how long you want your hair to be in your own hands. Click here to find out how to grow long hair.

Researching all the African American hair products is a tiring task but you'll find that it's worth it to discover the handful of products that end up being your perfect match. Until then, prepare yourself for lots of trial and error!