"Higher-end" products were a waste for me...back to the basics...(long)

[BroadstreetBully]

So after months of PJism I've FINALLY found my staple, in a very unlikely place. I saw that we had a bottle of BB Oil Moisturizer lying around today. My first thought was that this product must be crap because I learned first from Cathy Howse that oil doesn't moisturize. Also the product had a very plain and unappealing packaging, just a white bottle with pink writing. Not to mention the unimpressive smell. However the product did seem interesting because the bottle read "Hair Lotion with Castor Oil and Aloe" so I decided to read the ingredient list. The first ingredient was Purified Water. Not sure what difference it makes if the water is Purified but I thought it was worth a try. So I took a bit and smoothed it onto my hair. I was a bit skeptical because the consistancy reminded me of Pink Oil Moisturizer, but I thought, what the heck, I've tried everything. At first it felt heavy and sat on my hair, but then again my hair was way overdue for a wash. I smoothed it on and put my satin scarf on my head and watched TV. About an hour later I went to apply my baggie and when I removed my scarf I almost died.

For a few seconds I thought I had gone grey!! But after the shock died down I realized that my hair wasn't grey, it had this intense sheen like no other! For the first time since I've begun my healthy hair challenge my hair felt moisturized without feeling weighed down. The initial heaviness and greasiness had worn off and my hair felt silky and smooth. I checked my hair in every mirror and saw nothing but a head full of beautiful intense sheen like never before. I am still shocked.
I've come to realize that I got so caught up in the product hype that I forgot what really worked for me. My hair was damaged because of the way I was treating it, not necessarily the products. For some reason my hair works better with these ingredients. All the other moisturizers I tried were crap compared to this. The other moisturizers I tried must have contained too much water because when I used them they made my hair feel wet and just weighed it down. Don't get me wrong, my hair has been improving with the other products, but I'd get so depressed when I see that they did nothing spectacular for my hair. This is the first product that really shocked me. Now I'm very happy. The other great thing about this product is that I don't need to seal with oil. It also works better than QP Mango Butter for my ends. I also like that it contains Castor Oil, according to the back of the bottle each bottle contains 10,000 mg of pure Castor Oil.

From now on I'm going back to the basics. I'll indulge myself once in a while and try some higher end products. But I'm going to give some of these other cheap products a chance. So I have two questions...

Anyone else experience this?
Does anyone have more recommendations for cheap products that work wonders?

 

[Dee-Licious]

Hmmm.. I have an old jar of this I bought at the dollar store a couple of months ago.. I never really tried it until now.. I just applied some and wrapped my hair for the night.. hope I get the same GREAT results.. thanks!!

 

[BroadstreetBully]

Hmmm.. I have an old jar of this I bought at the dollar store a couple of months ago.. I never really tried it until now.. I just applied some and wrapped my hair for the night.. hope I get the same GREAT results.. thanks!!

I hope it works too! I have the bottle, I've seen the jar but the jar contains Mineral Oil, the bottle does not. Might make a difference but I'm not sure.

I'm going to do a little research on some of these ingredients and see why this works so well for me while the other products did not.

 

[LovelyLionessa]

Hi guys, I am so happy you ladies are having sucess with this product. I have been using this since last weekend, and I am in LOVE. I wonder if they have changed the fragrance of this product though, because I have heard people say they did not like the smell and mine smells yummy like coconut.

It does contain some mineral oil, paraffinum liquidum is listed in the ingriedients. But I am abandoning my former fear of things containg mineral. Heck, Keracare is full of it, and look at the results girls get with that line. Anyway, I love to use the BB oil moisturizer on my ends and I used it after my last wash and it made my hair so shiny, I think that might be from the coconut oil in it. Plus it has castor oil which is BFF with my hair. It's kinda cool that something so cheap with cheesy packaging can work so well. It's like they say, don't judge a book by it's cover!

Here's a link to more info. about the product if anyone else is interested. I'm a real product PUSHA!

http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?CATID=100235&navAction=jump&navCount=0&id=prod8469


Anyway, I am all about cheap products that work, my siggy is full of 'em, that's what my regime is designed around. Let's hear it for cheap and cheerful!

