Hair Oil, Hair Butter and Aloe Vera Products: How Do They Help Black Hair?

I don't know when it happened, but suddenly most cosmetic products for black women started to include olive oil, coconut oil, cocoa butter or shea butter. You'll find these cosmetics in neighborhood Chicago beauty supply stores, especially on the south side, or even dollar stores. Oftentimes I see a long line of African-American cosmetic products in a north side Family Dollar next to the Morse Red Line station where there are regular African-American shoppers. Although it's far easier to find black hair products and cosmetics in African-American beauty supply stores and dollar stores than it is in your local retail stores like Walmart and Walgreens, the ingredients are consistent.

Most of the products claim to moisturize skin and hair, help hair grow and eliminate dandruff, but how do you know the best one to use? Becoming familiar with the products and why you'll need them can help in your cosmetic search.

Cocoa Butter: This is the yellow white fat from cocoa beans, commonly used to make white chocolate and the smell usually reminds people of chocolate chip cookies. It is often used to heal burns and scars, to smooth skin after tattoo laser surgery (along with Neosporin) or when a fresh tattoo is healing, as a sunblock and pulls off dry layers of skin and cleans the skin layers underneath. The moisture in cocoa butter helps eliminate dandruff flakes in the scalp. You'll find cocoa butter commonly in black beauty products from mainstream companies, like Pantene for "Women of Color." Cocoa butter is also good for detangling and as a hair moisturizer.

Shea Butter: Shea butter comes from the western area of Africa and is located in the shea nut tree. Shea butter is also called karite. When cocoa butter is hard, it may be slightly thick but still rub on smooth. However, shea butter tends to take on a chalky texture when it's cold and is not as sweet a scent as cocoa butter. Shea butter helps to eliminate wrinkles and burns, and it's ideal for dry skin. When shea butter melts, it's an excellent choice for detangling hair and eliminating dandruff.

Olive Oil: Although olive oil is common on salads and vegetables, it can also be used on hair too. Although most oils, outside of coconut oil, just coat the hair but don't moisturize the actual scalp, olive oil is ideal for shiny hair. The ingredient is usually from the Mediterranean region in olive trees. Olive oil also helps hair growth.

Jojoba Oil: Jojoba (pronounced ha hoe buh) comes from the Simmondsia chinensis plant, which is found in the Sonoran Desert in parts of southeastern California, southwestern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. It has been used by people who live in dry countries and in the Hamathan (December season). According to Acne.org, jojoba oil is not an eye irritant and can be used to remove eye makeup. It's also used to prevent dandruff and moisturize the scalp. Some people use it as a lip balm or to shave with, and the smell is not overpowering. It has a slightly bland scent like shea butter.

Aloe Vera: If you're about to head to the store to buy an expensive product for healing skin, try aloe vera first. It's notorious, useful and usually works for sunburn, minor burns, windburn, insect bites, chafing, skin irritation and is commonly used to heal perm burns. Some people use it as a skin moisturizer, but it can be slippery and stain clothes like petroleum jelly so moisturize your skin first, wait a couple of minutes and then proceed with putting on your clothes. Your face can appear shiny if the aloe vera is not rubbed in enough. If used on permed hair, aloe vera can make the hair wavy so it might not be ideal for those who want bone straight hair. However, for natural hair, it's great for detangling, moisturizing the scalp, reducing dandruff and can be a holding gel. The best part about aloe vera is it's convenient and cheap to buy or you can get an aloe vera plant and break off a leaf to get the same hair and skin treatment.

Coconut Oil: This product, like aloe vera, is used for a lot of different types of products-including cooking, a base oil for detergent and it's used in oil lamps. For cosmetics, it can be used to clean the skin, as a shampoo or hair moisturizer, and as a massage oil. It smells a lot like Play-Doh, and helps to prevent dryness, breakage and split ends. It's also useful to control soft, new hair growth.