Does brand matter?

kyahail

When you're choosing a product do you care if it's a commercial company like loreal or pantene, or do you prefer a company that specializes in curly/kinky hair?

SpiralHam

For me choosing a product is all about the ingredients and the amount of hold I get from it. I need a hard hold!

I'm not loyal to a particular brand or anything, but tend to choose drugstore/commercial brands (I'm awfully frugal, plus a lot of higher end/boutique products tend to contain ingredients that my picky skin disagrees with, or oils that weigh my hair down).

BeinDeb

I think it is all about finding the ingredients your hair prefers. I've bought both high and low end products. Many of the low end products work just as well without the expense.

claudine191

I find that if one product from either a high or low end brand works, I often have good luck with another from the same company.

sixelamy

I don't care about the brand. I find with most companies that I like 1 of their products, but maybe not so much the others. I mix and match, depending on ingredients and what works for my hair and with my water. Most products I use are not marketed (that's all it is - marketing) toward curly hair.

adthomas

I am more about ingredients but I will say I'm more hesitant to use products from a line that makes a relaxer because it makes me skeptical about their genuineness in caring about making products that are healthy for natural hair. Just like if I were to ever start going to a salon again it won't be one that does relaxers. It took me awhile to try a Dark and Lovely hair product and my hair hated it. Not doing that again. I don't buy Motions, ORS either.

kyahail

adthomas wrote: »

I am more about ingredients but I will say I'm more hesitant to use products from a line that makes a relaxer because it makes me skeptical about their genuineness in caring about making products that are healthy for natural hair. Just like if I were to ever start going to a salon again it won't be one that does relaxers. It took me awhile to try a Dark and Lovely hair product and my hair hated it. Not doing that again. I don't buy Motions, ORS either.

Yes finally someone gets what I meant! Pantene, dove, loreal etc all make products for straight hair first because they are well known commercial brands, my question was would you buy products from a company that put straight hair first or is it better to buy products from a company that specializes in curly hair

Blueblood

I buy products based on ingredients.

The shampoos, conditioners and gels I use don't state they are for curly hair, kinky hair or straight hair on the containers.

Can some of the products be used by those with relaxed hair or straight hair? Yes.

Do I care? Nope as they work for me.

A lot of branded products are made by the same multinationals, so refusing to use a brand because it's "made" for straight hair is silly.

If they want to market the product at curly or kinky hair some multinationals will either change the packaging and add "for curls" on it, or create a new brand targeting us. The product ingredients are exactly the same as the product for straight hair bar the minor ingredient they throw in to make the product "natural".

This is what they have done with the likes Dark and Lovely. Targeted the same products at natural kinky hair with new marketing speak. Putting some olive oil in place of some of the mineral oil doesn't make the rest of the ingredients more agreeable to my hair.

kyahail

That's a really good point, I try to buy products from my local health food store but those dont really get the job done, I want to find my holy grail product without having to buy from big companies that aren't owned by entrepreneurs with a passion for curly hair health, the only problem is the companies owned by curlies charge so damn much (devacurl) that I can't afford to go through product after product searching for the one that works , I have experience in the beauty product business and I know that when you care about a certain product you put a lot of effort into it so that's another reason I'm skeptical of buying from a company that doesn't care about curly hair

Rimi

I care about ingredients and cost.

multicultcurly

I look at ingredients first and then cost as a second. For me, more expensive, natural products work best. The only widely available store-bought products that seem to work for me are the Shea Moisture Manuka honey conditioners and cheap tresseme gels and tresseme naturals moisturizing conditioner. I have had great luck with specific products from Jessicurl, Curl Junkie, Spiral Solutions, and Kinky Curly. I doubt one line will ever work for me because my hair type doesn't seem to be the norm.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using CurlTalk App

multicultcurly

Just thought about this. Lol. I find that L'oreal makes good quality products, even when they don't work for me so I would be more apt to try a new product from that company based on name and ingredients.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using CurlTalk App

sixelamy

kyahail wrote: »

That's a really good point, I try to buy products from my local health food store but those dont really get the job done, I want to find my holy grail product without having to buy from big companies that aren't owned by entrepreneurs with a passion for curly hair health, the only problem is the companies owned by curlies charge so damn much (devacurl) that I can't afford to go through product after product searching for the one that works , I have experience in the beauty product business and I know that when you care about a certain product you put a lot of effort into it so that's another reason I'm skeptical of buying from a company that doesn't care about curly hair

There are plenty of options marketed toward curly hair that aren't DevaCurl and aren't as expensive. Just because a company makes a relaxer doesn't mean all of their hair care is bad or they don't care about your hair. Businesses are in it for the money, and relaxing seems pretty popular. Granted, most companies would do anything for a few bucks in their pocket.