 

[tenderheaded]

When I joined last year, I bought 2 expensive things - Humecto, and Matrix Sleek Look Iron Smoother. $30 spent and they didn't work worth crap
I went to Profectiv, Aphogee, Motions and now Silk Elements. All of these lines have items that work for me, and if I spend $30 I get a lot of stuff

 

[MissFallon]

I had this same thing happen to me when I first joined this forum. I abandoned my regular products and bought a whole new set over a couple of months. After using some of these products for like two months I realized that I liked my hair better when I was using my old products with my old regimen. Only problem is now I dont remember what products I used or what my old regimen was so Im constantly trying products out to see if they will get my hair back to how it used to be.

 

[BroadstreetBully]

Hey, glad to hear that others are finding success with affordable "old-school" products. I'm going to pick up my old friend Perm Repair. Yes, it has those scary ingredients, but it never caused breakage in my hair and I love the way it smells and feels.

 

[B_Phlyy]

I have never believed that a higher price equals higher quality. Most products are made by the same companies and your really just paying for packaging and advertising. That's why I will never give up my Softee Coconut Oil as my hair grease.

 

[BrownSkin2]

A cheapo I love is Hollywood Beauty Olive Creme, works wonders on my coarse natural hair. I was very impressed with this...

 

[Proudpiscean]

I have decided right now that I need to set limits on how much I'll spend on hair products. I plan to spend no more than $25 on hair products per month (shampoos, conditioners, moisturizers, EO, and leave-ins). Want to make this a challenge anyone? if there isn't already a similar challenge. This should be easy as I already have plenty of product to use up so I can save up and have extra to spend .

 

[PaperClip]

I have decided right now that I need to set limits on how much I'll spend on hair products. I plan to spend no more than $25 on hair products per month (shampoos, conditioners, moisturizers, EO, and leave-ins). Want to make this a challenge anyone? if there isn't already a similar challenge. This should be easy as I already have plenty of product to use up so I can save up and have extra to spend .

Now that is a VERY GOOD idea for a challenge, esp. for me....

 

[danimani]

After spending a fortune on Nexxus products, I'm just as happy with Suave. I totally get what you're syaing.

 

[Amarech]

Only problem is now I dont remember what products I used or what my old regimen was so Im constantly trying products out to see if they will get my hair back to how it used to be.

This happened to me too. I used to be a broke student so the higher end products were too expensive for me. I'm talkin Paul Mitchell and Biosilk Therapy. When I graduated and started working, I was so used to using cheaper products that worked that I forgot what I used to use.

Just recently I purchased Paul Mitchell "The Conditioner" and BioSilk Therapy.

Total Cost: 22.00
Effect on my hair: Priceless. I noticed a HUGE difference in how my hair responded to styling. It all depends on what works for you.

 

[PaperClip]

This happened to me too. I used to be a broke student so the higher end products were too expensive for me. I'm talkin Paul Mitchell and Biosilk Therapy. When I graduated and started working, I was so used to using cheaper products that worked that I forgot what I used to use.

Just recently I purchased Paul Mitchell "The Conditioner" and BioSilk Therapy.

Total Cost: 22.00
Effect on my hair: Priceless. I noticed a HUGE difference in how my hair responded to styling. It all depends on what works for you.

So are you saying that the more expensive products were worth the cost/worked better than the cheaper options?

 

[Mizani_Mrs]

Well ladies i believe you. You all have finally convinced me. I am the total opposite, and i used to think that you ladies were just using products were and probably didn't know what you were talking about. But now i do believe that cheap products work just as good for SOME people, as expensive ones. Just consider yourselves lucky. Expensive products CLEARLY work better on my hair. I mostly use Nexxus, Kenra, Elucence, and Mizani and i just stared using kKeracare. The only cheapies i use is EQP stuff and CON poo. I mean no one can say if they provide better longlasting results but as far as easy detangling, moisturizing and protein...the expensive products give me a noticeable difference. But with cheapies...my hair doest feel any better than when i started out. So i guess we have to accept the fact that what works for my hair doesn't work for everyone elses.

oh and i wonder if that means that yall's hair is more healthier and thus does not require these expensive formulations to get the job done??? hmmm.

 

[growwithme]

I have gone through so many products but the ones I like the best are the cheapest. I like my Yaky Honey almond Braid oil and Elasta QP mango butter. I don't have braids but the product contains so many good oils and gives my hair good sheen without weighing it down. The ingredients are: Avocado oil, Almond oil, Honey oil, Tocopherol (vitamin E). Sesame oil, coconut oil, Isoprpoyl Mysristate, Jojoba Oil. I just rub a little on my hand and apply it twice a day. I have have my hair down for the first time since the begining of June and every one keeps asking me how I got my hair so shiny. I am so afraid they'll stop selling this, I love it.

