Going natural was one of the hardest decisions I ever made (coming from someone who relaxed her hair all her life). It was a quick decision that all happened from a huge sense of admiration. I remember seeing girls at the mall with their afros and curly hair and loving how they carried themselves with a lot of courage. I wanted that for myself, I wanted that to be me. I finally decided to go through the transition process and avoided heat as much as possible. During the second month of my transition process, I switched all my products to products that were made specifically for coily/ curly hair. And I could say my hair was thriving and I learnt a lot on how to take care of my hair. I definitely had a love/hate relationship for certain hair products. Some were expensive, hard to find, or just were not what I needed for my hair.
1. Shea Moisture
During my transition process, I asked some of my friends what their to-go brand was and the majority of them suggested any product by shea moisture. I decided to go to the store and hop on this product wave and WOW…..it was amazing. I bought the Jamaican Black Castor Oil shampoo and conditioner and it did its thing! I loved the smell and the feel of the products on my scalp. Although a little pricey compared to other brands, it is definitely worth its price.
2. Jamaican Black Castor Oil
Coming across so many youtube videos, one of the products that many youtubers mentioned was Jamaican Black Castor Oil. It was like fertilizer for my hair and it made it grow really fast. It was also thicker than other oil which helps in retaining moisture. JBCO for me has been pretty hard to find because every time I go to my local beauty stores or even walmart, they never have it! This shows how good JBCO is good for people and how it has helped us in achieving whatever length we want on time.
3. Garnier
I decided to hop to less costly brands and try out Garnier. I bought the leave-in conditioner and the 1 minute mask. For me, I did not feel much of a difference with the leave in conditioner; it retained moisture but not for a long time. But the 1 minute mask was amazing! A hair mask that shows great results in one minute has to be the best thing that could ever happen to me especially during my long wash days.
4. African Pride Olive Miracle Leave-In Conditioner
I have never had a terrible moment with this leave in conditioner. It always made my hair soft, easy to style and also most importantly, moisturized. Even though I hardly see it in stores, I try my best to grab one once I come across it.
5. Cantu
To be very honest, cantu works for certain people and sadly not me. I bought the leave in conditioner to save some money and also try to find new things. Instead of making my hair look moisturized, it looked and felt really dry and brittle. I asked a few people if they also felt the same way with cantu and they said yes. Not to discredit cantu, they have a really good curling cream which actually keeps my hair moisturized for at least four days.
My natural journey has made me love my hair even more. This time, I spend more effort on making my hair my identity with the hope of joining the wave of rocking my natural hair with boldness.