How Many Products is Too Many?

[Miss*Tress]

I've noticed that some of you ladies have (use?) lots of different products, different formulas to do more or less the same thing. In some cases they are enough to fill entire cupboards as I've seen in a few albums. Wow!

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm normal because all my products (plus pins, clips, combs, brush, never-used flat iron, etc.) fit into a plastic container the size of a large shoe box (say for ankle boots). My rollers and hair dryer are in another container the same size.

What's up with that? Why buy so much stuff? How much this is costing? I know I could easily spend up to €30 (around $37) at a time on a 3-4 small bottles of essential oils and I'm no product junkie. I must have spent €45 on vitamins last month too.

Disclaimer: Please don't take this the wrong way. I'm not criticizing or judging, just asking for your points of view on the subject. Thanks.

 

[tryn2growmyhair]

I've noticed that some of you ladies have (use?) lots of different products, different formulas to do more or less the same thing. In some cases they are enough to fill entire cupboards as I've seen in a few albums. Wow!

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm normal because all my products (plus pins, clips, combs, brush, never-used flat iron, etc.) fit into a plastic container the size of a large shoe box (say for ankle boots). My rollers and hair dryer are in another container the same size.

What's up with that? Why buy so much stuff? How much this is costing? I know I could easily spend up to €30 (around $37) at a time on a 3-4 small bottles of essential oils and I'm no product junkie. I must have spent €45 on vitamins last month too.

Disclaimer: Please don't take this the wrong way. I'm not criticizing or judging, just asking for your points of view on the subject. Thanks.

Miss Biss, you are very lucky. I am trying to trim down all the products that I have, because, yes, I noticed that there were too many and I do not want to spend all my money on hair things. I have a lot of products because I just began my hair journey last year and it took trial and error for me to find what worked for MY hair. I think that I -- and maybe a number of people on this board -- buy products that might be raved about by others only to find that it doesnt work for us. Then you are left with an almost full bottle of something that either doesnt work or duplicates something that you have.

What you are basically referring to is PJism. It seems like you do not have it, and that is wonderful. I would love to hear from others who have cured their PJism and hear how they have managed to do it. I am trying to tame mine by

1) Getting samples before buying an entire bottle of something
2) watching out for products that have ingredients that my hair and scalp hates -- for instance, I've learned the hard, ahem, expensive way, that my hair hates leave-ins with gylcerine (sheamoisture, better braids unbraid spray, s-curl) and, maybe aloe
3) Making products with things I have at home, like coconut milk, shea butter, mango butter

I am also trying to use up all the products I have and then only buy the products that have worked for me. Products that I feel are so incompatible with my hair that they cant be used up simply wont be used again.

 

[CharUK]

I know that personally, for me, it was joining this board that did it!

I heard about all these products and jumped up and got them, then I learned how they are used etc, realised I'd got it wrong, which lead to even more purchasing.

Product junkie-ism is REAL! I'm doing a lot better now though.

I'm hoping that once I find what works for my hair, I'll be left with:

1 conditioner
1 deep conditioner
1 leave in conditioner
1 moisturiser
1 oil
and a few essential oils and thats it!!

It'll take me around half a year just to finish the current products I have!!!

x

 

[soulfusion]

Excellent question. Oddly enough, my pj-ism was cured by finding this forum. See, before I started reading LHCF, I didn't know what I was doing and I would buy every "new and improved" thing that I saw in the stores. Consequently, I had bottles and jars EVERYWHERE.

After only a few months, I now have a better idea of what works for my hair and I can read the ingredients on a product and know whether or not it works for me. I'm slowly getting rid of the products that I had before I got my regime down, either by using what I can or throwing away what I can't.

Fortunately, I'm only inclined to shop when I really need something, so I don't try everything that comes along. I expect my cabinets to become more in control soon.

PostscriptI: One exception has been the coconut milk and lime formula that I tried last weekend. As an update, my post 7-week relaxed, 4a/b hair is still silky (including the 1+" of new growth!) and moist. That one gets incorporated.

PostscriptII: MBiss you have a nice, pretty, healthy looking head of hair. You're well on your way to your hair goals.

 

[Angelicus]

Hey I am the person who made a thread called "I need to go on a product challege." I do have a lot of things. A lot of them are free from haircare companies & friends, and many of them, I pay for. I have a strict annual haircare budget (this includes the price of salon visits, products, & accessories) that can not go over $450. In the past three years that I have been into haircare, I have never gone over this limit. It's usually $290-$300.

I keep a hairjournal (hard copy and soft copy) of things that didn't work for me. I also have a print out of ingredients used in hair care products so that I can make smart choices about choosing products.

This haircare thing is really a hobby, and I don't think it is an expensive one. I just keep thinking about ladies who go to the salon to shell out $30 a week for a shampoo, and $60 once a month for a relaxer. Now that's a lot of money.

HHG!

 

[Allandra]

and $60 once a month for a relaxer

Goodness, who is getting a relaxer once a month?

 

[Champagne_Wishes]

Goodness, who is getting a relaxer once a month?

The ones that don't want to see any hint of curl or nap, that's who.

