How To Avoid Using Too Much Product

Not moisturizing your hair is just as bad as moisturizing your hair TOO much.

Product overload clogs your hair follicles, making it hard for the hair shaft to breathe from the scalp out.

Think about when you have pimples or acne. Your skin is completely clogged and you develop white or black heads. Your skin cannot breathe properly so it heals from the inside out, pushing all your trapped dirt and grime from your facial pores to the surface, creating pimples.

Your hair does that same thing, except it starts to fall out or break off.

Another example to think of your hair when using too much products is a dead plant. At one point, the plant was healthy and striving because it was getting adequate sunlight and water. But too much sunlight and not enough water, or vis versa, eventually means a dead plant. That is exactly what will happen to your hair if you go commando with product!

Here are some examples of product overload:

1. Too much shampooing. This is a classic way to dry and break your hair off.
2. Too much Heat protectant. You should not be using heat that often anyway. But heat protectant is almost always loaded with drying commercial ingredients. I was using Chi Iron Guard Thermal Protectant before I realized one of the main ingredients in it is alcohol. Most of these products contain alcohol, which is a main ingredient to dry your hair. Use VERY moderately.
3. Too much oil. The key oil for natural hair, coconut oil, is a hard carrier oil. This means while it “carries” nutrients from other oils and ingredients to your hair, it’s a solid oil, meaning it hardens as it cools. Most oils like this are typically quite rich and heavy and can easily clog your follicles is used too often.

If you are victim to product overload do the following to avoid it:

1. Anything you do with your hair, use a bit of water for detangling and softening.
2. Apply product on damp hair. The water allows the product to spread better.
3. Do not use product everyday. If you make your own products, like me, they are probably very rich and thick in product, more the reason to use them in moderation. Besides, less is always more with natural hair care!
4. Wear protective styles more often. When your hair is braided or twisted up, you are less likely to think it needs more product.
5. Get rid of products that label alcohol as one of the first few main ingredients. This is a quick way to tell you are using a potentially drying product, which will in turn make your hair possibly feel drier quicker, prompting you to use another product.