Friday, December 18, 2009

Giving up silicone...

I just heard about naturallycurly.com and have been researching it. My whole entire childhood was filled with mushroom head and afro jokes from older siblings and straight haired friends. Naturallycurly.com is a place where people like me feel welcomed. I have always categorized my hair as wavy and frizzy but that really isnt' what it is, that is what shampoos and conditioners have done to my hair apparently. Instead of letting my hair get to it's natural curly/wavy state, I have masked it with straightening and products. I have all kinds of "anti-frizz" products and have used shampoos and conditioners promising me sleek and shiny hair. When I throw all of this junk in my hair, it does temporarily behave but the days that I don't want to do anything to my hair (most days), it is out of control. I've envied all of those girls with straight hair for too long and I have decided to embrace my curls and go natural. I will record the progress on this here blog when I do begin but first... I have to give up silicone. The main points of this method are no brushes, no shampooing and no silicones. There are tons more that I will find out but I'm currently on the waiting list for the book by Lorraine Massey at the library.
No silicones? I thought that will be easy, I don't use that. But then I read that if you look at the ingredients on your products and if any of them end in -cone, -conol or -xane, there are silicones in the product. Well I did and apparently all of my products contain this. It makes sense because silicones do temporarily relieve frizz bit does not repair it. The only thing that takes silicones out of your hair is sulfates which is in most shampoos which are really harsh. The same sulfates that are in laundry detergent and dish soap are in your shampoo which is too harsh for sensitive, fragile curls.
Anyway, I am a totally cheap person and love my silicone products so before I give them up and enter my hair rehabilitation , I am going to use them to death and destroy my hair in the process. I know you aren't supposed to, but I want to use them all first just as a junkie would with drugs. That is the only way I can describe it. So until my last product is empty, I will be reading the book and back on here to begin my journey into natural curls. I will include pictures of my progress and details on the outcomes. Hope you will join me...
Thanks,
Jackie

1 comment:

  1. Congratulations on your decision to embrace your inner curl! I totally remember feeling the way you do about using up the last of my products before I started.
    A note on silicone free products; they do not have to be expensive. I am currently using a $0.99 bottle of Suave Naturals juicy green apple conditioner to co-wash with. It meets all of my curly hair specifications and my hair is in fabulous condition.
    Good luck!

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