Hi, I'm relaxed and I have a sister in Cuba with natural hair. She had gorgeous hair but started texturizing it (I know, not natural anymore) even though I advised against it as hair products availability in Cuba is not consistent and there's lack of hair care products in general. She has recently cut her hair (see photos before and after) and is now committed to not texturizing. She still wants her natural hair in spite of not being widely accepted in Cuba, keratin treatments are all the rage and she texted me recently in tears because an old man yelled at her in the street telling her to get a keratin treatment. I know, people are ignorant.
I've been sending her some of my hair products but like to send her some tailored towards naturals but she has used those. I would need suggestions on what to get her (I'm in Canada but can buy her products online I guess). She follows a simple regimen and the package cannot he heavy.
In my local BSS store they sell Shea Moisture, Mizani and Keracare for natural hair, are they any good? They have other brands: Dak & lovely, Cream of Nature, Cantu,ORS the usual. I've seen Uncle Funky, Miss Jessie's and Mixed Chicks.
The first 2 photos are before, the third photo is now.
Thanks!
Wow! Your sister's hair reminds me of an advertisement for hair that I saw awhile back. People buy weaves to be able to
try and spread their hair out like your sister's hair. When I saw that photo, my lil' jaw fell open. Both she and her hair are fabulous looking. The great thing is that if she had hair like that before, she can grow it back again, and probably longer with your help and knowledge.
Thirty (30) years old, you say? Her body looks like she's about 18. Can you ask her what she eats,
for me, please? I bet if all the ladies in your family were gathered at your home in Cuba, sitting on the porch, I'd be staring at all that beauty as I walked by. There's a whole nest of beauties in your family!
I also wanted to add how generous and kind of you to think of your family and give each of them a turn, to receive a Care Box from you, from Canada.
I have a friend from Venezuela and her access to products is limited as well. There are some good suggestions in this thread.
I am going to assume that your sister gets a care box from you about 1 x (one time) a year. Would that be correct?
Going with this assumption, I would think that treatment products would be good as well. For example, Aphogee 2 minute Constructor and Aphogee Two step or Emergency (I'm an Aphogee Stan so I don't know the spelling of the other product). Aphogee products are priceless and invaluable when you have breakage. Sally's has trial size little bottles as well as packets that look like giant ketchup packages for one time use or trial. Those travel and fly light.
I would get her some shea butter to go along with that coconut oil you are sending her. I would think she can get olive oil and aloe vera. I might also send her some plastic sandwich bags for her to baggie up her hair and maybe 1 phoney pony tail or something to decorate her hair beautifully when she wears it up. Some people use hair sticks. I like to use knitted bun covers from the beauty supply.
These are kind of heavy, but you may want to include a small bottle of glycerin and castor oil so she can "doctor" up her products. Those two things might be easy to find in Cuba, maybe?
I work all over the world and my problem is usually access to products. No matter where I have lived, I can always find some kind of shampoo and conditioner. I can always doctor those up with some olive oil and honey and/or dilute them with water. It's the ancillary, treatment products, such as the Aphogee, shea butter and plastic sandwich bags (non-ziplock) that I have a hard time finding.
For those times that she wears her hair straight, the styling wax stick is great for laying down hairs and giving hair that sleek, "wig" perfect look. My favorite is the KeraCare styling was stick. A small jar of edge control is nice, too, for a picture perfect straight style. These are some of the things I would suggest.
She will be back to , and probably be beyond, her prior length and health in no time.