In addition to apples and pears?

Most of us recall the seen in the film Coming to America whenPrince Akeem sat in the 💈chair and the 💈 said, “God Damn! Boy what is that, some type of weave or something?” Prince Akeem proudly replied, “No, that is my natural hair. I have been growing it since birth.” (In his Wakanda voice). The 💈questioned what was in his hair, a chemical or something. Prince Akeem replied, “I have put no chemicals, only juices and berries.”(Don’t forget the Wakanda voice). The 💈replied, “Shit that ain’t nothing but Ultra Perm!”. I am 😭😭😭 until this day and 😢 that many years later and our perception has not changed. ​


We fall hard and deep for hair products. Perhaps it is their claim to fame that has us mesmerized and infatuated. “I will make you sleek” or the promises of “taming” and my favorite one, “Moisture”. We all eat them up and spend hundreds of dollars long after we realize their false intentions. Please don’t let me forget, “You have to diversify” using one product too long is no longer effective. Of course anything organic should expire or spoil, that is just common sense. When you look at the bottom of the container does it come with an expiration date? If yours does, don’t get too excited as that particular expiring date maybemore related to the container more than to the product that is being used.

Organic products…hmmm. ‘Organic’ means many things to many different people. When I think of ‘organic’ or ‘natural’, I think of items that are free of toxic chemicals, earth, animal, and people friendly. Now the corporate world or an organization may think of ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ as being a 💰 maker. In other words they will affix a label on a product with ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ some where in the mix without any intention of it being as so or perhaps a few items maybe. Not to mention being deceptive🤥, for example “other natural flavors” may refer to castoreum (or others similar), a secretion that beavers use to mark their territory. How is that for ‘natural’? Castoreum does embrace my definition of ‘natural’😂, do I want to ingest a mixture of gland fluid/urine??? 🤨Hell NAW!! Ingesting or absorbing through the skin is not much difference to me.

I only want an item that would be safe to ingest on my skin. So many labels read, “for external use only”. If you do the research it may imply that the ingredients cannot be absorbed through the skin. Many times that may be the case, however there does exist a chemical that will manipulate our cells to allow absorption🤫. Now, if you read Under the Armpit you would know areas other than the skin can take in these items. They are not just in items for the hair, from baby lotion to shaving cream and you’ll find some in our 🌯🍜🍧too. We trust these companies big or small. And we don’t ever question their ingredients or intentions and fall right into their misrepresentation and drown in disbelief🤦‍.

We want so desperately to believe that their labels are full of truth🙏. It may make our hair sleek and irritate our scalps at the same time. We will tell ourselves that the irritation is coming from somewhere else because the hair is sleek and we look good💃🕺. It is doing what it is suppose to do. Nothing does that better than a perm whether it is to curl or to straighten. Perms kept my scalp irritated with blisters that turned into sores and area baldness. It did not stop the adults from using it to manage my tresses nor me from following suite. Companies bank on our ignorances🤷‍.

Recently, I was getting my hair braided. I hadn’t noticed her using any additional items. My hair was manageable as she went through it with the blow dryer in order to pull out the curl. A few hours later she began the left side of my head. She combed through and then slapped some stuff onto my hair. I questioned what is that you are putting on my hair? She stated oh, just some jam stuff to give it a shine. We are conditioned to think if the hair is not shinny, its not looking good, 👎 WRONG! I informed her that my hair is without product and please not to add anything to it. It’s a tough conversation to have (I am empowering you!!), unfortunately too many hair stylists are concerned with the 💰 and superficial results rather than proper care.

And so are our favorite product suppliers. Here are a few names that are on EWG.org (Environmental Working Group) and Ynatural.com.au websites’😈 triethanolamine, disodium edta, titanium dioxide, ceteareth 20, dimethicone, cyclohexenecarboxaldehyde (Fragrance Fraud), butyl-phenylmethylpropional (Fake Lilly), phenoxyethanol. These items have been known to cause simple skin irritations, reproductive issues, carcinogens, and other unknown reactions as some have yet to be tested and bad for our earth. So now that you know be on the 👀 out for these chemicals and yes even in ‘Natural’ products. ‘Natural’ hair stuff is what sparked my inquisitiveness. Big brands that we all trust and love. A few websites will not even bother with listing their ingredients. Or maybe mentioning only one item like safflower seed oil, as if it is the only ingredient. Be mindful with items we use on our children, our person, and others whom we adore.

Thanks for your time and please feel free to share your own experiences😘