 

[Champagne_Wishes]

I've noticed that some of you ladies have (use?) lots of different products, different formulas to do more or less the same thing. In some cases they are enough to fill entire cupboards as I've seen in a few albums. Wow!

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm normal because all my products (plus pins, clips, combs, brush, never-used flat iron, etc.) fit into a plastic container the size of a large shoe box (say for ankle boots). My rollers and hair dryer are in another container the same size.

What's up with that? Why buy so much stuff? How much this is costing? I know I could easily spend up to €30 (around $37) at a time on a 3-4 small bottles of essential oils and I'm no product junkie. I must have spent €45 on vitamins last month too.

Disclaimer: Please don't take this the wrong way. I'm not criticizing or judging, just asking for your points of view on the subject. Thanks.

I understand your amazememt. My excuse is that I am just so curious on what is available and my quest for moisturized hair. Now I am weeding out what I don't use and give them to my mother or cousins. Now I am just testing stuff .

 

[MonaLisa]

The ones that don't want to see any hint of curl or nap, that's who.

.......lol....

 

[candibaby]

lol, i'm probably one of the people you're talking about!

but no, i actually have different purposes for my products.. except for my conditioners, I just have a few that I love and I switch them out. Other than that I don't buy a whole lot of the same thing.. like I have one oil, one daily moisturizer, one hair polish, one serum, one hardcore protein, one light protein, one leave-in.. see? When you see them all together it looks like a lot, but they all serve different purposes.

Then I have different kinds of rollers to produce different size curls.. and etc. But monthly.. I probably spend no more than $20-30 on hair care, because I like to buy the big bottles of my products so that I don't have to buy anymore for a while. For instance.. this month, I spent about $20 on haircare products ($1.50 for ouchless ponytail holders, $6 for carrot oil, $9 for PM SuperCharged Moisturizer, $3 for NTM Shampoo)

 

[RushGirl]

Goodness, who is getting a relaxer once a month?

I use to when I was relaxed.. but I did it myself..so it was only $7.. I had long, pretty hair too.. but now I'm natural..

 

[RushGirl]

I understand your amazememt. My excuse is that I am just so curious on what is available and my quest for moisturized hair. Now I am weeding out what I don't use and give them to my mother or cousins. Now I am just testing stuff .

Yah, testing stuff.. we're all just doing some experimentation..is that a word...to find out what's best.. hopefully my research goes on for a while..because it sure is fun buying products for my research..

 

[Chinagem]

the answer for me is that no amount of products is too much. I'm a product junkie and I LOVE being one!!! I'm weird I know. I should be but i'm not.

 

[RushGirl]

the answer for me is that no amount of products is too much. I'm a product junkie and I LOVE being one!!! I'm weird I know. I should be but i'm not.

Girl, that is not weird at all..buying products give you this "high" doesn't it?!! It's fun.. I just ordered from Puritan's Pride and MyHoneyChild so I'm feeling good already...

 

[tryn2growmyhair]

The ones that don't want to see any hint of curl or nap, that's who.

ROTFLMAO! You are too much, Champagne Wishes!

 

[buffalosoldier]

When I was doing con washes last year I spent a fortune but now I dont have a lot of products. I really hate clutter so I try not to buy alot of stuff. Although, when I see a bargain I stock up. I dont mind investing in my hair.

 

[Miss*Tress]

I understand better now: trying different products is half the fun!

It's like going on a road trip - some people like to take the scenic route, while others keep asking "are we there yet". I think you can guess which group I'm in. LOL

Aww, pheb32, you're making me blush. :Blush2:

 

[CLASSYEBONYGIRL]

I might be another victim of PJism but here is my excuse. Some of these products that I currently have are ones that I had since my hair was relaxed. I am now texturized so there was a need to buy new products that works better on my texturized hair and after reading hair books and discovering this board I realize that some of the hair products that I was using had bad ingredients. (petroleum, mineral oil, SLS and so on). Now that I have discovered organic hair products I won't be looking back to synthetics. IMO they work better on my texturized hair.ie. shiny, curly, moisturized and soft.

 

[PhonyBaloney500]

Girl, that is not weird at all..buying products give you this "high" doesn't it?!! It's fun.. I just ordered from Puritan's Pride and MyHoneyChild so I'm feeling good already...

LOL! ITA!

See my excuse is before I discovered hair boards, I bought products on a whim that probably weren't too good for my hair (grease and what not, gels with alcohol). Now that I've found it and learned about the more natural brands (Oyin, Asha's, Honeychild, Jessicurl etc.) I can try them out and settle on a firm routine!

 

[soulfusion]

NEWSFLASH: I was cursed by this thread. I have not bought any hair care products other than conditioner & shampoo for months. However, I was driving home from a friend's house yesterday, and suddenly felt my car turning into the parking lot of a shopping strip. Looming before me was a BEAUTY SUPPLY STORE!!! An hours and $82.57 later, I was happily driving home. Is PJ-ism contagious or something??? Of course $40 of that amount was Dudley DRC-28 (or whateva number it is). Okay, so that's IT for the rest of 2005 ..