Hair Products Marketed Specifically To Black Consumers

[esoterica]

do they work better on your hair compared to other products?

 

[meia]

do they work better on your hair compared to other products?

welll, in my opinion, they work less. a lot of them are filled with mineral oils, waxes, and a ton of other stuff im not even sure of..lol so im going to say no..they just seem to clog my pores or make my scalp dry and my hair oily as anything..id say the only black product that really works for me is sulfur 8, jojoba oil (queen helene) and cholesterol...thats about it..everything else doesnt work or is too greasy..

lol my hair is so crazy..i cant even use steryotypical "white" products either.. i mainly have learned that using oils and thick conditioners help me a lot more than anything else..

 

[Kimberly]

No, I often seem to get better results from products marketed for "dry/damaged" hair or blonde/bleached hair (i.e. TIGI'sDumb Blonde conditioner).

 

[esoterica]

i agree! in years gone by it seems that everything that was marketed to us had crap ingredients. mineral oil sheens, gunky greases, pink oil, crazy spritz products with tons of alcohol, freeze gel... pure madness. no wonder everyone including is thinks our hair doesnt grow.

 

[MzTami]

do they work better on your hair compared to other products?

Here we go, another poll. Just kidding, you know I wuv your polls.

I do not know the difference between what product belongs to what nationality. I see it, I like the ingredients, out the store the pj go!

I thought Paul Mitchell was targeted toward white people, but I love it!

 

[Victorian]

I said a mixture of both. What really matters is what the ingredients are, how the product works with my hair, etc. There are some "black" products that work well on my hair (Profectiv, John Frieda Relax line (when it was still around), Elasta) and there are some that don't do anything for me (grease, Pink Oil, etc). I don't really care who the product is being marketed to, as long as it works

 

[meia]

i agree! in years gone by it seems that everything that was marketed to us had crap ingredients. mineral oil sheens, gunky greases, pink oil, crazy spritz products with tons of alcohol, freeze gel... pure madness. no wonder everyone including is thinks our hair doesnt grow.

oh yess..cheapest of ingredients that seemed to do nothing but make your hair either a) look good for a while then look damaged as hell when you wash it out or b) look good for a little while and then the product stops working c) a host of other hair problems come out of using that product..

oh yess mineral oil, the black hair gel that really was black (protein gel), ALCOHOL! oh man..that i forgot about but it was probably the worst ingredient in most of the products alongside the mineral oil..

thats the funny part- because a somewhat large percentage of black people are conditioned to think their hair doesnt grow and wont ever grow, they put these products on the market filled with hormones, different damaging ingredients..andd because we are all attempting to overcome the steryotypes we "buy" into it..but its funny...we didnt need those products to begin with at all..we all already had beautiful hair in any form and style and texture and it didnt matter about the products- im thinking (and i know i did) most people used the products to mend attitudes and feelings about the how "black hair wouldnt grow" myth..

when all that needed to be changed were our attitudes and mindsets..i think black hair is some of the most beautiful hair in existence in any form relaxed, permed, natural--

ahhh lol just my opinions!

 

[Sosoothing]

No, I often seem to get better results from products marketed for "dry/damaged" hair or blonde/bleached hair (i.e. TIGI'sDumb Blonde conditioner).

I voted a mixture of both. As long as its meant for dry or damaged hair, it usually works for me no matter what type of consumer its marketed to.

 

[esoterica]

thats the funny part- because a somewhat large percentage of black people are conditioned to think their hair doesnt grow and wont ever grow, they put these products on the market filled with hormones, different damaging ingredients..andd because we are all attempting to overcome the steryotypes we "buy" into it..but its funny...we didnt need those products to begin with at all..

you're right... it makes no sense to me. every black hair shop is filled to the brim with "doo gro" "won't gro" bla bla bla... and then its also filled with relaxers of every type! now if people think their hair doesnt grow, what the hell are they relaxing? companies are making a killing from a totally racist idea that most black people are happy to believe.

 

[Crystalicequeen123]

I don't really care who the product is being marketed to, as long as it works

AMEN!

I don't care WHO the product is marketed to, as long as it works. I use a mixture of products, but I have to admit most of my products are not necessarily marketed towards black people.

Products like Nexxus, Paul Mitchell, Suave, etc are in my cabinet. But I also use Creme of Nature, Lekair Cholesterol Conditioner, and Elasta QP. I have found that when I used to use strictly "made for black hair" products, my hair wasn't always in the best condition. That Pink Oil by Luster's used to be my staple moisturizer (what was I thinking?? ). I never would put oils in my hair...only GREASE! Again...what on earth was I thinking?? I would put gels in my hair in order to "lay down" the edges of my hairline, and spritz my hair to "hold" a style. *puke* I don't know what I was thinking back then, but I have LONG since thrown away the pink crap, and the gels and all of the other greases and alcohol-infested hair sprays. I even tried the Pantene Pro-V "colored and relaxed" hair care line, and that didn't really work for me either!

