I am not a penny pincher, but I wish I was. Many of us curly girls are Product Junkies, while others are pros at finding the biggest product bang for their buck. One thing we can all agree on, is that no one wants a hair product wasteland under their bathroom sink. Here are 5 reasons we waste money on hair products – and how to stop.
1. Applying products the wrong way
How you apply products matters. Everyone may be raving about a particular styler and how it gives them perfect hair, but if that same product is not working for you, it may be your delivery. If you use too much, too little, or do not apply correctly, you can alter the outcome of your style and hair. The amount and technique are essential.
What also matters is the order that you apply your products. For example, we know that if you use shampoo after you deep condition, you completely destroyed what the deep conditioner was meant to do. There is a science to the application process, and it is important that you master this. One popular way to do this is by following the LOC method, while others prefer the LCO method.
Before you toss your product and buy something new, try tweaking how you apply them. Apply less, more, or switch up the order in which you apply it.
2. Trying several new products at once
It takes time to see if a product will actually work on your hair or if it will give you the style you are trying to achieve. Weather conditions, the cleanliness of your hair, or even the mixing of product brands can alter the outcome of your hairstyle. Testing multiple products at one time will make it difficult to learn which you do and do not like. If you did not get the desired look or if your hair turned into a flaky mess, how will you know which product was the culprit?
Try one new product at a time to see what it can do for your hair and give it enough go-arounds before you decide if you like it. Keeping the rest of your routine consistent gives you the controlled variable you need for a successful test.
3. Blaming the whole product, when it’s just one ingredient
Some ingredients may not fare well with your particular curls. So while you may ditch the whole product, it may come down to one specific ingredient that your hair does not agree with. It would be a waste of money to continue buying products that contain this ingredient, and continually being disappointed by the results.
Pay closer attention to what does and does not work for you by looking at the ingredients list. For example, my hair loves non-soluble silicones at first, but over the course of several days I have noticed that silicones give me buildup and my hair ends up feeling sticky and weighed down.
Trial and error is the only way to discover what your hair or scalp does not like. Keep a keen eye on products with similar ingredients that do and do not work well for your hair. Finding the common denominator will help save you time, money, and frustration.
4. Buying the newest, cheapest product
There is nothing wrong with saving money but make sure you are not hurting your hair in the process. Buying cheap products may actually end up costing you more if you do not do your homework. If I buy a cheap conditioner, more often than not it has ingredients in it that do not agree with my hair, so I prefer botanical products. Many of the cheaper brands will use cheaper ingredients such as mineral oil that may not benefit your hair in the long term.
Cheap is not always better, so do your research to see if some of those cheaper ingredients will work with your hair and if they do not, then pass them up and shop around.
5. Following the crowd
There is nothing wrong with trying a brand because your favorite blogger, vlogger, sister, cousin, or boyfriend’s first cousin on his mom’s side says it works great. Nothing wrong with that at all, but again, always do your research by looking at the ingredients list before you buy. No one has the same hair, not even family members, so do not expect what works for someone else to work for you. Pay attention to your hair and see what it likes and what it hates. Make sure the recommended product does not have those ingredients your hair hates, and if it does then do not waste your hard-earned money on it.
