0 Why I've Started My Business

A few months ago I wrote a post(s) complaining about the lack of integrity in a lot of small businesses these days. You can read them here "How to find cheap haircare products" & "Small Business Rant". I strongly believe that getting great quality cosmetics should not cost a lot. Well, all I could do was rant about it and try to sway people to buy from better companies....or so I thought.

I was ranting to my husband about the whole base issue and customer service and he, probably tired of  my rants, asked why don't I sell the bases and products. Well, why not? Right? Well, there are of a lot of reasons why not!! Hell, I didn't want to deal with irate customers, shipping, packaging, and all the other things that come along with selling actual products. (I'm just keeping this thing 100% honest). Running a actual product based business is hard work.

So, I sat on the idea for a few weeks....

Well, I finally bit the bullet and decided to go ahead and at least look into selling products. Let me tell you, it is not easy to crunch numbers and keep a budget. Shipping is high, raw materials are even higher and quality is not something all wholesalers have on their mind.

But, I have honestly enjoyed the process. I have enjoyed finding quality ingredients, making my own products and designing my own Etsy store: DIY Haircare Products.

But the best part? Knowing that I am helping women find quality haircare and skincare products for a great price and giving them a company they can trust, who believes in fair pricing and honest customer service.

I truly, love my business. I love what I sell and I love learning. I hope to expand my business into a full "One Stop Shop" with more herbs, bases, butters and packaging. I know that if I work hard and effective, I will be able to solve many of the problems many customers face when it comes to small businesses.

So, I just wanted to let everyone know why I started my business and  the thought process behind it.

If you have a business you want to start, make sure you research it and really learn about marketing. Marketing and how to advertise are the 2 biggest things you NEED to learn.

Okay...I think have rambled long enough. I'm going to stop now.

Remember: It is never my intention to push products on anyone, so don't worry about my blog turning into an infomercial.

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0 Haircare: Trimming ends

How to trim, how often to trim, what to trim and how much to trim; are big topics in the haircare community. I'm going to go over what I know about trimming and let you know what worked for me and what didn't.

How to trim: According to most experts, hair needs to be trimmed while straight or pulled taunt. Take a small thin section of hair and trim right above any splits or thinning hair. Do not trim your hair in chunks! You will end up with uneven choppy hair.

How often to trim: This depends on your hair and how well you maintain your ends. If you're not seeing splits or experiencing breakage (from thin ends), don't trim. Trimming doesn't make your hair grow, it simply gets rid of split, breaking ends. For most people trimming every 6 months is enough. I trim whenever I feel my ends getting more tangled than usual.

What to use: Hair cutting shears. You can get these from your local beauty supply store. Do not use regular craft scissors.

How much to trim: 1/4 of an inch is usually enough. It really helps to know what a split end looks like so you know what to cut.

Check this post from Natural Hair Haven to see what splits look like.

I trim my hair on average about 4-6 months. I retain about 3 inches every 6 months, so I average 1/2 inch a month, even with trimming. If I don't trim often, I find that my hair breaks off easily and my ends look horrible.

Some people claim to not need trims, but I find these people few and far between. Unless you're keeping your hair protected constantly and taking extremely great care of your ends, you'll need to trim.

Now for single strand knots, trimming is not the answer. I'll do a post on this later.


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0 Ayurvedic Haircare

Ayurvedic haircare is basically the use of different herbs, to help maintain the health of your hair. It is thought to have originated in India. Just from reading about different cultures, I think every country has their go to herbs for hair and skincare.

It would make sense that other countries would use teas, herbs and different oils to help grow their hair. I couldn't imagine them going to the store and stocking up on lotions and potions every week.

I was reading MopTopMavens blog and found some posts she made about Ayurvedic haircare, you can read them here.

You can make shampoos, rinse out conditioners, leave in conditioners, deep conditioners and protein treatments with these different herbs.

For cleansing and shampoo:

Neem: It is used to fight infection, both bacterial and viral, and to treat diarrhea, fever, burns, urinary disorders, skin diseases and inflammatory conditions. (source)

Brahmi:Brahmi can be a treatment for hair loss. Because of the herb's antioxidant properties, Brahmi allows proper nourishment to reach hair roots and promote growth. Its oil also can help with dandruff. Brahmi's oil additionally can prevent hair splitting at the ends and hair discoloration. (source)

Aritha (Reetha): The nutshell of the reetha contains saponin, which acts like soap and gives a foamy lather when it comes into contact with water, and gives a foamy lather, thus making it a chemical-free cleanser for the hair. Reetha is also known to fight dandruff, prevents occurrence of lice and keeps hair tangle-free. Reetha, particularly, is a boon for people with sensitive skin, who are allergic towards chemicals in the shampoo. (source)

