Maintaining My Type 4 Hair in Japan

In this article I'll give an update to my hair care routine.

Buying Hair Products in Japan

Starting in around August of last year I wanted to buy a new shampoo and conditioner. The reason I wanted to change my shampoo and conditioner was because I had Carol's Daughter. If you don't know, Carol's Daughter was a Black owned company. They had all-natural ingredients and it did wonders for my sister's hair.
Fast forward to now, the owner of the company sold it to Loreal. It was great for me because they lowered the price and I could buy it at Target. However, that lowered price tag, and Loreal affiliation came with a price. The ingredients were no longer beneficial for your hair.
Truthfully, I can't speak on every single product, but some products now contain cancer causing agents. My conditioner and hair masks were some of the products that did. I don't think they did anything particularly wrong to my hair, but I couldn't keep using something that causes cancer.
Therefore, I was doing research into what shampoo and conditioner I could buy for my hair. I wanted to buy an organic, non-paraben, non-silicone, non-cancer-causing hair product. LOL, I know that's a lot. It's exactly why I never found such a product. I ended up giving in and buying an "organic" shampoo and conditioner here in Japan. It was supposed to be derived from Manukau honey.

Using the Japanese Shampoo and Conditioner

When I first started using the new line, I bought the conditioner. I really liked the conditioner and I used it for a few months before buying the shampoo. To be honest, when I first started using the products, I was really happy. I thought the conditioner had great slip and I didn't mind the shampoo either.
Let's fast forward to April of this year. I started to use Shea butter that I got from IHerb. It was chunky and a bit cheap. I couldn't find anything else that was better, that's why I bought that one. It didn't really melt in my hair like I would have wanted. On my next wash day, I noticed my hair had what I can only describe as gunk in it.
This had never EVER happened to me before; I wasn't sure what the issue was. I discovered it after I washed my hair and while I was styling it. It made my hair clump together and it took me another 30-40 minutes to detangle my hair. I thought it was just a fluke, but it happened again, then again, then one more time.
On the second to last time, I thought that maybe I just wasn't shampooing my hair correctly. So, I took a little bit longer to be more thorough. After washing it, my hair STILL had the gunk and it still took me a long time to detangle. On that last time, I was just FED UP. After that, I was determined to find a new hair washing system.

Buying New Hair Products

When I was back in the United States, my sister was using Camille Rose and told me about the brand. She said that is Black owned, and that the ingredients are all natural. That's where I started. I looked on the website, but the shipping was like 40 dollars, so I'm sorry to say, but I went on down to Amazon.
From Amazon, I bought a leave-in conditioner, shampoo, and a conditioner. I bought the leave- in before buying the shampoo and conditioner. It kept my hair so moisturized. My hair was so EXTREMELY dry and itchy. My hair was flaking, but this stuff is doing wonders for my hair, plus the smell is AMAZING.
Next, I bought the shampoo and conditioner. Let me tell you that it was a freakin’ breeze to wash AND detangle my hair. I couldn't believe it was so easy! The products glide in my hair. I had to put little to no effort. And the gunk in my hair is GONE.
I will say that Camille Rose is a little on the pricey side. I think I paid twenty dollars for the leave-in, that included shipping. The shampoo and conditioner were about 45 dollars, and the size is quite small. But I felt like I really don't have much of a choice. I need products that are good for Black hair, and I also need a product that won't kill me. So, I would definitely recommend Camille Rose.
I hope this article helps you to also maintain your type 4 hair in Japan. Good luck. Until next time.