 

[erin558]

this stuff was recommended to me by my hair stylist!

 

[LABETT]

I have several high end products lines in my stash but there are a lot of cheap products that work better than the expensive ones.
I get greats results from Suave,Vo5,DDTA conditioner that work better on than the expensive ones.

 

[victorious]

I have never believed that a higher price equals higher quality. Most products are made by the same companies and your really just paying for packaging and advertising. That's why I will never give up my Softee Coconut Oil as my hair grease.

That's my favorite too.

---

I can't afford those high-end products. But I want to splurge sometimes after seeing the success some ladies have with them.

 

[Firenza]

Yes,I'm over the hype that a product has to be expensive to work well.
I have to try this product.
I'm looking for that sheen without hair feeling heavy from other products.

 

[Barbara]

Thanks for your extensive comment. I bought two bottles a while ago because it was extremely inexpensive, and I will give it a try.

 

[dicapr]

I use a combination of both. After reading about how Suave worked just as well as some of the more expensive brands, I picked up a bottle. My hair said then proceeded to me for using that stuff on my hair. I was so hard and unmanageable that I had to was and start over. However, Garnier curl and shine worked wonders. So for me, what works works, sometimes its high end, sometimes it the cheap stuff.

 

[Enchantmt]

The B&B oil moisturizer is an excellent product. It was a staple of mine for years. I stopped using it during my transition because water based products made my natural hair revert when I was trying to hold a straight style. I havent repurchased since I stopped relaxing.

 

[sweetwhispers]

I am continually disappointed by high end products. They do nothing- maybe its because i'm natural? I'm going to try some organic/natural products soon though. But Redken/Joico/Biolage etc money for nothing

 

[toniy]

B4 LHCF, right before I began my "grow hair" journey, I was reading shamboosies book and ended up buying Nexxus products. I could afford them and my hair did improve a little, but I still had breakage. The biggest problem was that my hair only felt good and nothing else. The book didnt explain the protein moisture problem so that I could understand it. When I found LHCF, One of the main posts explained this. Someone also suggested B&B and Mane N Tail. I was amazed that these products were cheap and actually improved my hair. On the other hand, my hair hates Herbal Essences.

At this time, the most expensive product I have is my Phyto ($60). Everything else is under $10.

Staples:
B&B ($2.00)
MNT($4.99)
Alma($3.99)
Coconut oil ($4.50)
Praital conditioner and rinse ($9.99 ea)
Vatika ($4.99)
Castor Oil ($2.50)
Henna ($5.99)
Jojoba ($7.00)

 

[baglady215]

I have a mix between cheapie and semi-expensive. I love Kenra poo and cond, and the PM Super Skinny line, but nothing moisturizes like BB Castor Oil, Cantu Grow Strong, and Profectiv Breakfree. If a product works for me, I will repurchase regardless of price. If somethings on the board and it's getting raves, I'm more likely to try it if the price is right. Plus, with the cheaper stuff, you can experiment more and not feel like you threw $$$ down the drain if it doesn't work.

 

[BeautifulNameX]

how bought that growth lotion by b&b

 

[HoneyDew]

Mane N Tail Conditoner is my favorite basic and cheap product. It is such a great conditioner and is so cheap. Motions Moisture Plus Conditioner is another good cheapie.

I don't mind spending $16 on my Aveda moisturizer because I save so much money on the other items in my arsenal.

 

[alexstin]

I am transitioning to mostly cheaper products(well except for henna ) I find they're working quite well.

 

[EbonyHairedPrincess]

I think this is where being a product junkie is a good thing. It allows you to test and sample new stuff without getting locking on one product. I use some expensive stuff like Biosilk & Keraphix, some inexpensive great products like Lekair cholestorol, coconut grease & Thermasilk products and Mid priced wonders like Generic Humectress & NTM silk touch. Many time the inexpensive items work better than the expensive ones. I also use alot of generic items. I wonder about expensive v/s inexpensive relaxers. I like to try different relaxers but I am scared to switch from silk elements because of the potential damage factor.