I Think I May Have a Problem

Let me preface this post with this statement: I am not a product junkie.
When I went natural this time around my funds were limited enough to put a strangle hold on any product junkie hopes I might have had. Believe me, watching countless YouTube videos and reading different sites about the magic to be found in various creams, curl puddings and other such potions gave me a great tingle. Costly experimentation was not to be, though, because the month before I did my Big Chop I'd packed up myself, my son and our stuff and moved us into our own place to start our new life. *cue music*

So, fast forward to today when I found myself sorting through and organizing my sizeable product stash, and the photos I'm about to show you may appear to make me out a liar. Please. Allow me to explain.

Exhibit A. Now, I know this looks like an awful lot of conditioner -- even if you don't include the Tresemme, Herbal Essences and Suave conditioners not pictured above -- but there is a reason for that. You see, I lived in Atlanta the first time I went natural, and this Daily Defense conditioner was the best thing to ever happen to my hair. I lived and died by it! I could only find it at the 24-hour Walmart, and they had it in the most fragrant White Lily scent. When I found this at my local -- wait for it -- Dollar Tree, I snapped up as many as my little basket could hold. Ok. That's not true. I grabbed about 6, but they were only $1, and my hair drinks up about a bottle a week, so I think I did the right thing.

The photo you're going to see next may shock you, so let me take a little bit of the sting out now by saying "they're not all the same thing."  Ready? You've been warned.

Don't panic! Hear me out!!! I know there are seven spray bottles in this photo, but allow me to break them down. There are three detangling sprays (a STAPLE product for any natural who wants to save her sanity along with her strands), three hair sheens (which I am using as my spritz because it's chock full of yummy oils and herbs my hair loves) and a holding spray that I haven't used yet, but my hair is braided up right now and I intend to use it on my twisted updo protective styles. Now, if you look closely, you'll notice there are two bottles pictured without caps on them. That is because I have already been using them to death. As a matter of fact, they've each got about 5 spritzes (or sprays or pumps or whatever verb you use) left in them before it's off to the recycle/reuse phase. I should probably stop here and explain a bit further.

Right now I have seen the great capacity my hair has to grow, and my main focus has really been just keeping it healthy. With that in mind, I noticed a "trend" in the natural hair community toward using hair grease and *gasp* products containing mineral oil to seal moisture in their hair, especially at those ends. Well, I have a confession to make. It is important to note that I have never really been a bandwagon kind of natural. My conditioners contain 'cones because I like/prefer/need the results those products produce. As such, my shampoos contain sulfates. Gotta get the gunk off somehow, right? It wasn't an incredibly huge leap, then, to reach back to the Blue Magic and Softee greases my momma used on my hair when I was a kid (whose hair was often in cornrowed updo protective styles for weeks at a time).

I headed back to the Dollar Tree, likely to pick up more of those spritzes and probably another bottle or two of conditioner, and in the same small section I found a variety of Softee hair greases that I simply had to try. They too only cost $1, so needless to say I scooped up a few different kinds. Once my braids come out (more on that plan a little later) I'll do a few "results" posts using each product. I can tell you off the top of my head, though, that I use and abuse the castor oil and coconut oil greases the most. The mango butter grease is my go-to for twist outs though. Ok. Enough on that. Back to my alleged problem.

Another staple in the natural girl's styling arsenal is the stretchy headband. I am a wash-and-go puff wearing fiend during the semester, so I have to keep these lovelies on board. As much as I'd like to blame the Dollar Tree for the photo you are about to see, I must admit those good folks are not at fault. The blame lies squarely upon the shoulders of whoever thought up the concept of a dollar section at Target, because that's where most of this stuff came from!

Don't judge me. Instead, let me walk you through my possibly warped logic. In my mind, and I know -- hope -- I'm not alone here, my wildly untameable kinks, coils and curls will always need and appreciate a headband that is stretched out enough to be comfortable but still has enough elasticity to provide the hold necessary to keep the style in place. In that way, then, one can never have enough stretchy headbands, so when one spots them for sale at 3 for $1, one should clearly snatch them right up. That, folks, is how I have accumulated the collection you see there. Every time I saw them I bought at least one -- but usually not just one -- set. Believe it or not, this was the only thing that when I came to it I said "I need to not buy any more of these ever again in life." I'm probably going to try to stick to that, but I'm not making any promises. I'm a girl who doesn't like to run out of things she needs!!! And for goodness sakes they only cost a dollar!!!

In the end, I did manage to get everything situated. We'll see how long I'm able to keep my product stash organized like that, because I do like having everything in one place where I can, in theory, reach it. This little activity made me miss handling my curls. If you know me, you know I put braids in my hair and it seems like I take them right back out in a flash. Part of that is because I do them myself, so I don't have the "Girl, you paid so much money for them braids though!" thing to deal with. The other part is because I either see other naturals or I look back at my own photos (or apparently I organize and handle my own products and tools) and get to missing my own hair. With that said, I am actually challenging myself to keep these braids in at least until August. The plan was to keep these in until the beginning of August, then put another (shorter) set in for at least part of the first semester of school. At this point I can barely hold myself to keeping these in until August, so we'll see how everything goes. In the mean time, at least I know where my detangling spray and hair sheen can be found. Being unable to put my hands on those would really be a problem.