No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?????

[mommy2kaela]

I just don't buy the grese cloging follicles story. Personally i think the studies were done to get us to stop using our traditonal inexpensive products and go out and buy costly products. I grew up on blue magic and palmers coconut oil, royal crown, ulta sheen you name it and i never ever had split ends. I've chopped my hair off to 2 inches long and grown it past my butt in one year. I get around 2 inches of growth per month sometimes more and all I do is use blue magic coconut oil, suave conditioner daily as a leave in, organic coconut oil or Africas best to seal and Jason shampoo and once every few months I'll use Quantum and dc. I co wash or wash my hair about 3x a week. My daughters hair has been growing slowly since birth she's 21/2 and I tried the no petroleum experiment on her and once I started using grease onher hair mixed with a little peppermint oil her hair is literally growing over night. I just posted a few days ago about her hair being so shor and before my very eyes it is sprouting faster than ever. I went a year without grease and my growth rate didn't increase or decrease so I'm officially going back and sticking with it. I tried and wasted lots of money on organic petroleum free oils and they just made my hair ultra greasy and gave me lifeless curls. I guess its one of those things that is for some and not for all. My mom grew up on Glovers and royal crown and she was named most hair in her high school year book... I wonder if perms, dyes and infrequent washing are really to blame for stunted hair growth and not the grease? I don't dye or relax my hair so maybe thats why I don't have breakage, i just lose whole strands but no breakage I beleive the grease protects my ends from damage.

forgot to add: I don't saturate my hair in the blue magic, just lightly oil my scalp and smoth it through my hair and ends. I've never had greasy pillow cases or walked around looking like fried chicken lol I don't like the jheri curl look.

 

[mommy2kaela]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

bump... bump...

 

[lilsparkle825]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

can i have your organic petrolatum free oils



but seriously if it aint broke dont fix it. my aunt and cousins grease their hair down faithfully and it has been the same length going on 3 years. meanwhile yours got to your butt. cheers!

 

[mommy2kaela]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

can i have your organic petrolatum free oils



but seriously if it aint broke dont fix it. my aunt and cousins grease their hair down faithfully and it has been the same length going on 3 years. meanwhile yours got to your butt. cheers!

do ur aunt and cousin put chemicals on thier hair? IMO everyone I know who never retains any their new growth is doing damaging things like perming, blow drying and dying, tight braiding, damaging glue in weaves or bad hair gels.

I used the last of my oils in hot oil treatments for my little sister.

 

[Neith]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

I think it's common sense...

You have a thick, greasy substance that you can actually see/feel is hard to wash out. It can easily create a sort of film on the hair and scalp. It blocks moisture and water (just like a pressing cream helps the hair not to revert)

It DOES work for some people, but for other people it just doesn't. My mother faithfully uses royal crown and she is 100% natural, but her hair rarely gets past shoulder length. My cousin uses grease (she's relaxed by the way) and is APL at her shortest.

If petroleum laden and cheap products actually work well as a whole, I don't think that black people would have as many hair problems.

 

[ladylibra]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

sweetie, if your hair grows 2 inches a month it probably doesn't matter what you do to your hair.

i don't think it's JUST petroleum that is the enemy. just like cones get a bad wrap these days... for the most part, cones are only bad when allowed to build up on your hair. again, it coats the strands and moisture can't get in or out. many AA women wash infrequently and just add more stuff that has petroleum and cones in it on top of their hair every day to "moisturize." which isn't doing anything but hurting their hair, drying it out, breaking it off. the product gets blamed instead of the inproper usage and not-so-good hygiene.

remember those commercials Tylenol put out where some old lady was telling people to only take the recommended dosage? and if you're not gonna take Tylenol correctly, the company prefers you don't take it at all? they were getting a bum wrap for a while because people think if you take 3-4 Tylenol when you have a headache that it will "work faster." um no, you're just putting more of the drug in your system unnecessarily. then when they ended up with health problems they blamed the Tylenol instead of their irresponsible (ab)use of it.

