Natural Lifestyle

Natural- The lost definition ?

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One of the main reader questions i've been getting of late, have all been related to natural hair products and especially the true definition of a natural hair product. In fact as simple as it may seem to state what a natural hair product is, the answer is actually quite confusing.


On one hand we have Monsieur CommonSense who states that a natural hair product is simply natural, a.k.a does not include parabens, sulphates, petrolatum, mineral oils, fragrance....the list goes on. However folks there's much more to it!


The biggest issue with natural hair products occurs when you come across a natural hair site or product that states that it is 'natural', and then you find out it isn't 100% natural. Truth is 'natural' is defined in many ways. For some sites the term 'natural' may mean:

-the products were naturally made ( no chemical processes involved)

- most of the product ingredients are made of natural products

or

- it was hand made 

So... are you being misled by these 'natural' products? No

One example of such a site is Carols Daughter. I have come across many critiques of the site which suggest that you are being misled into believing that all products are 'natural'. However the definition of natural in this day and age, is so diffused that products can be called 'natural' even if they are not 100% natural. The term 'natural' isn't bound by anything, unlike the term certified organic which needs official approval.


So the main thing to bear in mind is that you should not feel misled... you just need to do a tad bit of research into the product, and also check out the sites faq page, it usually discusses its definition of 'natural'.


For me a product is 'natural' if it states that it is 100% natural of course. This term is way too direct to be misleading. In fact if a product states its 100% natural and it isn't... i'll be really unimpressed. I am not the wife that gets cheated on and doesn't find out about it!


Also i read into product ingredients. If i think the product is extremely natural then to me it's considered as being highly natural.


So thats my view on the topic folks!


I'm slowly but surely going to be using more 'natural', i mean 100% natural products.

Can products like shampoo be 100% natural you ask?

Well.. Aubrey organics are renown for making only 100% natural hair products. The main component used in creating the shampoo like lather ( though very weak) is coco glucoside. This is a surfactant derived from coconut oil. So i guess it can be done. For now i think i'll be sticking to homemade recipes. I don't want to get sucked into another product junkie phase, plus i'll be rocking a weave up until November so that should stop me from splurging!


What do you think? Are you good with your everyday shelf hair products or do you hold the strictly natural poster?

x edF


P.s Sheabutter Cottage is a great website to find both 100% natural and natural products.


check it out Sheabutter Cottage