I agree with multicultcurly, L'oreal has great products. I really loved their dye when I used chemical dye, it made my hair feel super nice. I can't use their shampoos or conditioners, even though they make my hair feel suuuuuper soft (too soft, it falls flat).

I've been there done that with the "natural" brands. I'm finding with my water quality, I can't go completely natural as it all builds up on my hair. If you find a product you like from any sort of company, why would you not use it? If you are strong set against using brands that make "bad" products, you will be very limited and find you may not like the products the best. Chemistry requires extensive knowledge, which can lead to great or not so great products. You just have to be choosy. I think if I were that picky, I'd make my own products.

rbb

[QUOTE=sixelamy;2312233...I've been there done that with the "natural" brands. I'm finding with my water quality, I can't go completely natural as it all builds up on my hair. If you find a product you like from any sort of company, why would you not use it? If you are strong set against using brands that make "bad" products, you will be very limited and find you may not like the products the best. Chemistry requires extensive knowledge, which can lead to great or not so great products. You just have to be choosy. I think if I were that picky, I'd make my own products.[/QUOTE]

sixelamy -- have you tried curl junkie daily fix for a cowash? it has cleating agents that do a great job of removing minerals in the water from your hair. it's a cleansing conditioner, works really well for a cowash.

adthomas

sixelamy wrote: »

There are plenty of options marketed toward curly hair that aren't DevaCurl and aren't as expensive. Just because a company makes a relaxer doesn't mean all of their hair care is bad or they don't care about your hair. Businesses are in it for the money, and relaxing seems pretty popular. Granted, most companies would do anything for a few bucks in their pocket.

I agree with multicultcurly, L'oreal has great products. I really loved their dye when I used chemical dye, it made my hair feel super nice. I can't use their shampoos or conditioners, even though they make my hair feel suuuuuper soft (too soft, it falls flat).

I've been there done that with the "natural" brands. I'm finding with my water quality, I can't go completely natural as it all builds up on my hair. If you find a product you like from any sort of company, why would you not use it? If you are strong set against using brands that make "bad" products, you will be very limited and find you may not like the products the best. Chemistry requires extensive knowledge, which can lead to great or not so great products. You just have to be choosy. I think if I were that picky, I'd make my own products.

I know companies need to make money. No problem with that. The reason I am reluntant to use some of these lines and really I mean the ones marketed to blacks is that until they saw the success of the smaller brands in making natural hair products they had absolutely no interest in putting any resources, research, time ect in creating products for my hair other than slapping a relaxer on it. I see no reason these lines could not have offered at least or two products more natural ingredient friendly.. They were perfectly content charging me $8 for something full of super cheap ingredients cost them. Now all of sudden they "care" want to use shea butter, jojoba. There is a new "healthier" relaxer being marketed right now because of its revolutionary ingredient to restore protein in hair immediately after bonds are broken to reduce breakage. This mystery ingredient? Coconut oil!! Am I supposed to believe they weren't aware of these ingredients 10, 20 years ago? More likely the just didn't gaf. So to go from completely ignored to now you're all concerned is hard for me to swallow.

I'm a little bitter. I had to hold my nose to buy that Dark and Lovely product especially because stylists told me it was bad for health of my hair when I was relaxed.
Like Mike Jones said "Back then you didn't know me. Now I'm hot you're al on me."

asianrunner

I tend to buy the more expensive products because I haven't had much luck with drugstore products. My favorite line is Curl Junkie and I love most of their conditioners! I usually look at ingredients and don't worry as much about the cost since I don't buy very often anymore.

