Three Things To Know Before You Go To the Beauty Supply Store
[picappgallerysingle id="202913"]You’re in the beauty supply store looking for the perfect product. They all promise to deliver the best results. How do you know which one to choose? How do you whether it will work this time and not be a waste of money? Find out from my checklist below three things that will help you make some sense of the overwhelming choice of hair products.
Decode Product Packaging. It’s hard not to be easily confused by packaging and labels. Products labels are like commercials. They’re designed to get your attention, usually by making sometimes misleading or outright impossible claims.
If the label can grab your attention by using popular catch phrases such as “ Repairs Damaged Hair” or “ Makes Your Hair Grow” it’s very likely that you’ll pick it up and head straight to the checkout.
A product that is designed for damaged hair can at best only help the damaged hair to look and feel slightly better. Think of damaged hair as gangrene. You will have to eventually cut it off or else it continues to spread. The idea is sooner the better for the greater good.
Many products claim that they will make your hair grow. This is my all-time favorite because who wouldn’t think, “What the heck- I might as well try it.”
BEWARE of a product that makes the claim to grow your hair but also says ‘use for 4 to 6 weeks for best results’.
Regardless of what you do or use, your hair naturally grows at an average rate of half an inch per month. It’s no coincidence that it is also the same amount of time it takes for your hair to grow all on its own.
Examine List of Ingredients. [picappgallerysingle id="5103458"] Ingredients are always listed in order of importance. The first ingredient is the base of the product. For example, chocolate cake has many ingredients but the base ingredient of a typical cake is always going to be flour. Actually, the first few ingredients of a product are what you’re usually paying for.
There may be several hair dressing creams all claiming to contain shea butter, but what if the “No Frills” jar that only costs “$cheap.99” says it contains shea butter? Well, if shea butter is listed as the 10th ingredient you can forget the fact that the front label says shea butter. It only contains enough shea butter in order to claim its in there but not enough to make a difference. The product where shea butter is the first or second ingredient is likely your higher quality product.
Read the Directions. I know it sounds obvious but many people skip this all-important step before they buy or use a product. Manufacturers prefer not to make good on the old faithful “money back guarantee” if you’re not completely satisfied with their product. So based on this, detailed instructions are provided in order to achieve the desired results from the product.
For instance, many products will often say squeeze a “dime sized” amount into hands. I think some of us forget that a dime is the smallest coin size there is.
Or the directions might state “spray holding 12 inches away from hair”. You shouldn’t be surprised to notice that your hair looks wet because you sprayed at close range.
So go ahead and turn the package around and read the manufacturer’s directions.
You should still experiment a bit with different products, like I do, but at least now you are armed with some knowledge that gives you a definite advantage and saves you some money.
