Taking Care of Ethnic Hair
About 10 years ago, I gave up and settled for any shampoo that merely cleans the hair, and of course, that’s all any of them REALLY do. Regardless of the advertising hype, none of them have magical properties that actually change the texture of anyone’s hair! As for conditioners, I’ve become pretty casual about using them. They do seem to have some short-term coating properties to control my frizzies – at least for a few days. And sometimes I believe these products DO protect my hair from the ravages of heat damage from curling irons (my best hair-styling friend!) and blow dryers. But never for very long.
As for the best hair groom product for my type of hair, after several years of trying all kinds of gels, sprays, creams, oils, etc, etc, I went back to using a product from my childhood. Wildroot cream! Of the various hair creams that were used on my hair from childhood (Breck, Suave, Brylcream), Wildroot and Brylcream are the only ones still being made. Breck went out in the late 60s I think. Suave was dropped in the mid-90s. I know that because I worked for the company that produced it. And I was working there when they stopped making it. Fortunately I had stocked up! But when my supply ran out, I rediscovered Wildroot – in the men’s hair care section of my neighborhood Walgreen’s. No wonder I hadn’t been able to find it before! I was looking in the wrong section of the store!!! It is truly the best grooming product for my particular type of hair. Heaven help me if they ever stop making it!!! (Maybe I should start stocking up NOW!!!)
Another problem I used to encounter was getting a decent haircut. Because of its thickness and unique texture properties, I never found anyone who could cut and style it exactly right (meaning the way I wanted it cut!). To cover their mistakes, they would use enough hairspray to hold the style in the fiercest hurricane. Sadly, the shellacking only lasted until I went to bed. The bad haircut, of course, lasted long after a good shampoo! So after many years, I decided I could give myself at least as bad a haircut as anyone I’d ever paid for one. I’ve been cutting my own hair or a regular basis for about 20 years now. And even when I KNOW I’ve made a mistake (too much off one side or the other or off the top), I have always received compliments on whatever style I end up with. Fortunately, my hair grows very fast so mistakes grow out within a month. Lucky ME!!!
My only other big problem is the effect of humidity on my mane. I’m convinced there is no product made that can keep my hair from swelling up, losing its body and sheen, and turning into a thick mass of uncontrollable strands with a mind of their own. Not even the magical Wildroot cream has been able to keep it under control when the humidity level is up!
On top of everything else, I’m now stepping up the battle to keep the gray hair at bay (hidden)! These monsters grow out like barbed wires and seem to multiply like weeds!!! ARRRGGGGGHHH!!!! So for the past 5 or so years of searching for and trying various hair-coloring products for various kinds of hair (each touting various magical properties), I’ve settled for buying the cheapest brand that merely does what it is designed to do – cover the gray, if only for a month, before the next crop of barbed wires grows out.
Despite all my hair issues, I am extremely grateful for the hair I have – and that I DO have hair! Otherwise I might be spending a small fortune on Rogain or some other magical potion or treatment to keep from going bald!
