Shopping for hair products in Nigeria (1)

When you decide to take better care of your hair and begin to read several blogs, you may realise the need to purchase new products. If you are in Nigeria, the immediate challenge may be where to get these products from. In this post, I will start up with products you can come across in supermarkets and stores around. It is important when selecting hair care products is to carefully examine the ingredients list.

The products you purchase may be dependent on your hair care needs or preference, for example you may want silicone-free products or may not mind mineral oil in your products. It all depends on you. Below is a list of products I have come across in several stores; a lot of them can be found in Shoprite and various supermarkets around town. I have included prices for the ones I have seen recently and can remember.

Cleansers/Shampoo
A sulphate-free shampoo is recommended as it is less harsh and does not strip the hair of natural oils. So far, I have not come across a sulphate-free shampoo in the stores here. My current shampoo has sulphates but I do not use it weekly and often dilute it before using. I often use (Dudu Osun) black soap (N110) as an alternative cleanser.

Conditioners
In your product arsenal you would need a moisturising deep condition, a protein deep conditioner and a leave-in conditioner. An instant conditioner is useful also for co-washing (washing with a conditioner instead of shampoo).
Some easy to find conditioners;
Protein: ORS Hair Mayonnaise N960 (size:494g)
Moisturising: dark and lovely ultra cholesterol conditioning mask (contains Mineral Oil)
Protein/Moisture balance: ORS olive oil replenishing conditioner N910 (12.5 oz)
Instant conditioner: V05 conditioners - N980 (several variants e.g moisturising, protein/anti-breakage, clarifying etc)
Leave in: Vitale anti-breakage conditioner
Gentle touch leave in conditioner N710 (contains a silicone amongst the ingredients)

Moisturiser
Our hair thrive on moisture, this is absolutely important. The best source of moisture is water, so you should look out for lotions with water as the first  ingredient.
Some easy to find water-based moisturisers;

Organics Extra Strength Olive Oil Growth Lotion N810
Organics Carrot Oil moisturiser
ORS Carrot Oil Moisturiser

Tip: Since water is the best moisturiser, it is possible to spritz your hair with plain ole' water and seal with a heavy butter/oil mixture (e.g shea butter mixture).

Oils
Goya Extra Virgin Olive Oil N350
Coconut Oil (prices vary from vendor to vendor)
Shea Butter (prices vary)

Hope this information helps on your hair journey.

Happy Growing!