 

[me-T]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

sweetie, if your hair grows 2 inches a month it probably doesn't matter what you do to your hair.

i don't think it's JUST petroleum that is the enemy. just like cones get a bad wrap these days... for the most part, cones are only bad when allowed to build up on your hair. again, it coats the strands and moisture can't get in or out. many AA women wash infrequently and just add more stuff that has petroleum and cones in it on top of their hair every day to "moisturize." which isn't doing anything but hurting their hair, drying it out, breaking it off. the product gets blamed instead of the inproper usage and not-so-good hygiene.

remember those commercials Tylenol put out where some old lady was telling people to only take the recommended dosage? and if you're not gonna take Tylenol correctly, the company prefers you don't take it at all? they were getting a bum wrap for a while because people think if you take 3-4 Tylenol when you have a headache that it will "work faster." um no, you're just putting more of the drug in your system unnecessarily. then when they ended up with health problems they blamed the Tylenol instead of their irresponsible (ab)use of it.

exactly! ita wholeheartedly! subject closed!

 

[nodisrespect]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

i lived in louisiana for awhile and used that african grease with the yellow-orange top and all the specks of whatever inside it. that was the only time my hair grew on its own without me even trying or noticing it or changing my bad hair care practices, until i got back home. (of course, shortly afterwards i started frying it all to hell again, so it all fell back out anyway). i think that had more to do with the humidity in that area than using grease.

the only thing that would tempt me to use grease again is that it makes my hair soft and all these natural, water based "healthy" products don't. it's taking a lot longer to find better products that will keep my hair soft than it would take to just slap some grease on it. however, the grease argument does make sense to me, as far as it blocking pores/hindering growth. in my opinion, its not the fact that people do or dont use grease nowadays that makes most black women you see walking around with shorter hair than you would have seen on most black women a couple decades ago; its because now most people abuse the hell out of heat, and they didnt back then. i dont think anything damages the hair more than frequent heat usage.

btw, white people arent the ones who came up with the idea that we should stop using grease. im sure they still want us to use grease otherwise they wouldnt keep making all these petroleum filled products and marketing them to black women.

 

[jamiss]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

I like grease on my ends but not on the scalp. I do think the build up on the scalp is dirty and impedes growth. But I think grease on my ends helps me retain length.

 

[jennifermb]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

Grease never worked for me. (even when I was a little girl) I was constantly scratching my head and my hair was always weighed down. It wasn't until I stopped putting it on my scalp that my hair began to thrive.

 

[anon123]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

I'm not sure I believe grease to be an impediment to growth, either. I just don't like the greasy feel or look. I'd be more inclined to accept it as something applied to the hair rather than the scalp, though, cuz I hate goop on my scalp. And I suspect that precisely because it is so thick that it makes the hair really pliable and harder to break. My guess would be that it does block out, but also seals in, moisture, just like the Sabino Moisture Block is supposed to do. But then again, I'm one of the ones who doesn't think moisturizing all the time is really a key to growth, so that may be neither here nor there.

 

[beautifulisaunderstatment]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

Do what works for you! Im keeping my mineral oil, petroleum jelly, and cone laden products. They work for me. Maybe nto everyone else but for me they do. My mother greased my scalp once a week as a child and I had hair brushing the top of my behind. Only when I started taking care of it myself in middle/high school did it break off (relaxers and color). My hair doesnt grow as fast as yours (due to my abuse of heat) but its all good. Im still BSL and growing longer. No one is taking away my hair grease, my oils or my conditioner! If it doesnt work for them then thats fien with me.

There was one girl on another board I used to be on, she grew her hair out greasing her scalp with blue magic and wearing phony ponys with brown gel. She was on her way to APL. Stopped using it when she joined the hair boards. Started adopting every board practice. Washing every other day, co-washing, low mani, etc. She went up to ear length. I told her to go back to her original regimen. Now she's full shoulder length and growing. Everything doesnt work for everyone. Take from the board what you need and leave the rest.

My "clogged hair follicules" are working fine for me.

 

[Enchantmt]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

My mother said the doctor told her not to use greases and heavy pomades on my hair when I was an infant because it would clog my pores. She always used the vaseline hair tonic, which is just mineral oil and fragrance. I dont know if that was his recommendation or what she came up with. I dont think he was pushing products at the time, tho.

