Reader Question: Weak Hair And Mineral Oil

Reader question:

“I am seriously confused, i feel like my hair is very weak and I just found out that mineral oil* is not good for the hair and almost everything i use on my hair contains mineral oil.I also just found out that my hair is not supposed to be combed or brushed when there is still relaxer on my head. i do not want to cut my hair but i think i might have to.

I am also very confused as to what exact products I should use for my hair. please could you make a list. Thank you so much for this website. Please reply. I live in Nigeria and it is very hard for me to get information.”

Our answer:

Hello, I’m sorry to hear about the problems you are having with your hair. It may be difficult to get the same hair products we use here so it probably won’t do you any good for me to write you a list. Don’t be too hasty with chopping your hair off however, as long as you understand that from now, you must treat your hair gently like a silk scarf* in order to allow it to grow, To tell you the truth, you do not need any fancy products to grow your hair long, all you need is a good protein conditioner and a good moisturizing conditioner* and a natural oil to seal in moisture. Most supermarkets have a good range of conditioners and as long as one of the ingredients is not mineral oil then its fine (I usually buy 4 bottles at a time!). I would avoid black hair beauty stores as many of the products will have mineral oil*. Go for good quality brand names which are made for ‘dry hair’, many women make the mistake of assuming that these products are made for white people which is not the case. Black is dry hair so a conditioner made for this purpose…