Mar 01, 2022

7 Tips For Recovering Product Junkies

If you have cabinets, drawers, and a bathroom counter full of different natural hair products of all brands and functions, it might be safe to say you’re a bit of a product junkie. Every product hoarding natural has their reasons. Some may have a hard time pinning down a good routine. Others may just have trouble resisting every new product trend. However you end up with a surplus of products you may or may not be using, here are seven tips for how to narrow things down.

1. Start Reading Ingredients

The first thing you want to do is start familiarizing yourself with ingredients and what they do. Start with the products you use most. Then move to the products that didn’t work well for you. Make note of the differences. And make note of any patterns. Do your research and make sure you write everything down so you can revisit it as needed.

2. Figure Out What Your Hair Likes

Now that you have a good understanding of ingredients, you can now make a specific list including only the ingredients that show up prominently in the products that work best for you. You can use this whenever you’re considering trying a new product. If it doesn’t have any of the ingredients on your good list, it might not be worth a try.

3. Figure Out What Your Hair Doesn’t Like

Just like you’ve made a list of ingredients included in your favorite products, you should make a list of ingredients included in your least favorite products. You can use this list when shopping as well. If a product has anything on your bad list, don’t give it another thought.

4. Throw Out What Doesn’t Work

Now it’s time to de-clutter. Take all the products that don’t work and give them away or throw them away. It’s that simple. Don’t get caught up thinking about how much money you may have wasted, or trying to convince yourself a product that has never worked for you might work someday in the future. Just get rid of what’s not working and don’t look back.

5. Stick To What Does Work

Save those products that do work and that you use often. Once you’ve identified what works, try not to stray too far from that. We know experimentation is tempting, but try to remember, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

6. Keep It As Simple As Possible

If you’re ready to take it even further, depending on how many products you’re left with, you might be able to narrow things down even more. Generally, every natural needs a good shampoo, a good conditioner, a deep conditioner, a leave-in, and a styling cream, gel, or mousse. If you find yourself with multiples of the same thing, it might be a good idea to pick one and get rid of the rest. The goal is to keep things simple so you can create a consistent routine.

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You also wanna try to keep the ingredients in your products relatively simple. A good rule to keep in mind is if you can’t pronounce at least the most prominent ingredients, it might not be a great product.

7. Focus On Technique

At the end of the day, a lot of times what matters most is technique. Once you’ve got a more manageable amount of products to work with, set your sights on perfecting your application technique. Know which products you should smooth into your hair and which products you might need to scrunch. Know what order of application works best for your hair when product layering. Try different things to see what works. Once you’ve got it figured out, stick to that. Natural hair thrives from consistency.