Favorite Ingredients for Natural Hair

Naturalistas recently told Design Essentials Salon System that ingredients are the key to natural hair care. The results are part of an online survey in which 200 African American and Hispanic women, ages 18-64, responded to questions designed to assess their attitudes and behaviors toward wearing natural hair.

Overall, the top ingredients most desired in hair products were:

• Olive oil
• Vitamins
• Coconut oil
• Jojoba oil
• Moisturizers
• Natural oils
• Shea butter

What do you think?  Is your favorite listed?

Clairol wins a Health Beauty Award

Clairol Professional liquicolor permanente is the Winner of “Best Haircolor” in the 2011 Health Beauty Awards by Health Magazine!

The first-ever haircolor to win a ‘Health Beauty Award’, a panel of experts rated Clairol Professional liquicolor permanente superior in product innovation, healthy ingredients and results. Beating out over thirty other entrants, liquicolor permanente, the reinvented Miss Clairol, delivered on all counts with its SOY4PLEX technology that delivers up to 84% more deep conditioning than the leading professional cream color and results boasting the four signs of healthy-looking color: reflective shine, multi-dimensional shades, long-lasting results and deep conditioning.

Can Ceramides Help You?

The online hair care realm has been buzzing about Ceramides and how they are transforming damaged broken hair into healthy hair. I've been MIA a little bit, especially on the forums so I really didn't get sucked into all the hype, but the more I read about new products coming out the more I see Ceramides on the labels. It seems like the mainstream hair care industry is just now catching up with the Dominican products, since just about all the Dominican hair care products I own contain Ceramides.

Dominican Products with Ceramides:

Miss KEY 10 En 1 Super Conditioner (my favorite)

Silicon MIX Intensive Hair Deep Treatment

Salerm Wheat Germ Conditioning Treatment

Silicon Mix Proteina de Perla Leave-In

Silicon Mix Leave-in

Boe Crece Pelo Leave-In

Halka Baba de Caracol Hair Loss Treatment

Halka La Plancha Conditioner

Halka La Plancha Deep Heat Protector Leave-In
Nacidit Leave-In Conditioner

Salerm Energy Hair Regenerator Ampules

Alright, so what exactly are Ceramides? To be scientific, a ceramide is a group of lipid molecules. Hair needs this group of lipids (ceramides) to help hold together the cuticle of the hair. In healthy hair, ceramides hold together the cuticle of each individual strand of hair, to take that a step further, researchers at L'Oreal Hair-Science found that damaged hair lacks the ceramides. So without ceramides each individual strand of hair has gaps in the cuticle, rough (lifted up) cuticles and holes that make the hair vulnerable to damage and breakage.

On a Beauty Note:

Ceramides are not just beneficial for hair care, they also play a key role in keeping your skin healthy and moisturized. If you are suffering from eczema it's because your skin is lacking the ceramides you need, supplement with a ceramide containing lotion.