Showing posts with label hair care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hair care. Show all posts

Saturday, June 14, 2014

What those "hair supplement" companies DON'T tell you!

Hairfinity. The Mane Choice. Both of these companies are very well known companies in the natural hair community. Both offer hair products and tools to many women who have natural hair. What they are both very well known for are natural hair supplements that they offer to all ethnicities of women. You see their ads all over Instagram and Facebook, and based on the stories and "testimonies" listed on social media , you are then lured into the buying trap that these companies want you to be in.


A little background about my hair: I have very THICK, type 4 hair. With low porosity and its extremely dense. When I say my hair is thick, its extremely thick and shrinks like no ones business when water hits it. When trying these hair supplements, I was hoping that they would boost my already fast growing hair, and help me to retain some length that I "thought" I wasn't keeping.



Now I'll admit, I was one of those people who fell into the "trap". I had studied and researched Hairfinity and The Mane choice both for a quite a long time before I decided to make a purchase from both of them. I decided to give hairfinity a go first, and bought one bottle to start, just to see how I liked it...
I started taking hairfinity late fall, early winter of 2013. As indicated on the bottle, the directions are to take 2 capsules by mouth daily.( preferably with meals). As I did so, I immediately noticed two side effects from Hairfnity that I did not like. 1. Increase in Migraines (I already had a problem with migraines before starting this supplement) and 2. Acne/break-outs. My skin went crazy when I started taking these pills! I'm talking 1-2 new pimples a day. Now I'd say that my skin was is usually pretty clear and smooth and I don't have a hard time keeping it that way. As far as the migraines, I usually get those 1-2 times a month, because they are controlled with a prescription medication I am currently taking. When I started the hairfinity, I had a migraine every other night! I thought to myself, this is crazy! Nevertheless, my hair was growing slightly faster than it was without the supplements. I decided that I would not repurchase Hairfnity after finishing the first bottle.

A few months went buy, and I was still seeing posts from The Mane Choice on Instagram. I was pondering the thought of possibly trying this supplement, because maybe it was a little bit different from hairfinity. I decided to give it a go on a whim, because I felt like I had nothing else to loose. Boy was I WRONG. I will say that I didn't have the same horrible side effects with The Mane Choice vitamins as I did with Hairfinity. No breakouts and no added migraine headaches. But something just wasn't right with my hair over the course of a couple weeks, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I kept complaining to my mother at the time, that something just was NOT right with my hair. It wasn't responding to product like it used to, and it wasn't as thick and full as it usually was. At the time, I contemplated the big chop again, because I was so frustrated. We went over a few things that we thought could be causing the problem and left it at that. Never did we think to question the supplement I was taking. During this time, my hair was growing. I did notice the length, but the thickness just was not what it used to be. By now, I had finished  the first bottle and was on my second bottle (the last bottle). Then, one morning it HIT ME. The hair supplements were causing my hair to thin!!!! It had to be the hair supplements. I can honestly say over the course of the months I was taking the pills that this is when I saw the biggest difference in my hair. The thickness was there but the length had drastically been affected by these supplements.
Now I don't know about anyone else, But Id rather have thick, full healthy hair than long, thin, brittle hair. I'm not sure what chemical in this supplements caused the body and thickness of my hair to be affected, but let me tell you I am not liking it. 




I stopped taking the supplements the beginning of this week. I will come back to you guys in one month to show the difference in my hair as far and thickness and body. Let me just say that I am in no way trying to bash or discredit any of these companies, but I thought it was important to let the natural hair community and my followers know about this. Most of us are so consumed by getting fast, quick results, and getting long, luxurious hair fast that we will take anything and try anything to get it. What's most important is letting your hair do its own thing naturally. Drink water, eat right, take daily vitamins not aimed at hair growth, but aimed to aid the body. I fault myself from gearing away from what's important in my natural hair journey and what I want you all to take away from my posts. Healthy hair, is the best hair, no matter the length. Length will come if you do what you need to do for your hair.

Check back with me in a month guys, and I will do a follow up on how may hair is doing since I have completely stopped the hair supplements. Thanks for reading, feel free to ask questions and comment!

-Dani

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Protective style challenge, starting August 2013

Good morning all! 
I will be starting a protective style challenge in a couple days. This challenge will be from August of 2013 and will end February 2014. So this will go on for approximately 5 months. 

This challenge will consist of protective styles only, that I will be wearing my hair in consistently. Mostly weaves and maybe braids. This Thursday I will be having a kinky curly weave installed and will be keeping it in for 8 weeks max. (2 months). In between the weaves, I will be giving my hair breaks periodically for 2 weeks at the most. During the breaks, I will be trimming my ends, deep conditioning, and making sure my hair is cared for, before braiding it back up for a sew in. So consistently; I will be protective styling, taking a break, protective styling,taking a break  and etc. until February of next year. My goal is to see not only how long my hair will get within that 5-6 month timeframe but to see how effective weave actually will be for my hair, and how effective not using heat is. Once I get my hair installed this weekend, I will post pictures and show & tell!  There will be a post to follow on "How to care for your natural hair under weaves". Let me know if you guys have any questions. Thanks for reading!

-Dani

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Hair types. Do you love your hair?

Hair types. In the African American community, women and men put SO much emphasis on hair. Whether is long or short, "good hair" or "bad hair", "nappy hair" or "fine hair", there's always someone comparing your hair to the next persons hair. Because more and more women are starting to wear there hair naturally, and abstain from the use of chemicals to permanently straighten there hair, it is noticeable that women are starting to embrace the hair they were born with. 
There is a hair typing system within the natural hair community that many naturals go by. Personally, I'm not that in to the hair types, because I have so many different textures of hair in my head. Briefly, here are the different hair types ( this type can also have sub/ categories also)

Type 1 hair: straight hair ( this hair can range from fine to coarse in texture)

Type 2 hair: wavy hair, with a definite S pattern to it ( this hair can also range from fine to coarse and be frizzy more than type 1 hair)

Type 3 hair: curly hair, when wet it can appear straight. When dry it returns to its curly pattern. ( this hair can consist of loose curls or tight curls)

Type 4 hair: kinky, very tightly coiled hair. ( can be coily, kinky or wiry, have an S patter or zig zag pattern )

Again, I don't really get to much into the hair typing system. No specific hair type is better than another, and they all must be cared for differently in order to retain length and the healthiness of the hair. I am majority 4a/4b with some 3c in the back. It's taken my almost 3 years of being natural to know what my hair really likes and what it needs. Whether you have fine hair, straight hair, coily hair, frizzy hair, or kinky hair,embrace what you were born with, learn to care for it correctly and you will see amazing results! Let me know if you have any questions! Please comment and subscribe!!! Thank you
-Dani