Source: AFROBELLA
As your friendly round the way beauty and natural hair blogger, I get sent ALL KINDS of products to review. Some of them are totally the kind of stuff I’d buy myself, made with ingredients I know my hair will respond to favorably. Others…not so much. But I do my best to at least try most of the products I’m sent, because I think that’s the role of the beauty blogger — to sift through the submissions and share the best products with our readers, thereby offering an informed perspective. But sometimes when I open a package of product I seriously find myself wondering…will my readers be interested? When it comes to products, what kind of natural are you?
That’s right — I’m defining naturals by type! But not in a divisive way (I hope), this is all in fun and love! I’ve been more than one of these naturals throughout my hair journey. Maybe you have too!
– The All-Natural-Everything Natural. This particular bella won’t touch anything including those bad hair ingredients. Don’t get her started on mineral oil, sulfates or silicones because she will educate you with a quickness on why she doesn’t use products made with those ingredients, and why you shouldn’t either!
– The Informed But Flexible Natural. She’s got an arsenal of go-to products and has pretty much figured out what her hair wants and needs. She is well aware of the effects of mineral oil on natural hair and in general she steers clear of many mass market hair products… but she’s down to try new things and may use some products including those controversial ingredients from time to time to achieve a particular style, or just because it was on sale, or she feels like it!
– The Anything Goes Natural. This bella has a very carefree approach to hair product purchases. If it looks like it’ll work, she’ll try it! If she sees a decent review on a blog, she’ll try it! Whatever she feels like styling, shampooing, or conditioning with, she’ll try it — from the most pure hair products to the stuff made with 200 ingredients you can’t pronounce.
– The Anything Goes, Frugal Edition Natural. This is the bella on a budget. She may be a college student who can’t afford to buy the more pricey and buzzed about hair products. She may be just dealing with this economy and trying to figure out what works best for her hair on a limited budget. Either way, she knows when all the BOGO sales are, she’s totally down to buy dupe products at Sally Beauty, and you’re most likely to find her loading up on hair products at Walmart or at the drugstore.
– The Cocktailer. Do you have a funnel? A collection of natural oils at the ready? A big ol’ bottle of honey that’s intended for beautifying purposes only? Then you too can be a cocktailer — the kind of bella who loves to add her own ingredients to already existing products in the hopes of improving their effectiveness.
– The Mixtress. The Mixtress takes cocktailing up a notch — instead of just putting a little ingredient remix on a product, she is down to DIY! She’ll use a electric mixer or hand mixer to crank out products of her own. She’s inspired by people like Lisa Price, Anita Grant, and Tasha Burton of BelleButters. Next stop, opening an Etsy shop!
– The “What Are You Using” Natural. These are usually new naturals, people who have transitioned repeatedly, or keep believing there’s an elusive product out there that will give them a look they haven’t so far been able to achieve. This bella is most likely to corner you while shopping, at a social event, or even in the ladies room just to ask about your product regimen.
– The Stay In Her Lane Natural. This bella has a product that she uses, and that is ALL. You can most often find her swearing that “**insert product here** is the only thing that works for my hair,” even though she hasn’t tried many (or sometimes any) other products. Often this particular bella has been natural for a long time and has figured out a regimen that works for them — or finds the new natural hair world a bit overwhelming and doesn’t want to roll the dice on new products that may disappoint her and be a waste of money.
In my experience those are the top types of natural haired women, according to how they respond to the products on the market. What kinds of naturals did I miss? What kind of natural are you??