But I mix and match and certainly have products from several different lines. The only drugstore product I use regularly is BRHG because no gel has quite as much hold!

frckls

I, too, inspect ingredients first, regardless of brands, as long as they work for me. After getting my hair analysis result back, I looked out for products which ingredients lists do not have stuff my hair don't like (or I'm a bit iffy about) and ones that I prefer, as well as availability. I made a long list but finally narrowed down to a handful. I tested some of them out (I made a matrix to monitor the experiments) and managed to come up with staples that are relatively in the mid-low price bracket and easy to acquire. Most of them don't specifically target curly heads.

kyahail

frckls wrote: »

I, too, inspect ingredients first, regardless of brands, as long as they work for me. After getting my hair analysis result back, I looked out for products which ingredients lists do not have stuff my hair don't like (or I'm a bit iffy about) and ones that I prefer, as well as availability. I made a long list but finally narrowed down to a handful. I tested some of them out (I made a matrix to monitor the experiments) and managed to come up with staples that are relatively in the mid-low price bracket and easy to acquire. Most of them don't specifically target curly heads.

What's a hair analysis test? And what are your staple products?

BotticelliBrit

Ingredients are my deciding factor (and reviews of the product, of course). Brand names mean absolutely nothing to me

frckls

It's a test for your hair properties: texture, porosity and elasticity. The result is often accompanied with some hair science, as well as ingredients and method recommendations. Instead of knowing your hair type, knowing the properties is most helpful in deciding how to care for your hair. You will have to send samples of your hair and answer a questionnaire about your hair care habit and past treatments.
I got mine done by GoosefootPrint on Etsy. Wendy is also very helpful with follow up questions. She also has recipes on her blog.

The hair analysis saved me money since knowing my hair properties narrowed down the ingredients, and products by extension, that are most probably would be most beneficial for my hair to try, by a lot.

My hair properties and my hair care staples are listed in my signature.

ldymrmlde

adthomas wrote: »

sixelamy wrote: »

There are plenty of options marketed toward curly hair that aren't DevaCurl and aren't as expensive. Just because a company makes a relaxer doesn't mean all of their hair care is bad or they don't care about your hair. Businesses are in it for the money, and relaxing seems pretty popular. Granted, most companies would do anything for a few bucks in their pocket.



I agree with multicultcurly, L'oreal has great products. I really loved their dye when I used chemical dye, it made my hair feel super nice. I can't use their shampoos or conditioners, even though they make my hair feel suuuuuper soft (too soft, it falls flat).



I've been there done that with the "natural" brands. I'm finding with my water quality, I can't go completely natural as it all builds up on my hair. If you find a product you like from any sort of company, why would you not use it? If you are strong set against using brands that make "bad" products, you will be very limited and find you may not like the products the best. Chemistry requires extensive knowledge, which can lead to great or not so great products. You just have to be choosy. I think if I were that picky, I'd make my own products.

I know companies need to make money. No problem with that. The reason I am reluntant to use some of these lines and really I mean the ones marketed to blacks is that until they saw the success of the smaller brands in making natural hair products they had absolutely no interest in putting any resources, research, time ect in creating products for my hair other than slapping a relaxer on it. I see no reason these lines could not have offered at least or two products more natural ingredient friendly.. They were perfectly content charging me $8 for something full of super cheap ingredients cost them. Now all of sudden they "care" want to use shea butter, jojoba. There is a new "healthier" relaxer being marketed right now because of its revolutionary ingredient to restore protein in hair immediately after bonds are broken to reduce breakage. This mystery ingredient? Coconut oil!! Am I supposed to believe they weren't aware of these ingredients 10, 20 years ago? More likely the just didn't gaf. So to go from completely ignored to now you're all concerned is hard for me to swallow.



I'm a little bitter. I had to hold my nose to buy that Dark and Lovely product especially because stylists told me it was bad for health of my hair when I was relaxed.

Like Mike Jones said "Back then you didn't know me. Now I'm hot you're al on me."

I agree!

I look at the company first because I don't want to buy from folks we participate in shady practices. It may limit what I buy or it may not.



location: third planet from the sun

wavydaze

I don't really care either way but I tend to buy from more curly-targeted and natural lines. Right now my hair likes a mix of things:

Cure Care conditioner from Sally's (not "natural" nor curly targeted)
Desert Essence Shine & Refine lotion (natural and curly-targeted product)
Uncle Funky's Daughter Curly Magic (natural and curly-targeted line)
Alba Botanica Strong Hold gel (mostly natural line)
Volumax Mega gel (not natural nor curly-targeted)

At the end of the day I'll use whatever works best on my hair, but if two products work equally well i'll choose the most natural one. I support smaller businesses where I can. Over time I've found that I do like the smaller lines, that are natural and/or curl-oriented, as a general rule. Ultimately though if it's Pantene or whatever that works best I'll use that.