When I got older and was doing my own hair care I used grease, but I always used it on wet hair after a wash, because I never liked "greasy" hair. On wet hair I used less and it spread more, and when it dried you couldnt tell it was there. I think I was doing it out of habit though. Now I wil buy or mix oils with the intention of using it, but weeks will go by without touching them.

 

[lovedone_24]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

I think it just all depends on the person. Like somebody already said, it is a combination of things as to why "we" have so many hair problems. The products (marked to us), I admit, usually do not clean well. This may also be a culprit. Say you're washing every 2+ weeks, greasing daily, and then using a sub-par poo that does not get rid of that build up then yes there could be some "clogging". As for me, grease has kept hair on my head and off the floor. I ran out to get some after that thread, thankfully....

 

[Supergirl]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

sweetie, if your hair grows 2 inches a month it probably doesn't matter what you do to your hair.

i don't think it's JUST petroleum that is the enemy. just like cones get a bad wrap these days... for the most part, cones are only bad when allowed to build up on your hair. again, it coats the strands and moisture can't get in or out. many AA women wash infrequently and just add more stuff that has petroleum and cones in it on top of their hair every day to "moisturize." which isn't doing anything but hurting their hair, drying it out, breaking it off. the product gets blamed instead of the inproper usage and not-so-good hygiene.

remember those commercials Tylenol put out where some old lady was telling people to only take the recommended dosage? and if you're not gonna take Tylenol correctly, the company prefers you don't take it at all? they were getting a bum wrap for a while because people think if you take 3-4 Tylenol when you have a headache that it will "work faster." um no, you're just putting more of the drug in your system unnecessarily. then when they ended up with health problems they blamed the Tylenol instead of their irresponsible (ab)use of it.

That's what I was thinking. If that's your rate of growth, it very likely has nothing to do with the products being used.

 

[LadyEuphoria007]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

I think it has more to do with the in/frequent washing of the hair.

When I was deployed (before) I found this site the only think I changed was the amount of time I washed my hair. It was hot as hell out there and I was washing about 3x a week no condish just grease (Blue Magic) while it was wet and airdry.

I averaged about 1.5 inches a month. When I got back to home station...my hair started back breaking and I couldn't retain anything. The only thing I'd changed was that I was barely washing my hair once a month.

Same thing with that brown gel.

2 inches a month! Thats something I could live with lol.

 

[charmtreese]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

I think if grease is used correctly it can asset in retaining growth and moisture. Grease should not be applied heavily to the scalp. A very light application on the scalp IMO is not harmful. However, globing grease on the scalp to the point that you can still see the color of the grease is excessive, and can cause build-up and scalp suffocation. At the same time using too much of anything on scalp that is not easily absorbed into the skin/hair may cause build-up.

Personally, I prefer oils & Butters (Vatika, Walnut, jojoba, ojon & Jane Carter nourish and shine) to traditional grease since I co-wash 99% of the time and I have found these oils to wash out easily with conditioner. If I feel the need to use grease I use Natures blessing!

 

[ShiShiPooPoo]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

I just don't buy the grese cloging follicles story. Personally i think the studies were done to get us to stop using our traditonal inexpensive products and go out and buy costly products. I grew up on blue magic and palmers coconut oil, royal crown, ulta sheen you name it and i never ever had split ends. I've chopped my hair off to 2 inches long and grown it past my butt in one year. I get around 2 inches of growth per month sometimes more and all I do is use blue magic coconut oil, suave conditioner daily as a leave in, organic coconut oil or Africas best to seal and Jason shampoo and once every few months I'll use Quantum and dc. I co wash or wash my hair about 3x a week. My daughters hair has been growing slowly since birth she's 21/2 and I tried the no petroleum experiment on her and once I started using grease onher hair mixed with a little peppermint oil her hair is literally growing over night. I just posted a few days ago about her hair being so shor and before my very eyes it is sprouting faster than ever. I went a year without grease and my growth rate didn't increase or decrease so I'm officially going back and sticking with it. I tried and wasted lots of money on organic petroleum free oils and they just made my hair ultra greasy and gave me lifeless curls. I guess its one of those things that is for some and not for all. My mom grew up on Glovers and royal crown and she was named most hair in her high school year book... I wonder if perms, dyes and infrequent washing are really to blame for stunted hair growth and not the grease? I don't dye or relax my hair so maybe thats why I don't have breakage, i just lose whole strands but no breakage I beleive the grease protects my ends from damage.

