Recently a few of the ladies from the natural hair group I belong to started joking about things we do and say now that we have gone au naturale with our hair. One of the things I kept noticing were references to grocery shopping. For us, grocery shopping is not always for food to nourish our bodies. What we were talking about was grocery shopping for our kinky, curly hair. Not sure what we kinky-haired girls shop for? Take a look at what's in the kinky girl's grocery list to find out.
Where Do You Shop for Your Kinky Curls
It depends. A lot of us can find most of the grocery items we need for our hair at a standard supermarket. Sometimes we go to whole and natural food stores or farmer's markets to pick up harder to find products. So what exactly do we shop for?
Fruits
Fruits are primarily purchased as the main ingredient in homemade conditioners. Fruit infused hair smoothies, deep conditioners and rinses are the concoctions most often made. Here are the most sought after fruits and their popular uses:
• Bananas - conditioner and conditioning treatments
• Avocado - conditioner
• Papaya - conditioner
• Lemons - conditioners and rinses
• Grapefruit - rinses
Dairy
Dairy may seem weird at first but dairy products are full of hair and body loving protein. Dairy and fruits are most often mixed together to create deep conditioning treatments and hair masks. Here are a few dairy products we like to treat our kinky curls to:
• Whole milk - conditioning and rinses (soy, almond and coconut milk can be used in its place)
• Eggs - deep conditioning treatments. One note on eggs: many are fond of using the whole egg in their home made conditioners. However, I only use the egg yolk because it holds the cholesterol and protein that hair loves. Bonus, it does not cook on your hair leaving you with scrambled egg pieces to pick out.
• Plain yogurt - conditioning
Oils and Vinegar
There used to be a time that when I brought out oil and vinegar, it meant I was making salad dressing. Nowadays it means it is wash day and I am clarifying my hair. Here are the different oils and vinegar used to help keep our curls in check:
• Apple cider vinegar - clarifying rinse
• Distilled vinegar - clarifying rinse (not as good as apple cider vinegar)
• Olive oil - used for conditioning and sealing (extra virgin olive oil is preferred)
• Grape seed oil - conditioning and sealing
• Avocado oil - conditioning, sealing and heat protection
• Sweet almond oil - primarily conditioning but can be used for sealing
• Coconut oil - conditioning, sealing and heat protection (extra virgin coconut oil is more potent)
• Crisco shortening - conditioning and heat protection
Condiments and Other Grocery Items
Some of your favorite condiments are some of things kinky, curly heads love. Instead of making a sandwich, a soothing beverage or baking something tasty you are giving your hair a little tender loving care. Some of the following grocery items may surprise you:
• Tea - clarifying and hair rinse (preferably chamomile and green tea)
• Baking soda - clarifying
• Brown sugar - clarifying and cleansing
• Mayonnaise - conditioning
• Honey - conditioning
• Rosemary - clarifying, balancing hair PH and scalp soother
These grocery store items are favorites of many kinky-haired women. They can be combined to make moisturizing conditioners, deep conditioning repair treatments, clarifying rinses, color-enhancing rinses and many other hair treatments to help our kinks and coils look their best. Curly hair blogger, CurlyNikki has hair recipes using many of these grocery store items for you to try.
Where Do You Shop for Your Kinky Curls
It depends. A lot of us can find most of the grocery items we need for our hair at a standard supermarket. Sometimes we go to whole and natural food stores or farmer's markets to pick up harder to find products. So what exactly do we shop for?
Fruits
Fruits are primarily purchased as the main ingredient in homemade conditioners. Fruit infused hair smoothies, deep conditioners and rinses are the concoctions most often made. Here are the most sought after fruits and their popular uses:
• Bananas - conditioner and conditioning treatments
• Avocado - conditioner
• Papaya - conditioner
• Lemons - conditioners and rinses
• Grapefruit - rinses
Dairy
Dairy may seem weird at first but dairy products are full of hair and body loving protein. Dairy and fruits are most often mixed together to create deep conditioning treatments and hair masks. Here are a few dairy products we like to treat our kinky curls to:
• Whole milk - conditioning and rinses (soy, almond and coconut milk can be used in its place)
• Eggs - deep conditioning treatments. One note on eggs: many are fond of using the whole egg in their home made conditioners. However, I only use the egg yolk because it holds the cholesterol and protein that hair loves. Bonus, it does not cook on your hair leaving you with scrambled egg pieces to pick out.
• Plain yogurt - conditioning
Oils and Vinegar
There used to be a time that when I brought out oil and vinegar, it meant I was making salad dressing. Nowadays it means it is wash day and I am clarifying my hair. Here are the different oils and vinegar used to help keep our curls in check:
• Apple cider vinegar - clarifying rinse
• Distilled vinegar - clarifying rinse (not as good as apple cider vinegar)
• Olive oil - used for conditioning and sealing (extra virgin olive oil is preferred)
• Grape seed oil - conditioning and sealing
• Avocado oil - conditioning, sealing and heat protection
• Sweet almond oil - primarily conditioning but can be used for sealing
• Coconut oil - conditioning, sealing and heat protection (extra virgin coconut oil is more potent)
• Crisco shortening - conditioning and heat protection
Condiments and Other Grocery Items
Some of your favorite condiments are some of things kinky, curly heads love. Instead of making a sandwich, a soothing beverage or baking something tasty you are giving your hair a little tender loving care. Some of the following grocery items may surprise you:
• Tea - clarifying and hair rinse (preferably chamomile and green tea)
• Baking soda - clarifying
• Brown sugar - clarifying and cleansing
• Mayonnaise - conditioning
• Honey - conditioning
• Rosemary - clarifying, balancing hair PH and scalp soother
These grocery store items are favorites of many kinky-haired women. They can be combined to make moisturizing conditioners, deep conditioning repair treatments, clarifying rinses, color-enhancing rinses and many other hair treatments to help our kinks and coils look their best. Curly hair blogger, CurlyNikki has hair recipes using many of these grocery store items for you to try.
