I am no longer a Product Junkie and here is why....

[SerenavanderWoodsen]

In around august of 05 i really started cracking down on the bad things i was doing with my hair and so thats been over a year of decent hair care, of course i had to learn over much trial and error and changing my habits so i really believe it has taken me this long to know what to do to to my hair,, in other words its taken me over a year to get it right and it hasnt been easy!! Finally i know what my hairs likes and dislikes are etc. Im not tempted to try new products anymore after being a maniacal PJ! I realize that the reason why I was a PJ to begin with was becuz I couldnt find the right products, regimen etc and also I needed to trim off an inch or 2 of damage. So many things have contributed to my hair being healthy and so much longer,, I can list my products /regimen 4 anyone interested. How long did it take you guys to figure out just waht your hair likes and needs and has this reformed your pj'izm lol?

 

[Nita81]

I'm slowly getting out of my pj ways. I'm finding what works for my hair and sticking with it. I'll only try a new product if the current product doesn't meet my needs. Like it took me months to hop on the henna train.

 

[caribeandiva]

i've never been a pj. i got my regime off a hair book and stuck with it. my hair loves it, no need to try new products.

 

[B_Phlyy]

It took me about a year to find the products that worked for me. Some things I knew right away worked, while other things took a while. I am still very much a PJ though. I'm glad I found stuff that works for me, but I never really went about trying new things looking for a holy grail. I am a PJ mostly because I like variety. Some days I really want my hair to look nice and other days I just want it to smell nice, so I have products for different things.

 

[Synthia]

I never called myself a pj.

But I was constantly buying -- trying to get the quintessential products that would cure all my hair woes.

I feel like I finally found them (well, most of them). It took a year.

The biggest revelation was to stop using products with cones, stearkonium chloride (drying), petroleum and mineral oil. My hair improved so much just from that.

Then in searching for more natural products I made my two biggest & best finds ever!!! -- Emu oil conditioner & jojoba oil (this completely solved my moisture problems. I never thought I'd have no moisture problems whatsoever). Amazing.

I am looking for a good deep moisturizing conditioner so my hair won't get tired of emu -- but for now not only do i use it daily but I deep condition with a mix of emu oil conditioner and jojoba oil -- leaves my hair sumptuous!

I've been breathing a sigh of relief.

I have no real temptation to product hunt. Let's pray emu and jojoba never stops working for me.

I hope henna will become a staple (i use robert craig color now-- it's not damaging)...I'm still stewing about trying henna but I hope to very soon.

 

[Proudpiscean]

I just discovered LHCF in July and went wild trying all the things people were raving about!
It's all because I'm trying to find 'my' regimen, what my hair likes. Also throw in the fact that I'm transitioning and it gets tricky, because I'm dealing with two different textures. I'm finally starting to see the light and settle down now- I know what's making my hair thrive now and will just stick with those things! That's my goal for 07- stick with what works!

 

[ravenmerlita]

I'm not as much of a PJ as I used to be. It's taken me about 9 months to get to this point.

I haven't found all of my hair staples yet, but I have so much hair stuff, I just can't stomach bringing too much more home with me. So I only buy hair products every once in a while now, and when I do it has to be something fantastic. Also, I've finally found two hairstylists that are good with my hair and support that I am growing it out, so I have less need for products at home.

While these days I don't buy as much hair stuff, I find that I spend more on beauty and diet products. Since my hair has started to be where I want it to be, it's time for the skin and body to catch up.

 

[thefineprint]

I too went a little 'hog wild' when I first joined here 2 years ago. I didn't realize that many of the things the women here were raving about were fads, so i went out and bought everything. now i have 2 groups: my staples and my revolving products. The staples do not contain mineral oil, petroleum or cholorides but my revoloving products do because my hair still seems to be reacting well to them. Also, my boyfriend was about to whip me for spending so much on hair supplies so I really had to cut down. I am in a very happy place right now, with a good regime and good products so I dont' regret being a PJ in the past. Afterall, trial and error is what got me where I am!

