Rogaine 101

My thoughts on Rogaine.....

*** This video is informational and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any medical condition.

Another Cinnabon

NEW VIDEO!!!!! So cute, so simple, I had to do it again! The Cinnabon, Round II...

Since going natural...

One of my fave things since going natural? Never worrying about rain. 

How about you. What is your fave thing since going natural? 

Come on over to Facebook to hear more faves, to share yours, and to see what what other naturals think. 

See you there!

https://www.facebook.com/JourneytomyRoots

Another Lesson on the Importance of Ingredients

Journeyer, Stephanie asks: Have you ever used the Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner? If so, your thoughts please. 

Thanks for the question Stephanie. It depends on which one you are talking about. But assuming you're standing in the store and choosing between the two below, lets use my tried and true approach to selecting a product; lets read the ingredient list! 

Product 1: Palmer's Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner 

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Dicetyldimonium Chloride, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Olea Europea (Olive) Fruit Oil*, Amodimethicone, Propylene Glycol, Behenyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Hydroxyethyl Cetearamidopropyldimonium Chloride, Hair Keratine Amino Acids, Tocopheryl Acetate, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate, Citric Acid, Methylparaben, Ceteareth-20, Fragrance (Parfum), Linalool, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Salicylate, Hydroxycitronella, Methyl Ionone, Yellow 5 (CI19140), Red 4 (CI14700) Blue 1 (CI42090). *Certified Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Product 2: Organic Root Stimulator (ORS) Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner 

Ingredients: Water Aqua , Soybean Oil Glycine Soja , Glycerine , Olive Oil Olea Europaea , Hydrolyzed Collagen , Quaternium-80 , DMDM Hydantoin , Amino Silk Acid , Dimethicone Copolyol , Orange Oil Citrus Aupantium Dulcis , D'Limonene , Panthenol Vitamin B5 , Dimethicone , EDTA , Chamomile Extract Anthemis Nobilis , Sage Extract Salvia Officinalis , Nettle Extract Urtica Dioica , Rosemary Extract Rosmarinus Officinalis , Aloe Vera Gel Aloe Barbedensis , Yarrow Extract Achilea Millefolium , Kiwi Extract Actinidia Chinensis , Polyquaternium-37 , Trideceth-7 , Triethanolamine , Hydrolyzed Glycosaminoglycans , Methylchlorosothiazolinone , Methylchlorothiazolinone , Yellow No. 6 CI 15985 , Yellow No. 5 CI 19140

First things first...

Before we get started, there are a couple of things you need to know.

• Ingredients are listed in order of most to least amount/concentration.
• Despite commonly held belief, the FDA DOES NOT regulate the cosmetic industry. It only regulates the LABELING of cosmetic products. So giving the benefit of the doubt, what you see on the ingredient list should be an accurate reflection of what is in the product. 
• The MAJORITY of the product is made up of the first few in the list. So don't fall for products with a bazillion "natural" ingredients....that come at the bottom of the list after the crappy stuff like mineral oil or it's close cousins; petroleum/petrolatum/parrafin. 

Ingredient Lists...check and compare: 

So let's walk thru some of the ingredients

• The Organic Root Stimulator conditioner is made up of water, natural oils, quats (compounds that help the dirt wash/rinse away versus just being moved from one part of the hair to another), proteins and amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), aloe vera, silicones, and synthetic color additives. 

• The Palmer's Replenishing conditioner is made up of water, a lot of alcohols, silicones, synthetic preservatives and color additives. Note where the olive oil falls in the order of ingredients for the Palmer's product versus the Organic Root Stimulator product.

The verdict

So despite sharing a nearly identical name "Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner", you can see that the ingredients and thus the quality of these two products is completely different. The Organic Root Stimulator is made up of a lot of high quality ingredients in very high concentration. The Palmer's product is made up of a lot of poor quality ingredients in very high concentration. Given this, it is clear that the product worth trying/buying is the Organic Root Stimulator. And having used it before, I give it two MAJOR thumbs up! Just as I'd expect after reading the ingredients, the product has great "slip" and leaves my hair super soft, shiny, and completely detangled. 

See what you can do when you know about ingredients! See why you should follow Journey to My Roots! 

Here's another exercise in reading ingredients:

Not clear on the various ingredients themselves? Learn all about them in The ABC's of Hair Speak. From emulsifiers to parabens, you'll learn it all here....

DIY: Product Thickening Agents

DIY type? Did you know that xanthan gum is used in cosmetic products to emulsify (bind oil and water), give the product thickness, and give it stable shelf-life? Pick it up in your local Whole Foods, online at Vitacost, etc. Don't have xanthan gum? Try other natural thickeners such as acai gum, guar gum, algae extract or pectin. 

Versus these high-quality natural thickeners, many cosmetic products use a lower-quality, low-cost synthetic thickener called carbomer. Carbomer is a term used for a series of polymers primarily made from acrylic acid. Carbomers are white, fluffy powders but are frequently used as gels in cosmetics and personal care products. Carbomers can be found in a wide variety of product types including skin, hair, nail, and makeup products.

Picture source: collegecurlies.blogspot.com


If you've watched The ABC's of Hair Speak, you already know all of this! Haven't checked it out? Well what are you waiting for? 

Another Natural Bun

NEW JOURNEY TO MY ROOTS MUSIC....and a natural nappy bun! Check 'em out! And please hit the like button and reshare. Thanks!

Beware Fake Hair Gurus, Product Prophets and other Natural Fools!

Ok. I hate to appear that I'm starting mess because I'm not. I believe in civilized debate so let's go!.......

Call me touchy but I get upset when I see people saying things that make NO scientific sense to me (and I have a BS in Biology from Virginia Union University and a Master's Degree in Public Health from Yale so science is my thing ya'll).

