The three "Ps" of haircare

This Post was inspired by a lady (TheTruthIsHair, check her out!) on youtube who (to me) is just as Passionate about healthy hair care Practices as I am.  I am also Paying homage to an old hair board member (circa 2000-2001) who has since disappeared from the online hair care world.  If you are out there somewhere, DJ, holla!  Every since I started taking good care of my hair years ago, I have noticed that more and more women are starting to do the same.  That is fantastic to me, however, there are many women who are being led down some dangerous, expensive, and Potentially disappointing roads.

Yeah, for the most Part, we are grown women and we have our own minds to make our own decisions.  Nevertheless, there are young girls that don't have the resources, money, etc to go out and buy the latest and the greatest.  They want their hair to look nice, too, right?  Nobody is telling us to buy Product after Product.  Nobody is forcing us to buy the latest and greatest $300 hooded hair dryer or steam hair machine.  Nobody is holding a gun to our heads and making us spend hard earned money on weekly salon visits.  It seems like every time I turn on the television, there is a new Product that is being advertised to "Promote hair growth, stop hair breakage, grow hair longer and faster", etc, etc, etc.  Yes, I have tried my share of Products and techniques, but I found that there is nothing like the 3 Ps of hair care that will give you desired results.  This Product Pushing is just really getting old.

With all the above being said, I have learned throughout the years that there are 3 things that will get your hair looking and feeling like you want it to.  These 3 things have nothing to do with a Particular Product.  They also don't cost you a thing (Yes, there are certain Products I buy and use, but have been using Pretty much those same things for years unless they have been discontinued).  In my experience, the 3 Ps of good haircare are:

PRESERVATION
PROTECTION
PATIENCE

What?  That's all?  Yes, that's all.  Preservation is maintaining the hair that is already on your head.  Your hair will never lengthen (I stress "lengthen" because there are too many out there that are stressing "growth".  Hair is always growing, unless you have some sort of health condition.)  When we are raking through our hair with small tooth combs, using chemicals every other week and not moisturizing the hair we have, expect for it to end up on the floor or in your sink.  The ends, which make up our length, will continue to snap and break if they are constantly dry.  My hair is now hip length (and I can't honestly believe it) and my ends are approximately 4 years old.  Yes, they are drier and more brittle than the new growth, but guess what, I still have them.

Protection is guarding the hair we have.  In the winter, we run out of the house with no hat on (how many of our Moms told us to Put a hat on to cover our ears?  If not, we would end up with a cold, the flu or worse.)  Nowadays, are we too cute for the hat?  Are we scared that the hat will dry our hair out? (No, because most of the time, we know nothing about dryness and the damage it can cause.  If we are knowledgeable of what the hat can do to damage hair, can we say, go buy some silk or satin material to line those suckers with?)  In the summer, we go out into the chlorine filled Pool and don't put any kind of oil or conditioner on hair to block the chemical.  We don't wear swim caps and we don't wash the chlorine out as soon as we get home.  The list goes on and on.  And we wonder why our hair is constantly dry and breaking.

Patience is just that, Patience.  Staying calm and enduring in working toward the goal.  Hair grows, on average, a half of an inch Per month, NOT overnight.  If there were a Product or technique out there that worked to grow hair down the back overnight, the maker of that Product would be the #1 richest person IN THE WORLD.  No, not every one wants long hair, but the market is HUGE in regard to it.  Look at weaves, extensions, growth Promising hair Products, etc. and how big that industry is.  There are women out there who will spend their last dime if it meant growing their hair longer and faster.  Why the urgency?  Aren't things worth having worth waiting for?  Nah, not in this world.  We want right here, right now.  That's why gastric bypass surgery, the lap-band and weight loss Pills are all the rave (Disclaimer: not in every case, because some are medically necessary).  But don't get me started.

I hope this Post sheds some light.  Products are not the answer.  They help, but only topically.  There is no need to buy a $50, 4 oz jar of deep conditioner when extra virgin olive oil, honey, coconut oil and other things in your Pantry can do a good, if not better job as commercial Products.  AND they have multiple uses.  I cook with evoo and coconut oil and they are healthier alternatives than canola and vegetable oil.  I eat avocados because of the great health they can bring AND they give a great conditioning treatment to my hair.

*****I Posted all the words that started with "P" in capital letters as a sort of subliminal message.  When you think about the health of your hair and taking care of it, don't think Product all of the time, but rather the three Ps.  Bye for now!****

Spin off of previous post: "Discontinued products..." (Please excuse typos or font weirdness, can't seem to get it right) :)

So I am sure we have all had our share of beauty products that work for us, just to be disappointed because all of a sudden, the ingredients have changed.  We don't immediately know the ingredients have changed because the companies don't seem to make it a priority to place emphasis on the change.  We usually get advertisements like "New and improved!" or "Now, with "so and so complex" added!"

When we realize the product has changed, ingredient-wise, we usually don't notice until we have already purchased the new product and it no longer works the same.  This sucks right?  Well I grew tired of spending my hard-earned money on less quality product and started paying more attention to labels and product bottle differences.  Yeah, products change the "look" of their products all the time, but how many times does the look accompany an ingredient change as well?

Just to give some examples of how I am not paranoid about this, I have experienced a few disappointing changes, firsthand:

One of my favorite cream moisturizers/leave ins back in the day was Bronner Brothers Castor Oil Lotion aka

B&B Oil Moisturizer with Castor Oil 

When I started using it years ago, the ingredients were:

Ingredients: Water, Canola Oil, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Castor Oil, Polyquaternium 32, Polysorbate 80, Aloe Vera Gel, Dl Panthenol, Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Idopropnyl Butylcarbamate, Fragrance and D&C Red #33

Ingredients from BB website (Shows parabens): Water , Canola Oil , Sorbitan Sesquioleate , Castor Oil , Polyquaternium 32 , Polysorbate 80 , Aloe Vera Gel , DL Panthenol , Diazolidinyl Urea , Methyl Paraben , Propyl Paraben , Fragrance , D&C Red No. 33 Other variations found on the net (No parabens but paraffinum liquidum (mineral oil) added):    Purifed Water, Canola Oil, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Castor Oil, Polyquaternium 32, Paraffinum Liquidum, Aloe Vera Gel, Panthenol, Coconut Oil, Polysorbate 80, Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Idopropynyl Butylcarbamate, D&C Red #33 and Fragrance.

At first glance, I don't know what many of the above items are, but all I know is I don't see mineral oil or petrolatum in the first product.  These ingredients could be hidden behind another name but who knows?  Nevertheless, why all the changes?  And why doesn't the consumer have the right to know or be given privy to information like, "mineral oil now added" or "parabens now added?" 

It's very frustrating.

In conclusion, Bronner Brothers are not the only culprit.  There is Dove, Organic Root Stimulator and a host of others I could name, and I will as soon as I have more time.   Thanks for reading my rant! :)