 

[Enchantmt]

Avoiding parabens has curbed (not cured )my pjism. There are a lot of products I would try, and that I know would work well, but the ingredients are holding me back. For years, long before hairboards, I would be in sally's every week or two just scoping out the products looking for something new to try or something that smelled really good because I liked to do my hair and see it soft and shiny. The only time I would stop is when I had spent an embarrassingly large amount of money, but once I stopped cringing at the thought of it, I was back again. LOL. Even now, after initially losing a desire to and tho I know I wont buy anything, I will still browse the hair aisle and check out ingredients just HOPING it doesnt contain parabens. I'm even limited on makeup now. Every week I used to have a new bath or shower gel. No longer. *sigh* So basically I have to limit my weekly retail therapy to hair accessories and makeup bags. I'm considering some ebay makeup brush sets, I cant justify the 300 bucks for the kevyn aucoin ones I wanted. Going natural, I cant even justify styling tools like curling irons every few months. Tho I do have my eye on this:


http://www.curlmart.com/devasun-dryer-devafuser.html

Click on the link, then scroll down and see the purty pictures. C'mon...what curly girl can resist? And its WINTERTIME. It's almost a NECESSITY being wintertime, rii?? *sigh* I'm just hoping the price drops before my impluses over ride my sanity.

As far as a regimen, I basically just conditioner wash and pull it back into some sort of puff or pony tail. I use one, all, or a combo of giovanni direct, qhemet heavy cream, my honeychild buttery soy cream, qhemet honey balm, and I've revisited a myhoneychild leave in spray. I've recently been using a bit of oil too. Some day's I will do two french braids, even tho it only takes 3 mins to do, but lately I've been resorting to the puff. I havent even been doing two strand twists lately.

Then in searching for more natural products I made my two biggest & best finds ever!!! -- Emu oil conditioner & jojoba oil (this completely solved my moisture problems. I never thought I'd have no moisture problems whatsoever). Amazing.

Are you adding emu oil to your conditioner or using a brand that contains it?

 

[bablou00]

Thats great that you found what is working for you. It is hard visiting this site everyday and seeing what great results individuals are gettin from certain hair products. I recently found what my hair needs. I have been focusing a lot more on my since Aug when I took out my braids and my stylist suggested Keracare or Mizani products. I fished around for awhile but always ended up getting the best results w/ Keracare and Mizani. So I guess my hair thrives the best off of mineral oil and petroleum. Which is fine by me. I know its not good for some peoples hair but mine LOVES it. I think it just takes a lot of trial and error and some people find it sooner than others. I just realized I was spending way too much money on products I was using once and I needed to find one line and stick to it and I did (for now)

 

[camellia]

I don't consider myself a product junkie any more. I have a lot of products that work well for me but I definitely don't rush out to try each new thing someone raves about.

Nexxus, Redken, Aveda,and Alterna are my favorite brands. I buy in large sizes so I don't have to shop so often.

I do like to try new natural oils and butters but even with those, I have my staples. Avocado, hemp seed, macadamia, coconut, grapeseed...

 

[HighlyFavored1]

I think my pj-ism is wearing down as well. I was trying a lot of different products when I was really confused about my regimen and especially when I first joined. By now, I think I've gotten to know my hair better and I've found products that work well for me. Sometimes I get tempted to try a new line, but I've become a lot more disciplined.

 

[MzOptimistic]

i've never been a pj. i got my regime off a hair book and stuck with it. my hair loves it, no need to try new products.

May I ask what hair book? I got my regimen from Carolyn Gray's book and I am no longer a PJ..I just stock up on my products at one time and they last anywhere from 6 months-1 year..and it's time to restock again and add new moisturizers, and oils...I luv moisturizers and oils

 

[shunta]

May I ask what hair book? I got my regimen from Carolyn Gray's book and I am no longer a PJ..I just stock up on my products at one time and they last anywhere from 6 months-1 year..and it's time to restock again and add new moisturizers, and oils...I luv moisturizers and oils

Im not Caribeandiva, but I remember that she said she was following Shamboosie's method.

 

[MzOptimistic]

Im not Caribeandiva, but I remember that she said she was following Shamboosie's method.

Thank you shunta