I say it all the time-education is key to a successful hair journey. This means you need to not just follow the advice/opinion of others but you MUST do your own research and fact-checking. Don't  trust everything that people tell you (inluding me!).

I LOVE the growth in the natural/healthy hair community but there seem to be a lot of fake hair gurus popping up and I just don't know that the info they pass along is helping folks along the journey. I mean quite honestly, all it takes to be a guru, is a camera and YouTube account. There is NO quality review or fact-checking done by YouTube, Blogger, or most websites. Some of these "natural hair experts" have no business offering advice. They have no science or cosmetology training. They have very limited experience along the journey. And versus science-based truths, they offer a lot of opinion. Well last I checked, opinions are like behinds, everybody has one but half of them STINK! Remember the Type F videos? LOL! That was a great case in point!

Journey to My Roots Parody of the Type F "Natural Hair" Styling Videos

So what got this started? I was just browsing and I read the following post:

"Just so you know a denman brush is made out of plastic which is a bi-product of petroleum. Parabens are also petrochemicals. So a denman brush is really a solid paraben!!! To remain all natural you should use a cactus leaf to detangle your hair with... "

OH REALLY?????? And where is the science behind this little gem of advice?

So what is a Denman? A Denman brush is a plastic or rubber bristle brush. Because plastic/rubber does not conduct electricity like boar bristles, Denman's are GREAT for detangling, reducing frizz, taming and styling. Everybody has their own personal faves but I SWEAR by my Denman brush!

I'm not sure if this was researched but the logic doesn't even make sense to me. I look at it like a math problem.

• Petrochemicals = A. 
• Denmans use plastic so plastics = B (or a fraction of B because they may have other composite materials built in). 
• Parabens=C. 
• The logic: Who says B or C= A? I'm not saying this person is totally wrong but 'm gonna need to see some science behind this assertion because for me, I can't get the math to work.

Parabens are synthetic preservatives used in many cosmetics to give them shelf life (ie honey and tea tree oil are natural preservatives). For some people, these parabens cause irritation and while not proven, there is debate as to whether or not parabens are carcinogenic (cancer-causing) That said, we're talking about a brush not a product. Except for ghetto azz Pookie who walks around with a comb in his head all day, what is the risk if your'e not leaving the brush in all day? What real risk is there for irritation? Learn all about parabens and more in my blog

Parabens & Preservatives

Learn even more about natural hair tools, techniques, lingo, etc my tutorial 

The ABCs of Hair Speak

Your hair is DEAD folks. The roots are alive but the actual hair sprouting from your head is a non-living string of protein. So who cares if you brush with a Denman or a strand of celery? So long as the brush doesn't break the hair, who cares what it is made of? Learn all about the structure of hair in Kimmaytube's "Structure of Hair" video on YouTube. Click the link below to see that video. And be sure to subscribe to her channel. She offers GREAT tutorials with EDUCATION on hair.

Structure of Hair Part I: The Basics

I'm all for healthy natural hair but I also being in KISS- Keep it simple silly! I also don't believe in going broke to go natural! So pardon me for saying but (in my Emmanuel and Phillip Hudson voice) Some of these natural be doing the most. A cactus brush? Really? Where can I get that and how much does it cost? Doesn't it conduct electricity just like a boar bristle brush? That transmission of electricity = static= damage! So is that truly the answer if the Denman stuff is true (which I DOUBT! )

So in summary , be very wary ya'll. Listen but don't trust anything until you validate it (even the things you get here!). And remember, don't take advice from folks you wouldn't want to trade places with. If the speakers' hair is not where you wanna be, why would you take their advice? Would you take financial advice from someone in bankruptcy? SAME THING!

So perhaps there is some science to what the poster says but I just don't buy it. And I say that with all due respect! Still, for the false hair gurus out there, here is my rant! ...

Video Rant! Beware Fake Hair Gurus by Journey to My Roots

What are Your Thoughts?

Does this hypothesis on the Denman brush make sense to you? Am I off base about the cropping up of a lot of fake hair gurus? Share your thoughts in the comments section below OR come over to my Facebook Page and Share Your Thoughts There! Just remember, this is a CIVILIZED debate, not a forum for Napzis to harass or disrespect others who disagree with their opinion. If you pull that crap you WILL BE BOOTED! See ya there!

Journey to My Roots on Facebook

Addendum: 

No sooner than I'd posted this blog that I learned that the "cactus brush poster", Calvis TheCriscoKid Williamson, was actually joking around and poking fun at all the foolishenss that happens in the natural hair community. She and I e-talked and had a hilarious exchange about this topic. But even if not cacti brushes, I think the point remains. There are a lot of fake hair gurus out there offering advice based on nothing more than what they have heard. They've done no research or fact-checking and they don't even seem to give it the common-sense smell test. Check out the video below for the case in point. I have a science basis but never-minding her hide-and-seek edges, I doubt she researched miconazole, the active ingredient in Monistat or other cooter creams. miconazole is an anti-fungal. Do you think she looked that up first? Further, there have been NO tests of miconazole for hair use. To assume a product works on one area of the body does not mean it is safe to use on another area! Lastly, putting the "my bad" screen up" after the fact is not very helpful. She should have pulled the video altogether because I can't help but to wonder how many of the 40,000+ viewers tried this prior to hearing her correction? Siggghhhh!

So the moral of the blog? 
Don't be a natural hair Lamont (For you young folks, Lamont was the son of Fred Sanford on the Sanford and Son show. He was constantly calling Lamont "ya big dummy"!). Do your own research. Fact-check what you've read, seen, or heard. To do less makes you a natural haired dummy!