Feature

Au Naturale

Sunday Mar 1, 2009 – By Clutch

1. Motions at Home, Sculpt & Twist Molding Creme ($4,99, drugstore.com)

2. Knot Today ($12, kinky-curly.com) is a creamy herbal conditioner and detangler designed to smooth the cuticle and remove knots, snarls and tangles from thick curly textured hair.

3. Qhemet Biologics (qhemetbiologics.com) is a nourishing line of high performance hair care products made with ingredients traditionally harvested by our ancestors.

4. Whipped Pudding – Rich, Shea-based Cream ($6, oyinhandmade.com) This rich, dense moisturizing cream is Oyin’s first product. It’s a mixture of rich botanical butters & oils like shea butter, cocoa butter, and castor oil; blended with plenty of pure aloe vera gel and spring water for lightness & penetration.

5. Curl Friends Seduce Pomade ($14.95, curlfriends.com) Seduces hair and defines curls that last all day.

6. Hair Rules Nourishment Leave-In Conditioner ($20, hairrules.com) A lightweight, leave-in conditioner, nourishment detangles, hydrates and revitalizes porous and parched hair with extracts of honey, ginger root, lemon and gardenia, promoting buoyant curls without weight. Also great for blowouts.

7. Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioning Repair Cream ($4.99, drugstore.com) Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioning Repair Cream is an intensive deep penetrating leave in cream conditioning treatment that is made with pure shea butter and other natural oils to stop and mend breakage, repair split ends, and add manageability and shine with every application.

8. Phytospecific Moisturizing Styling Balm ($24, sephora.com) Moisturizing styling balm is a daily styling product for all hair types. Quinoa oil deeply hydrates and protects the hair. Shine is immediately restored and hair is easier to manage.

9. Jane Carter Revitalizing Leave In Conditioner ($9-$12, honeyfig.com) Jane Carter Revitalizing Leave-In Conditioner, conditions your hair as it detangles with extracts of Aloe Vera, Comfrey, Chamomile, and Horsetail.

10. Miss Jessie’s Curly Meringue ($7-$38, missjessies.com)

11. Max Green Alchemy Styling Gel ($14-$18, honeyfig.com)

Dnelly says:

February 16, 2009 at 10:15 pm

I LOVE WHIPPED PUDDING! I swear that’s the best stuff, you can use it all over your Bo-dy! and it smells delish but not overpowering!

↑ Reply

Arlice Nichole says:

February 17, 2009 at 1:07 pm

I wish I could go natural!

Nakia says:

February 18, 2009 at 11:57 am

Everyone can go natural. You just have to commit to it. I did the big chop last year after my divorce and I haven’t looked back since. It’s grown so much faster and thicker and healthier than it ever would have with perming or relaxing. Sometimes I blow it out and flat iron it and it’s just as good if not better than with a perm (none of that browning out that chemicals cause). AND most importantly to me, my daughter loves her natural hair. She sees me as a standard of beauty and not the European standard that has poisoned us for so many generations. I just tell her and show her how many different ways we can wear our hair and she’s happy. And seeing her like that makes me feel so much better than I did at her age when I would cry in private because my hair and bangs didn’t hang like the white girls in my school. Vive la revolution!

S.Lynn says:

February 18, 2009 at 2:59 pm

Nakia, when you strighten you hair with the flat iron.. how do you get your ends super straight like the rest of your hair. My hair gets very straight.. but the ends tend to be rough… do you have this problem? Aside from excessively going over it with teh iron, do you know any other solutions?

chloe says:

February 18, 2009 at 3:47 pm

Great list. These are the best of the best!

Shawna says:

February 18, 2009 at 5:46 pm

To: S.Lynn which is funny because that is my first initial and my middle name.. anyway, when I straighten my hair I go over it with a hot comb then I polish it with the flat iron, that helps get an overall straight look. Hope that helps! Oh and sometimes ragedy tips indicate a much needed trim.

miss concrete jungle says:

February 19, 2009 at 5:00 pm

I too cut my perm last summer, however I’ve had a lot of trouble getting my hair to grow, which is kind of discouraging because it grew faster when I had a relaxer! I’ve also bought a LOT of different products, spending a lot of money. ANYWAYS, as a female who began getting perms at an early age, I never truly understood the power of natural beauty until chopping my hair, and it’s been quite a journey. I’ve come to realize that it takes a lot of dedication, trial & error, and certainly forces you to accept how God made you. Its amazing how different having short, kinky hair vs. longer, permed hair has made me feel. It has been liberating and awkward at the same time. When I’m around others who wear natural hair, its easier to embrace, while sometimes I feel self-conscious when I’m around girls my age who still have perms. The perceptions of beauty I was raised to believe totally contradict the perceptions evolving within me, and I have a lot of growing and maturing to do. Just thought I’d share my few two cents, and thanks for sharing a few new products I may try!

