Do you have natural hair and wonder if you can use regular hair grease for it?
If so, then this blog post is for you! We’ve all heard the chit chat about using grease on our hair but is hair grease bad for natural hair?
There has been a lot of talk in the natural hair community for years about whether or not hair grease is good for you or not. Well, today we want to discuss the truth about using hair grease on natural hair.
Keep reading to find out if hair grease is right for you or not.
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What is Hair Grease and Where Does it Come From?
When anyone talks about hair grease the immediate thought is “stay away from it because it’s bad for your hair.” Many people say this but don’t really have a true understanding of what hair grease is or where it comes from.
Let’s first educate ourselves on what grease it before we go any further.
Commercial hair grease is made from the fat of animals and is greasy or oily in texture.
Hair grease has been used for centuries to moisturise the hair, it can also act as a natural sunscreen protecting your hair from harmful UV rays which can damage the hair.
Hair Grease comes in many different forms and is not necessarily about using Blue Magic hair grease in your hair. There are other natural forms of hair grease that you can use too.
Shea butter for example is a natural form of hair grease as well as coconut oil.
You can also make your own grease by making a mixture of coconut oil and shea butter.
Natural forms of hair grease are not unkind to your hair. The ones that we really need to take a closer look at before we use them are brands such as Blue Magic, sulfur 8 and other popular brands that are sold on the market.
The reason there is a lot of talk about these commercial products is because of the ingredients that they contain. For example, Blue magic contains mineral oil, lanolin and petrolatum which are all known to be really bad for your hair.
These products can cause a build up on your scalp and stop moisture from entering the hair shaft resulting in dry hair, split ends and hair breakage.
Why Do People Use Hair Grease On Their Hair?
There is a lot of unlearning to be done for those of us that were brought up thinking that our hair and scalp needed to be constantly greased with some of these products.
We are used to believing that if you want shine on your hair and scalp then you need to apply grease.
This is simply not true. Once your hair is in good healthy condition then the rest of it follows and that includes shine.
Just bear in mind that with some hair textures shine will not necessarily be instantly visible and that is because some textures have kinkier strands that don’t allow the light to bounce off. That’s all shine is in a nutshell. It’s how the light bounces off your hair.
However, over time hair grease will build up on your hair and scalp which can clog pores causing hair breakage and even dandruff. Natural forms of grease are great for you but they need to be used properly at all times.
What Are The Benefits of Using A Natural Form of Hair Grease
Using natural hair grease is always going to out trump commercial products because of the many other benefits that they can provide to your hair. For example, the benefits of using shea butter are that it not only protects your hair from the sun but it also gives you that deep moisturising effect that you simply will not get from commercial products. Commercial products don’t really go deeper than surface level benefits.
What is great about natural forms of hair grease like shea butter or any other natural butters is that they can be used as a sealant to help lock in moisture to your hair.
Grease can be added on top of your hair strands as a protective layer, which will add shine to your hair and lock in moisture. This is especially great if you have high porosity hair where it’s hard to retain moisture in your hair.
You have to also take into consideration that with anything man-made there is a chance that it could cause harm in some way. You can almost omit the chances of that by using natural products instead.
Are There Any Side Effects Using Natural Forms of Hair Grease?
The chances of you suffering from a side effect of using natural hair grease is much lower than with something commercial. Unless you are allergic to the product itself there is little chance of anything bad happening.
Before you use any product in your hair it’s a good idea you do a patch test beforehand. This is especially important if you have sensitive skin or an allergy to natural products like shea butter.
How Long Should You Keep The Product in Your Hair for Maximum Benefit?
Too much of anything can be a bad thing. If you are considering using hair grease for natural hair then you should be aware that if you use it in excess it could cause build up on both your hair and your scalp.
Build up is not a good thing to have so if you feel that your hair is becoming clogged and weighted down then it’s probably time to give it a cleanse. I recommend using this product if you need to cleanse your hair.
For maximum benefit, you should only apply grease to your hair every few days at best. It’s not a good idea to add grease every day.
If you feel that your hair is dry perhaps try using a leave in conditioner like this one instead.
Final Thoughts on Is Hair Grease Bad for Natural Hair
In a nutshell, I would say that if you can, stay away from commercial hair grease products and opt for more natural options if you can.
The great thing about using the natural options is that if you do find they are too heavy for your hair you can always adapt them by adding oil to your butter to make it lighter and better suited for your hair texture.
Make sure you are aware of all the facts before you decide to start using any product in your hair.
Is hair grease bad for natural hair?
Not if you go for the natural options it is not!
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Is dandruff a problem for you?
Have you tried apple cider vinegar in your hair yet?
How you can retain moisture in your hair
