Styling your hair with food products???
Food products in your hair? . . . I don’t think so!
Yogurt, mayonnaise, beer, olive oil, raw eggs, vinegar rinses, chamomile tea, bananas, avocado, honey etc.: I’ve heard it all . . . have properties that can affect the appearance of your hair in some way. For instance: Yogurt is a natural conditioner, as is mayonnaise, olive oil and raw eggs. Vinegar can help you rinse away hard water dulling residue (and lower the Ph of your hair). Beer can coat fine hair if allowed to dry into it and add a boost to texture to a wet set.
Chamomile tea rinses can enhance blonde highlights. If you’re really into saving money you can find all sorts of household products that can double as cleaners, deodorizers, stain lifters etc. (sort of) These household remedies work, and some work better than others. But none work as well as a product, which is designed by a chemist for a specific job. Don’t be fooled.
“One thing that formulated product always does better than food is to rinse cleanly.”
Just because a substance occurs naturally in a fruit, vegetable or leaf it doesn’t mean that it is better for your hair. Hair is a dead fiber, hair does not eat. So no matter how yummy the ingredients sound to you, the net benefit is still a simple oil, fat or protein to your hair! I remember a girl friend in junior high who used mayonnaise in her baby fine hair . . . it took her several days to wash it out, in the meantime she looked like a wet dog.
One thing that formulated product always does better than food is to rinse cleanly. This is because a lot of science goes into how to get a product to adhere, do its job and then be rinsed away. (Any one who has tried an olive oil hair wrap has already learned this!) In any case, if you try these household concoctions remember to rinse completely to assure that you’ll never be seen in public with specks of dried egg yolk in your hair!
I ran across this article in the San Jose Mercury News who did a piece on the Jonathan Product hair-care collection — for reviving sun-damaged hair. You won’t find me running right out and buying any of this product, as buried half way through the press release I found this bit of nonsense.
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Raid your refrigerator. ‘There are great things in your kitchen that are instant hair recovery tricks. A little olive oil mashed with a banana or avocado, or some beer with a drop of mayonnaise are great hair packs. Leave it in for five to 10 minutes, and rinse with a conditioner so you don’t have the smell,’ Hedges says. |
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I found this article to be full of bad advice. As someone who has done a lot of research into natural hair products I can say that they work BETTER than chemical products. Chemical products can have adverse effects on your hair and scalp they contain ingrediants that mask your hairs problems and manipulate your hairs natural state. These chemical products are not helping your hair, the are just masking the state that your hair is in. So think outside the box, and don’t believe everything that big corporations tell you, they just want to sell more products and make more money.
Comment by Heather — December 2, 2006 @ 12:19 am
I have to agree with Heather here! In my 23 years of life I have tried both natural and chemical products on my hair…I will not say: Stay away from chemicals! Because everyones hair is completely different and different products and ingredients work in a different way. What I will say is : bear in mind that chemicals are chemicals and most of them contain harmfull toxins such as parabens and sulphates…Dont be scared of trying natural kitchen ingredients and experimenting…if you love your hair you will ultimately find the right stuff for you!!!
Comment by Estrellita — December 2, 2006 @ 4:11 am
I just want to say that man has been around for a lot longer than science and science spends a lot of time emulating things that occur in nature. It is illogical to say that chemical products are better than natural ones because if anyone spends any amount of time looking at an ingredient list on a store bought hair product (and understands the nomenclature) they will see that many chemicals are naturally derived or imitated anyway. Don’t talk about things you don’t fully understand! There is nothing wrong with concocting your own hair products with plants, fruits, and oils.
Comment by aidan — December 2, 2006 @ 10:12 am
Au contraire–our culture describes oils, etc. to be strictly food items. In reality, substances such as shea butter, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and other have many different uses.
A large majority of mainstream products work to disguise the problems and, in doing so, create new ones. For example, shampoos/conditioners that claim to smooth your hair and add shine. These contain silicones, many of which are not water soluble. This means that the layer of silicone that surrounds each strand will not be removed for a very long time. The silicone, although it creates the illusion of shiny hair, actually keeps moisture (ie. hair’s natural oils) from nourishing the hair; this dries out the hair. A cycle is imminent: the more you use it, the more you need it. Silicones can and usually are removed with shampoos…which contain way too many sulfates. Such an amount overcleanses the hair, stripping it of its natural oils and making it dry and prone to damage. Also, hair becomes oiler faster because the scalp must overcompensate for the loss.