Bottom line: USe what works for YOUR hair. It doesn't matter if the product is marketed towards black hair or whatever. As long as the ingredients are good, then it shouldn't matter who's hair it's marketed towards. I remember being afraid (literally afraid) to even try the Nexxus line because I thought it was only made for "white people" and that thier products would cause my hair to fall out. LOL* How silly I was! Afterall, our hair colors and hair textures might be different across races, but isn't our HAIR made of the same thing??

 

[meia]

you're right... it makes no sense to me. every black hair shop is filled to the brim with "doo gro" "won't gro" bla bla bla... and then its also filled with relaxers of every type! now if people think their hair doesnt grow, what the hell are they relaxing? companies are making a killing from a totally racist idea that most black people are happy to believe.

oh yes..since its impossible for hair to not grow- they know that with all those steryotypes flying around out there that eventually black women will believe it, play into the idea and ultimately be hooked on their products for life..

id say a majority of the products, like you said, are product to chemically "grow" the hair and relaxers to "straighten" the hair..companies love that this steryotype is flying around- i believed it for a long time as do a lot of black women I know. Using these products dont necessarily mean that the hair is gonna grow (even though they make promises they cant keep)...a lot of times ive noticed (also with myself) that hindered growth comes from a lack of KNOWLEDGE on how to CORRECTLY care for the hair yourself (aka using those types of ethnically marketed products)

if i remember correctly, there was a thread on here a while back that said that a lot of black hair products use hormones and other unsafe things that not only promise to make the hair grow- but an adverse effect is having breasts grow etc., etc., becuase of the level of hormones--- which play into the whole steryotype game..

i'll definitely try to find the thread!

 

[esoterica]

Bottom line: USe what works for YOUR hair. It doesn't matter if the product is marketed towards black hair or whatever. As long as the ingredients are good, then it shouldn't matter who's hair it's marketed towards. I remember being afraid (literally afraid) to even try the Nexxus line because I thought it was only made for "white people" and that thier products would cause my hair to fall out. LOL* How silly I was! Afterall, our hair colors and hair textures might be different across races, but isn't our HAIR made of the same thing??

exactly! if it works, it works! even if it is for horses...

 

[esoterica]

if i remember correctly, there was a thread on here a while back that said that a lot of black hair products use hormones and other unsafe things that not only promise to make the hair grow- but an adverse effect is having breasts grow etc., etc., becuase of the level of hormones--- which play into the whole steryotype game..

i'll definitely try to find the thread!

here it is:
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=65262

 

[meia]

exactly! if it works, it works! even if it is for horses...

ahahaha..damned if it dont work! lol that grows my hair (a quote that i read once that i still die laughing about- a lhcf member posted this one) like a field negro with the massa' on his a** hahahahaha...i wish i could find the woman that posted that one! lol im laughing now..

 

[MzTami]

ahahaha..damned if it dont work! lol that grows my hair (a quote that i read once that i still die laughing about- a lhcf member posted this one) like a field negro with the massa' on his a** hahahahaha...i wish i could find the woman that posted that one! lol im laughing now..

gurl...you got me cracking up at work..The people around me think I am crazy as heck!

 

[myco]

you're right... it makes no sense to me. every black hair shop is filled to the brim with "doo gro" "won't gro" bla bla bla... and then its also filled with relaxers of every type! now if people think their hair doesnt grow, what the hell are they relaxing? companies are making a killing from a totally racist idea that most black people are happy to believe.

I usually focus on ingredients moreso than target audience. But there is a correlation between "ethnic" products and sub par ingredients. Just recently I committed the cardinal sin of not stocking up on my Elucence, so I had to go and try to buy something off the shelf. That BSS store had every brand of relaxer, spritz, and grease that you could think of. Conditioner was a complete afterthought. So it's like you can style the crap out of your hair, but trying to prevent damage and maintain your hair can be a pipe dream.

 

[hairmaster]

HAIR IS HAIR, You can find it on al mamels, people the way it grows out of the scalp is the differences. I found shampoos marketed to black community to be harsh to the hair to remove the oils and grease from the hair, most retail stores even make a separate location for black hair care products.(segurgation) why? They want you to
think this is the right products for your hair?? Look at the Jewish people or the Itailian People the have curly dry hair, to protect them in their mother countrys from the harsh heat of the sun.

