THE CONS OF. DIY NATURAL HAIR CARE

Most of us step into this natural hair journey knowing nothing or too little about hair structure, product formulations and proper hair care practices. So when we start learning about harmful and drying hair ingredients to curly hair - DIY seems like the perfect option.

 However, with the exception of a few people who really get into it, we’re not certified in making stable and effective concoctions. Take egg masks, for instance, if you’re transitioning, have chemically treated hair or use heat regularly the protein in eggs is too big to provide any ‘support’ to the internal structure of the hair (cortex). To do so they need to be hydrolysed and in that case, they’re only conditioning the hair not actually treating it.

 Additionally, if you’re using lots of oils and butter in your DIY recipes, and most curly girls DO, and you’re not using a strong enough cleanser to remove them from the hair you’re just creating buildup, preventing hair moisture and promoting breakage.  And this also happens if you only co-wash or don’t clarify.

Finally, have you ever thought that the benefits of those egg, avocado or banana hair masks you do are washed off once you shampoo properly? Oh, you only do it after your shampoo?! Well, then you’re leaving oils that lubricate the hair (and don’t actually close the cuticle layers) and won’t allow your hairstyles to shine.  Not to mention dryness if you’re not using the right hair cleanser. 

Now I am not trying to scare you from trying DIY products.  Just be mindful of where you are in your natural hair journey, and if you are knowledgeable enough about it to formulate a DIY product that works for your hair.  

Unless you have some knowledge of the hair structure, what ingredient are intended to do, how to use them, and how to formulate them to be effective - then I would recommend to leave the product formulation to someone with a chemistry background.  You can do more harm than good to your hair trying DIY if you dont know what you are doing.

Do you know your curl type? Porosity? Density? Diameter of your strands? Do you know the difference between moisture overload and protein overload and how to correct them?  If you are looking at these questions thinking you dont know what the hell I am talking about - you shouldnt be doing DIY products!

So do you like DIY products or store bought for your natural hair care?