forgot to add: I don't saturate my hair in the blue magic, just lightly oil my scalp and smoth it through my hair and ends. I've never had greasy pillow cases or walked around looking like fried chicken lol I don't like the jheri curl look.

I just used Blue Magic yesterday to tame my rollerset and I have been using it after I wash my daughters hair while cornrowing.

It works for some...doesn't work for others.

 

[Irresistible]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

My hair and my daughter's hair always thrived with grease as long as we were natural it thrived, just like your saying. But I have to say it was hard for me to give up the grease, but after several years now of doing so, our hair and most importantly my daughter's scalp is thriving way better! Much more healthy! My daughter was prone to eczema all her life, when we switched to natural oils and butters it made a huge difference in the health of her scalp, HUGE! I however never had scalp problems. I would only use grease now if I 'HAD to' otherwise I am so totally in love with natural pure oils and butters now , there will never be any looking back for me!

The way they feel, the way they truly nourish the hair instead of just sitting on it, like grease, the way they wash out well, unlike grease, the way they nourish the scalp and dont just sit on it like grease, they way they perform , all of it. I am not ever giving that up and going back to grease! To me that is seriously taking a step down from the top notch results from natural oils and butters!

Both of our hair was mid back with grease, now we are both at waist with the natural oils/ butters. I definitely noticed a marked increase in the health/thickness and better 'feel' of my hair and the health of my daughter's hair AND scalp from making the switch!

I could never go back to how grease feels or works just because, but would only use it if I had nothing else to use

 

[bravenewgirl87]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

Grease never worked for me. (even when I was a little girl) I was constantly scratching my head and my hair was always weighed down. It wasn't until I stopped putting it on my scalp that my hair began to thrive.

Ditto. I tried a grease-based product a couple weeks back. My hair felt great at first. Two or three days later it started breaking. The one thing I will say about all organic products is that they absorb fast into the hair and replenish it. Cannot say the same for grease and my hair.

 

[Irresistible]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

Ditto. I tried a grease-based product a couple weeks back. My hair felt great at first. Two or three days later it started breaking. The one thing I will say about all organic products is that they absorb fast into the hair and replenish it. Cannot say the same for grease and my hair.

after leaving grease alone, I tried to give me a little grease fix after seeing Nay's hair , and she used Liv, I shed like an animal trying to get rid of their fur, immediately after use! never again! not unless I had to for some odd reason

There is too much Olive oil in the world for all that! I dont prefer Olive oil anymore, but it works and if it was all I could afford or get my hands on , I would use that before grease any day

 

[mommy2kaela]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

I think alot of it is abuse and over use. Just like people can use too much protein products and get brittle hair I think if you use soo much grease that its leaving spots everywhere and turning ur scalp white you may clog ur scalp. One thing I do stay away from is mineral oil because it makes my hair dry and I can't use greases aimed at growth like african pride because the herbs gave me scabs on my scalp and made my hair shed. As long as I stick to simple hair greases and aloe vera gel and wash my hair frequently all is good. I know alot of people don't use shampoo anymore and thats fine but I know some women who don't let water touch their hair but once every 2-3 months, I'm sure that dries out the hair and clogs the scalp too. I make sure to use a good clarifying chelating shampoo and aple cider vineagar rinse whenever my hair feels sticky and I always use my grease on wet hair it seems to absorb pretty well that way and isn't sticky. I tried life without blue magic and growth was the same...but I did get some splits and breakage and for some reason olive oil just sits on my hair and dries it out... I like liv for flat ironing but I would never put it on my scalp or hair on a regular bases its way too thick and heavy but my sister in law swears by it on my nieces hair she has the longest hair I've ever seen on a 5 year old but its yucky to me. Thanks for all of the lovely input I just wondered what others thought. All in all I think we learn through trial and error what our hair needs and we all have different needs so thank God there are some many different products out there.