 

[IntelligenceisBeautiful]

A lot of these "black products" aren't even made or owned by black people so go figure

 

[dhill830]

I agree i think it should really be based on what the ingrediants are and how it works on your particular head of hair.... just like we are not all the same shade of black...the same shampoo, conditioner whatever is not going to work the same way on all of our heads.

 

[esoterica]

A lot of these "black products" aren't even made or owned by black people so go figure

very true. they arent owned by black companies, but they all have black faces on them! i've never seen a non-black haircare line with a photo of a person on the front. unless its a hair dye or perm etc.

 

[~*~ShopAholic~*~]

I voted no, only other products. Even though I have a few products maybe two, overall there are not many that I've come across that gives my hair what it needs for overall health or the feeling I want my hair to have. I use to use pantene pro-v moisture renewal poo and cond. and my hair was great, well they came out w/ a relaxed line, and I tried it only because it was for relaxed hair that made me think it would be better for my hair, well it was crap IMO that stuff just left my hair limp and greasey, kind of hard, no more bounce or swinging silky hair. That's when I knew it was a setup going on somewhere and someone was trying to savatage us black women from have that beautiful bouncy, swinging silky hair. Yes we want and need moisture in our hair but I sure don't want my hair to look and feel like it's packed with a jar of grease! So when it comes to poo's, cond. and the rest of hair prod. I do prefer other than the "black prod." because in the long run it's what my hair wants and needs.

 

[Enchantmt]

I never really thought about this. I've always tried whatever looked interesting. I gave away a mixture of products. My shampoos and conditioners were mostly non black companies but the styling products, foams, pomades,etc were from black companies. I need a little more of a coating to weigh my hair down. I still love paul mitchell foaming pomade, but I havent used it since I stopped relaxing. My hair HATED TCB products, and whomever came up with lustrasilk moisture max ought to be shot. Pink oil was a mess too. Cream of nature shampoos would work for a little while but I didnt care for it.

My dream product would be a cross between qhemets heavy cream and curl milk, liquid and lightweight but something that coats sans parabens. Non-greasy, but moisturizing. Mixed chicks was close, but didnt leave the softness I wanted and had parbens. I want to only have to apply ONE product to my hair. I'm tired of mixing to get the desired effect.

 

[macherieamour]

Hahah.. that was me that voted yes!

But I really only use products designed for relaxed (not just black) hair-not "stressed" or "Color-treated"- but RELAXED gosh darnnit. I do tend to not to trust most "white" companies that come out with lines for black women cause i feel like the use the same formulas anyways and are just trying to increase their market share.

A good book to buy is called DOnt go Shopping for Hair care products without me by Paula Begoun. She speaks the truth on all products-down to the chemicals they use, whos using the same formula over and over again, etc tho shes doenst have all the products I use like mizani and keracare. But she let me know the truth about Pantene, Neutrogena, Nexxus, Aveda and all them erplexed. It has definately changed the way i go shopping for hair products

 

[Cichelle]

I currently don't use any products that are marketed specifically to the black consumer. But to be fair, I don't use that many products. Conditioner is really my main product. I rarely use shampoo. But neither my shampoo nor my conditioners are specifically marketed to black people. Other than that I use things like shealoe or avocado butter, jojoba oil, distilled water,etc and I get them either from FNWL or the healthfood store.

 

[Sweet C]

The scientist who invented Luster's Pink Oil

Ok, I couldn't resist, LOL

I think b/f I came to this board I might have thought it was crazy to try a product that specifically didn't state for women of color. But after learning more in general about hair care, I have learned that just b/c that it is states that it is specifically for women of color, doesn't mean it gets the job done. The constant raves of products like NTM, Nexxus, and Kenra further prove that hair products that are not considered "black hair products" give optimal results for women of color.

 

[MeccaMedinah]

you're right... it makes no sense to me. every black hair shop is filled to the brim with "doo gro" "won't gro" bla bla bla... and then its also filled with relaxers of every type! now if people think their hair doesnt grow, what the hell are they relaxing? companies are making a killing from a totally racist idea that most black people are happy to believe.

WHEW!!! Girl you better tell it!

 

[Cheleigh]

Ideally, I look for products that are geared toward highly textured (or curly) hair with moisture needs. I also prefer natural or small batch created products. As such, they might be by black folks, white folk or a large company that is sensitive to the needs of textured hair.

 

[vikkisecret]

both works well when find what works best for you hair!

 

[Porsche19]

The key is the ingredient list, not marketing. I use "white" and "black" products.

 

[lovechic]

I voted a mixture of both!