Shikakai: ‘Shikakai’, popularly known as ‘fruit for hair’, is a powerful herb for hair, native to southern India. The pods of the plant are rich in saponin, the foam-forming substance. It is mixed with reetha, and other herbs and used as a hair pack. Shikakai is a natural conditioner, which removes oil and dirt, and keeps hair free of fungal infections, by detoxifying the blood in the scalp and preventing premature graying of hair. Shikakai contains100 times more vitamin C than grapefruit, apart from abundant antioxidants such as vitamins A, D, E and K that promote healthy hair growth. (source)

And here are a few for conditioning:

Bhringaraj: A massage with Bhringaraj oil helps in the treatment of hair problems and problems related to the scalp. It strengthens the roots of the hair and improves the general hair condition. (source)
 

Amla: Applied topically, amla is an excellent hair rejuvenator. A very nourishing herb it prevents scalp infections, hair loss, and premature greying. It also adds lustre and shine to hair due to its astringent nature.(source)

Hibiscus: Conditions hair, promotes healthy hair growth, prevents hair loss, thickens hair. (source)

There are LOTs more herbs and powders that you can use and look into. There are many ways to mix and match the herbs to get better results, depending on what end result you want.

These herbs coupled with shea butter, tea extracts, oils and water, seem like a win win to me! I just need to make sure I preserve my mixes well, because I know I'm too lazy to mix up something each time I want to wash my hair. Did I mention how inexpensive these herbs are? I found of them HERE.

If you have tried any of these herbs, please let me know how they worked for you!

Thanks for reading!

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0 Small business rant

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I'm learning that it is better to take years and truly learn your craft then to dive in a only half know what you're doing.

I was reading a thread over on a haircare forum and the posters were really outing a lot of small business, WAHM companies for not being knowledgeable about their craft. I was embarrassed for the companies!

Since I have been researching a lot myself and looking up ingredients and beneficial oils and whatnot, I have learned a lot. I too have noticed how a lot of small businesses may not truly be educated about what they sell.

• Soap making- I keep reading some companies say you need to preserve bar soap! This is soap making 101, you don't need to preserve bar soap, liquid soap maybe but not bar soap! How can I have confidence buying from you if you don't even know the basics?

• Natural Hair- I instantly get turned off by people marketing shea butter, jojoba oil, and the like as moisturizers. This again is haircare 101 knowledge. Very few oils penetrate the hair shaft and, most other oils are sealants. A quick google search will lead you to this knowledge.

I hope small businesses step their game up and start putting their best foot forward because as customers get informed, we are going to start reading the fine print. When you are selling products and marketing them as "high end" you need to have "high end" knowledge to back that up.

We all like making money but, we have to be fair, honest and trustworthy. Know your stuff so you won't be embarrassed later on...

0 Takin care of your hair doesn't have to take all day...

I will admit I do get annoyed when someone says "I don't have time to go natural!" or "I don't have time to take care of my hair like you!". I'm always like "huh?".

You have to MAKE time to take care of yourself, yes your hair is a part of yourself. The same way you make time (or should make time) to shower and brush your teeth, you need to take care of your hair too.

As with all things in life, you have to find a routine that works for you. Okay so if deep conditioning 3 times a week is not possible for you, well then try deep conditioning once a week, just to give you an example. Also, I have read that 15-20 minutes is long enough to deep condition with or without heat.

Here is what I do. Every Friday I wash and condition my hair, I will deep condition if I feel I need too. Lately, I haven't really needed to deep condition. Detangling for me is a breeze because I wear my hair in twists throughout the week so my hair is stretched and easier to detangle.All in all it takes me about 90 minutes to do my hair from wash to style, once a week.

Throughout the week I conditioner wash in twists or braids and let them air dry. This takes me about 2 mins. in the shower to do and if I do it at night I just let it dry overnight and unravel in the morning or before I leave the house if I want to wear a twist or braid-out.

I cringe when some people tell me they can't remember the last time they washed their hair! Would you not wash if your body was stinky and sweaty? So why let your scalp get smelly and stinky?

Just remember there is always a way to Keep.It.Simple. Find a way that works for you and stick with it, your hair will thank you!!

0 It's too expensive!!

I can't count how many times I have heard this in regards to natural haircare (natural products, not "natural" hair), health, food, etc. People always have an excuse why they can't do something that they know they need to do. Always. (including me)

You know what I have learned? There is always a way. Always!

I'll take it section by section.

Natural Haircare:

If you buy from WAHMs the prices for conditioners, leave-ins and styling cremes can range from $8-20. For me, I make a budget and stay in it, I don't look at things outside of my budget. For example, I have set in my mind that I am not going to pay more than $8 for a conditioner. I don't care how great it is or what plant's super powers are in it, I am not buying it. All of the products I use on my hair are natural and none are expensive.