As someone whose hair has been ravaged by products and who has had great succes with “stuff from the kitchen”, I can safely proclaim the above article utter horseshit.
Comment by Oksana — December 2, 2006 @ 10:10 pm
I myself love using olive oil on my hair. It makes it so much easier to braid and gives right slip to my hair when washed out the right morning. People in the middle ages did not have the chemicals we have today, they did not even bathe save one a year if they were rich and they managed just fine, even kept their hair.
Comment by Catherine — December 2, 2006 @ 11:42 pm
What a strange and unusual article. I mean, the author writing about something which he knows nothing about and coming to a negative conclusion about it without actually doing any research. How can an article like this actually even be published?
I no longer use commercial products on my hair. I occasionally use very good herbal shampoo and conditioner and I use oils to moisturize my ends, I rinse with vinegar, followed by a cool distilled water rinse, have used baking soda on occasion and aloe vera juice in place of gel in my hair. They have all worked well. My hair is clean, shiny, smells nice and has never been healthier and more beautiful.
Shame on the author of this article. What a lot of hooey.
Comment by jessie — December 3, 2006 @ 12:32 am
Wow what a lot of rubbish, how can someone who has never tried these products say they dont owrk.
I used to use store products and it ruined my hair, it just went frizzy and nasty and smelt of strong perfume.
Now i use only natural products and my hair is soft, shiney and beautiful.
WE ALL KNOW THAT COMMERCIALS WITH WOMEN WITH SHINEY HAIR ARE A LOAD OF CRAP. NO ONE HAS HAIR LIKE THAT USING PRODUCTS FULL OF CHEMICALS AND NASTY STRIPPING AGENTS.
LOL this article was good for a laugh
Comment by Katie — December 3, 2006 @ 5:41 am
Rubbish.
If you wouldn’t put it in your body, don’t put it on your body. I have NEVER had more success moisturizing and maintaining my hair than when I use things I have around the house as opposed to bottles full of chemicals that cost more than I’ve got.
Comment by Kandace — January 1, 2007 @ 7:08 pm
Did you really just accuse the Mecury-News of rewriting a press release from a BLOG?
A blog that has as it’s strongest argument for your position as “I remember a girl friend in junior high who used mayonnaise in her baby fine hair . . .� it took her several days to wash it out, in the meantime she looked like a wet dog.”
If I had published this, I’d be crawling into a hole of shame and hanging out with Hill & Knowlton rejects.
Comment by Eco reporter — January 1, 2007 @ 8:28 pm
OH, and P.S. Right under tags, it says the date followed by “You’re input matters.”
I seriously hope you people understand what is wrong with that statement. Or did you really mean to call me an “input matters”? You wanna come over here and say that?
Comment by Gillian — January 2, 2007 @ 1:18 am
Is this person nuts?! I used so called scientific products for years, since my hair is down to my thighs, it gets a bit expensive, i tried my own cond. Nothing works better. Besides why would you want something in your hair that you can’t pronouce, what about those cond. and shampoo who use so called natural ingredients?! Well i guess since its in a bottle that costs 8 bucks its better. Totally BS
Comment by Mikhail — January 2, 2007 @ 3:20 am
A ridiculous article for sure!! I’ll defend the benefits to my hair from honey, chammomile, coconut oil, coconut milk, EVOO, jojoba, and avocado oil. They have done such good for my hair! I doubt I’d have gotten this far without them. I think anybody can find something from Mother Nature that works better on their hair than any commercial product they try, but it’s all a matter of one’s own hair. It sounds to me like the author heard about using food product in hair, thought, “Eeeewwww!” and then wrote this article. I love how she goes so far as to insult our collective intelligence by publishing it under the guise of “science”.
Comment by Ria — January 2, 2007 @ 5:36 pm
Also, the article she quoted in this article, the one about recipe for stressed hair, is more sane and helpful than this one!
Comment by Ria — January 2, 2007 @ 5:38 pm
Co-signing with everyone else on the fallaciousness of this article. Becoming a “kitchen beautician” was the best gift I could have given to myself, my hair, and my wallet. Getting off the hair care industry “grid” in general has resulted in my having the healthiest, longest, strongest hair of my life.
Comment by Yaa — January 2, 2007 @ 7:42 pm