How can Afro hair be shiny without hair grease?

Shiny hair is a visual characteristic of healthy hair. Shiny, beautiful hair happens when the top layer of your hair reflects light. Most of us strive to have healthy hair, and sometimes this means doing things to our hair to make it appear as if it's healthy. Using hair grease to add shine is a good example. But hair does not have to be coated in grease to shine.

Using hair grease has some pretty nasty consequences. It makes everything you touch after touching your hair – greasy! Your hands, your pillow case, even your clothes. But the most dire consequence is that it can cause afro hair to break. Grease creates a moisture barrier to stop moisture from getting into your hair where it is needed most. Dry afro hair breaks if it is deprived of moisture. So, a major problem with hair grease is that it does not allow moisturize into the hair. It is a petroleum-based product that sits on top of your hair without penetrating the hair shaft. A good moisturizer contains water first to penetrate the hair shaft adding moisture as well as oils to help prevent the moisture from evaporating.

There are products on the market that will produce shine and manageability on afro hair. The best ones are products that contain silicone. When used before hair is flat ironed or curled, the non-greasy, smoothing capabilities of silicone leave hair soft and silky. Silicone is truly a product that can be used by all hair types. Although a lot of products that incorporate silicone in them will list them as conditioning and moisturing, don’t believe the hype. Silicone does not provide moisture and it does not condition. It provides a brilliant shine that will still allow a good moisturizer to penetrate the hair unlike hair grease that blocks moisture from getting into the hair at all.

Morracan oil is getting a lot of publicity as a "miracle oil" that is very hard to acquire. But if you were to review the list of ingredients for this costly hair product, you would see that two of the top three ingredients are silicone: diemethicone and cyclomethicone. A cheaper alternative for over-priced Morracon oil is hair polish. Let's review the benefits claimed by producers of Morracon oil vs those of hair polish:

• Morracon oil claims to reduce blow drying time substantially--Hair polish does the same thing.



• Morracon oil claims to de-frizz and detangle--Hair polish does the same thing.



• Morracon oil claims to add shine --Hair polish does the same thing.



• Morracon oil claims to condition and moisturize--Oils do not moisturize they lubricate.



• Morracon oil claims to balance sebum levels making oily hair easier to manage--This claim is subjective.



• Morracon oil claims thermal protector from styling irons and hair dryers--Hair polish does the same thing.



• Morracon oil claims it is a good scalp treatment--We should not put this oil or any oil on our scalp.

For years I was under the same misconception about hair grease benefits until I conducted my own research and discovered the truth - hair grease should be banned from our hair care regimens! The better alternative to hair grease is hair polish because it allows the needed moisture to penetrate afro hair while producing a beautiful shine and pleasing results!