Making things yourself also saves you lots of money. Check your health food stores out and see what they have, also check vitamin stores for oils, teas and extracts.

Remember you don't NEED everything, keep it simple. You need to clean, moisturize and seal your hair, that's it. Shampoo, conditioner, leave in conditioner, and sealant.

Skincare:
This has a lot to do with what you put INTO your body. Want better looking skin? Drink more water. A lot of skin problems come from a backed up colon and not properly flushing out toxins. You can't eat junk all day and expect to have glowing skin. Nothing wrong with make-up but, some sunlight and water can help get rid of dark spots and prevent wrinkles.

I am not a fan of a lot of make-up. I like eyeshadow and lip gloss but, I don't like foundation, blush, concealer and all that. To me, make-up is suppose to accentuate not make your features...but that's me.

I am on the outside looking though because I have never had skin problems and when my skin does look "blah" it's because I need to drink more water and get more rest.

Skincare is the same as haircare; clean it, moisturize it and seal in the moisture. If you're taking care of your skin, you won't need 50-11 different lotions and pomades...you could wash your face and go.

Healthy eating:

I don't go overboard with this, at all. Some people make eating a burden and I believe food is meant to be enjoyed. I don't count calories and eat only nuts. Nope, I enjoy cake, cookies, chips, sugar, flour, rice, pasta, ALL THAT delicious stuff. What I don't eat is; pork, seafood outside of fish (fins and scales, anyone?), grocery store milk (hormones and mad cow disease anyone?) and a few other things.

A lot of things are great in moderation and cooking food from scratch is one the key factors to staying healthy.

You also have to stay active, get out and exercise, drink water and get sunlight!

Just balance it out, you have to eat fruits, vegetables, and fiber (things that make you poop). Get what's withn your budget, if you can't get veggies from Whole Foods, try the fresh market or Wal-Mart, something is better than nothing.

So don't stress yourself out trying to buy ALL organic and "healthy", do what you can and make sure you're eating a balanced diet.

Also, Fast Food is the devils spawn...seriously. That stuff will have you fat as a cow and the withdrawals from it are like crack.

Well that's all for now. I plan to do a post about birth soon and wrap up some reviews...

0 Be an informed shopper.... I am learning!!

Lately, A LOT of natural haircare "gurus" (I use that term extremely lightly) have taken to advertising products that they claim are "made by hand". I was scrolling a particular forum and and found some information that really makes me want to be a more aware shopper.

Natural haircare and body products seem to be taking over, they are popping up everywhere and everyone has a "product line". I don't like to spend more money then I have to. Check these sites out and make sure you're not paying more than you have to either.

Examples:


Avocado Creme Balanced Conditioner Ingredients: Aloe barbadensis (Organic Aloe) Juice, Lavendula angustifolia (Organic Lavender) Distillate, Anthemis nobilis (Organic Roman Chamomile) Distillate, Cetearyl Alcohol(vegetable-based emulsifier), Ricinus communis (Castor Seed) Oil, Avocado Butter, Avocado Oil, Stearalkonium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, d-Calcium Pantothenate (Panthenol Vitamin B5), Panthenol (Vitamin B Complex), Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Kosher Vegetable Glycerin, Rosa mosqueta (Rosehip) Seed Oil, Salix nigra (Organic Black Willow Bark) Extract, Fragrance.

Price: 8 oz. $12.97


Wholesale Base: Aloe barbadensis (Organic Aloe) Juice, Lavendula angustifolia (Organic Lavender) Distillate, Anthemis nobilis (Organic Roman Chamomile) Distillate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ricinus communis (Castor Seed) Oil, Stearalkonium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Hydrolized Wheat, d-Calcium Pantothenate (Panthenol Vitamin B5), Kosher Vegetable Glycerin, Rosa mosqueta (Rosehip) Seed Oil, Salix nigra (Organic Black Willow Bark) Extract

Price: 16 oz. $8.25


Another Company Aloe Vera Styling Gel: Organic Aloe Juice, Organic Witch Hazel, Phenoxyethanol, Pro Vitamin B, Kosher Vegetable Glycerin, Alcohol Denatured, Carbomer, Citric Acid

Price: 4 oz. $8


Wholesale Base: Aloe barbadensis (Organic Aloe) Juice, Hamamelis virginiana (Witch Hazel), Phenoxyethanol, d-Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Kosher Vegetable Glycerin, Alcohol denatured, Carbomer, TEA, Tetrasodium EDTA, Citric Acid

Price: 16 oz. $8.70

So take your beloved haircare product or skincare product and plug the ingredients into Google and see what you come up with. You be able to get it for half the price!!!