christian ohonba says:

February 28, 2009 at 3:39 pm

I chopped my perm off nov of 07 and I love it.Perms never did it for me and now my hair is just growing.I dont buy into most of the products that were listed.I love natural oils peppermint,rosemary,tea tree oil etc and just natural products like aloe vera.They work the best and most products have mineral oil and other no,no’s for the hair.I even read my bottles for shampoos and I found alot of the shampoos that were suppose to be herbal had sulfate in it which leaves the hair dry and brittle.I can only use cream of nature or organic root stimulators peppermint shampoo.It doesnt cost a thing to be beautiful let your smile show

keke says:

March 2, 2009 at 5:40 pm

I have a question. Maybe I am generalizing but why is that whenever we see pictures of sisters with natural hair, most of the time we see the big curly texture or the tight curly texture? Why don’t we ever see the kinky, tight, or course textures?

There are a lot of black women out there who either wear there hair natural or are contemplating going natural and I refuse to believe that all of the them have that curly texture…so why are the images so one-sided?

We talk about how we want to see more women wear natural hair but we rarely see the diverse looks of black natural hair. I personally have a relaxer in my hair but I have made that observation when I see pics of black natural hair.

It seems like we are telling women that the most desired natural hair is curly, and isn’t that ironic? I have also found out that some women who “go natural” use a process called silkening to make their “natural” hair look more curly…anyone no about that process?

Nina says:

March 2, 2009 at 6:15 pm

I agree Keke. A lot of the images we see reinforce stereotypes abuot “good” and “bad” hair and yes there are some women who texturize their hair to make it look curly. There is still money to be made on black hair–no matter the texture–and there’s more money to be made when manufacturers can take advantage of insecurities…I mean, fashion trends.

Clutch says:

March 2, 2009 at 6:18 pm

Hi Keke – we feel the same way. We try to show all women of color and textures. If you look around Clutch we make it our business to highlight women of all hues and hair textures.

Please see articles here:
http://clutchmagonline.com/beauty/natural-woman/
http://clutchmagonline.com/beauty/tress-variations/
http://fuchsia.clutchmagonline.com/2008/11/resources-going-natural/
http://clutchmagonline.com/beauty/lessons-in-beauty/whats-in-your-products/
http://clutchmagonline.com/beauty/so-fresh-and-clean/
http://clutchmagonline.com/category/beauty/ — check out some of our features.

Also look for more natural pieces on the 9th :) Which highlights all textures.

Thanks for reading Clutch!

xoxo,

Dede

March 3, 2009 at 2:17 pm

Thanks Clutch….I did take a look at your links and I do see some variations. I wish that there was more diversity beyond your blog though and more ppl were willing to show the variation in hair texture that black women have. But I guess we can’t expect other media to embrace hair diversity; but I am glad that yall are doing it.

But I do wonder if women who wear natural hair feel offended by that bias? These are just questions that are going through my mind. I agree with Nina; I just feel like even when we go natural, there is still this ideal hair type and if we don’t have it; the hair is ugly….I have friends who have natural hair and its beautiful, but I have never had a real discussion with them about the images of natural hair and how they feel about having nappy/kinky and/or curly/wavy hair. I guess I should open that discussion up with them and talk about it.

March 3, 2009 at 2:29 pm

Well let me clear that up, there are other blogs and forums that show different hair textures, and talk about natural hair. I am referring to mainstream media and movies etc….they don’t show much diversity. And that really sucks…..

Brandy says:

March 4, 2009 at 12:13 pm

I can personally recommend #2, #3, and #4. One that should be at the top is Kinky Curly Curling Custard. It’s a gel that you use over knot today to define curls. It’s a must have!! What’s nice is that alot of these products can be used on relaxed and natural hair.

I agree with Keke. Most commercials/print ads promote looser curls and that reinforces the perception that the tighter curls that alot of us have are not desirable or attractive. It will take some time to get past such thought, but I think it can, and already has been in some cirlces, be done. We have to remember that straight, coily or kinky, it’s all beautiful. Great article. Keep it up.

Soul Cry says:

March 23, 2009 at 4:21 pm

Clutch

I would love to see some ideas for caring for locs…a lot of these suggestions are wonerful, but cream-based conditioners etc are not always good for locs because they are a bit too thick. I find that I have to water a lot of them down to really get them to fit to my hair.

Spotlight: Clutch Inspiration « ~Back to Curly~ says:

March 31, 2009 at 3:43 pm

[...] transitioning to others who are so far down the PJ ladder they need help in figuring out what really works for their hair, Clutch has got you covered! Here’s some more info on the other networking [...]

Lij2kids says:

May 3, 2009 at 9:06 am

I tried the kinky curly curling custard on my daughters’hair type 4a and 4c and it did not work out for both of them. It leaves their hairs stick and with some white flakes. I think this product doesn’t on kinky hair type. It was a total waste of time and money.