 

[Irresistible]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

I think alot of it is abuse and over use. Just like people can use too much protein products and get brittle hair I think if you use soo much grease that its leaving spots everywhere and turning ur scalp white you may clog ur scalp. One thing I do stay away from is mineral oil because it makes my hair dry and I can't use greases aimed at growth like african pride because the herbs gave me scabs on my scalp and made my hair shed. As long as I stick to simple hair greases and aloe vera gel and wash my hair frequently all is good. I know alot of people don't use shampoo anymore and thats fine but I know some women who don't let water touch their hair but once every 2-3 months, I'm sure that dries out the hair and clogs the scalp too. I make sure to use a good clarifying chelating shampoo and aple cider vineagar rinse whenever my hair feels sticky and I always use my grease on wet hair it seems to absorb pretty well that way and isn't sticky. I tried life without blue magic and growth was the same...but I did get some splits and breakage and for some reason olive oil just sits on my hair and dries it out... I like liv for flat ironing but I would never put it on my scalp or hair on a regular bases its way too thick and heavy but my sister in law swears by it on my nieces hair she has the longest hair I've ever seen on a 5 year old but its yucky to me. Thanks for all of the lovely input I just wondered what others thought. All in all I think we learn through trial and error what our hair needs and we all have different needs so thank God there are some many different products out there.

all you said is so true and even weirder I LOVED me some African Pride back in the day! lol

well keep doing whats working for you because your hair is long and beautiful

 

[beautifulisaunderstatment]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

What is liv?

 

[Irresistible]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

What is liv?

A very thick white cream grease product

 

[mrsmeredith]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

I just don't buy the grese cloging follicles story. Personally i think the studies were done to get us to stop using our traditonal inexpensive products and go out and buy costly products. I grew up on blue magic and palmers coconut oil, royal crown, ulta sheen you name it and i never ever had split ends. I've chopped my hair off to 2 inches long and grown it past my butt in one year. I get around 2 inches of growth per month sometimes more and all I do is use blue magic coconut oil, suave conditioner daily as a leave in, organic coconut oil or Africas best to seal and Jason shampoo and once every few months I'll use Quantum and dc. I co wash or wash my hair about 3x a week. My daughters hair has been growing slowly since birth she's 21/2 and I tried the no petroleum experiment on her and once I started using grease onher hair mixed with a little peppermint oil her hair is literally growing over night. I just posted a few days ago about her hair being so shor and before my very eyes it is sprouting faster than ever. I went a year without grease and my growth rate didn't increase or decrease so I'm officially going back and sticking with it. I tried and wasted lots of money on organic petroleum free oils and they just made my hair ultra greasy and gave me lifeless curls. I guess its one of those things that is for some and not for all. My mom grew up on Glovers and royal crown and she was named most hair in her high school year book... I wonder if perms, dyes and infrequent washing are really to blame for stunted hair growth and not the grease? I don't dye or relax my hair so maybe thats why I don't have breakage, i just lose whole strands but no breakage I beleive the grease protects my ends from damage.

forgot to add: I don't saturate my hair in the blue magic, just lightly oil my scalp and smoth it through my hair and ends. I've never had greasy pillow cases or walked around looking like fried chicken lol I don't like the jheri curl look.

I agree it is a miseducation of products. One person says something on this board and people take it as the holy grail. Alot of us grew up with our parents using grease and our hair still flourished. Petroleum products has its purpose and so does the non p products. I would advise people to find what works best for them and stop jumping on all the band wagons because everything does not work for everybody.

 

[Poohbear]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

I just don't buy the grese cloging follicles story.

Me neither. Grease is GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD for the hair!!!!

 

[me-T]

Re: No petroleum? Is it for real or just created by the industry to make more money?

I can't use greases aimed at growth like african pride because the herbs gave me scabs on my scalp and made my hair shed.

girl dont those herbs suck!!!! leavin all those bits in your head! then of course i was a grease abuser, so i thought the more "growth grease" i used the better!