For Long, Healthy Natural Kinky and Curly Hair - Your Dry Hair Days Are Over!
  • About
  • Queens
    • QueenOfKinks
  • Hair Blog
    • Magazine
    • Headbands
    • Scarf
  • TV
  • FreeInfo
  • Courses
    • HotOilTreatments
    • HairButters
    • DIYshampoos
    • DIYconditioners
    • DIYmoisturizers
    • DIYdetanglers
    • Property
  • Contact
    • FAQs
    • Advertise
  • About
  • Queens
    • QueenOfKinks
  • Hair Blog
    • Magazine
    • Headbands
    • Scarf
  • TV
  • FreeInfo
  • Courses
    • HotOilTreatments
    • HairButters
    • DIYshampoos
    • DIYconditioners
    • DIYmoisturizers
    • DIYdetanglers
    • Property
  • Contact
    • FAQs
    • Advertise
Search

What Is Mango Butter? What Are Its Benefits To Natural Hair?

15/1/2014

 
Mango Butter is extracted from the fruit kernels of the Mango tree. 

Benefits of Mango Butter to Hair:

All butters that can be used for hair have more or less the same benefits. They:
  • Nourish hair and the scalp with vitamins and minerals thereby helping to keep both healthier for longer. This nourishing feature makes oils and butters great for treating dry, damaged and frizzy hair in hot oil treatments and for massaging the scalp. 
  • Have moisture sealing properties thereby keeping hair softer for longer. However, all liquid oils (except coconut oil (which is actually solid anyway) and jojoba (which is actually a wax and not an oil)) can seal hair better than butters because they have a higher proportion of polyunsaturated fats – the type that cannot penetrate the hair cuticle.
  • Penetrate the hair cuticle to fortify hair from the inside; they do this better than oils because they have a higher amount of saturated fats and monounsaturated fats.
  • Help to boost hair’s shine but not as well as liquid oils.
Picture
Picture
Different butters perform each of these functions to a different degree.

Good Substitutes For Mango Butter: 


In the cosmetics industry, seven butters are considered substitutes for each other: cocoa, illipe, kokum, sal, shea, mango and palm but they are not perfect substitutes.

Mango butter has a closer fatty acid profile to shea butter than to cocoa butter so they are better substitutes for each other. That said, mango butter is less moisturising than shea butter. Products containing both mango butter and another soft butter like shea butter will result in a better feel on hair (and skin).

Don't blend mango and avocado better - they are not the best combo - they can be a little drying.

Fat Composition Of Mango Butter:
SATURATED c.50%
  • stearic acid (42%)
  • palmitic acid (8%)
MONOUNSATURATED c.46%
  • oleic acid (46%)
POLYUNSATURATED c.4%
  • linoleic acid (3%)
Mango butter contains tannins, this gives a drier feel compared to other butters. That said, tannins give mango butter more anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties; this is why I use it in some of my "Soothe Me" DIY Hair Recipes for the scalp. 

Overall, my reading led me to conclude that mango butter is better for oilier hair types - or for skin butters; to be used in hair I would always combine it with another greasier butter or oil for added moisture.
PictureKernel inside a mango fruit.
Melting Point Of Mango Butter: 30–37°C (86–99 °F)

It is softer than shea butter. This means it will melt quite easily when you rub it in your hands to put it in your hair.

It doesn't smell like mango because it is extracted from kernel not the juicy fleshy fruit.

Picture

​Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.


You might also like:
Neno Natural's DIY Hair Recipes


References: swiftcraftmonkey: whipped mango butter, butter tutorial, butter-n-bars.com,

What Is Shea Butter? What Are Its Benefits To Natural Hair?

14/1/2014

 
Shea butter is a soft ivory-colored fat extracted from the nut of the African shea tree.

Benefits of Shea Butter to Hair:

All butters that can be used for hair have more or less the same benefits. They:
  • Nourish hair and the scalp with vitamins and minerals thereby helping to keep both healthier for longer. This nourishing feature makes oils and butters great for treating dry, damaged and frizzy hair in hot oil treatments and for massaging the scalp. 
  • Have moisture sealing properties thereby keeping hair softer for longer. However, all liquid oils (except coconut oil (which is actually solid anyway) and jojoba (which is actually a wax and not an oil)) can seal hair better than butters because they have a higher proportion of polyunsaturated fats – the type that cannot penetrate the hair cuticle.
  • Penetrate the hair cuticle to fortify hair from the inside; they do this better than oils because they have a higher amount of saturated fats and monounsaturated fats.
  • Help to boost hair’s shine but not as well as liquid oils.
Picture

Cocoa vs. Shea Butter

Picture
cocoa (left), shea (right)
Cocoa butter and shea butter are not perfect substitutes. Shea butter is soft and sticky, whereas cocoa butter is hard and brittle. Cocoa butter will tend to thicken/harden a product whereas shea butter will not.
Picture
Different butters perform each of these functions to different degree therefore it is better to compare one butter to another rather than just stating what a butter does. Shea butter offers a little protection from UV light because it contains something called cinnamic acid ester.

Good Substitutes For Shea Butter: 

In the cosmetics industry, seven butters are considered substitutes for each other: cocoa, illipe, kokum, sal, shea, mango and palm but they are not perfect substitutes.

The best substitutes to shea butter are: mowrah, cupuacu and mango butter. Mango butter is less moisturising than shea butter though because it contains more tannins. 

If you use mango butter rather than shea butter in a DIY Hair Recipe you should add greasier oils to compensate for the less greasy mango butter.

SATURATED c.47%
  • stearic acid (35-50%)
  • palmitic acid (2-9%)
  • arachidic acid (<1%)
MONOUNSATURATED c.47%
  • oleic acid (40-60%)
  • palmitoleic acid (0–2%)
POLYUNSATURATED c.6%
  • linoleic acid (3-11%),
  • Linolenic acid (<1%)
Compared to cocoa butter shea butter has a little more stearic acid, oleic acid and polyusaturated fats but about 3 times less palmitic acid. 
  • Both stearic acid and oleic acid condition and protect hair by fortifying it (shea butter better than cocoa butter)
  • Linoleic acid helps with sealing in moisture (shea butter slightly better than cocoa butter)
  • Palmitic acis helps to protect the scalp by locking in moisture so it doesn't get dry (cocoa butter better than shea butter)

I do like cocoa butter but I always use it in collabo with a much softer butter. I use 15% cocoa butter in my "Soothe Me" Whipped Butter and the texture is super, super creamy.
PictureShea Nut
Melting Point Of Shea Butter: 37 °C (99 °F), i.e. body temperature.

This means it will melt quite easily when you rub it in your hands to put it in your hair.

Picture

​Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.


You might also like:
Neno Natural's DIY Hair Recipes


References: 
wikipedia.org, swiftcraftmonkey: on various butters and on shea butter (note that swift's focus is skin not hair), lush, hyperphysics, hairloss-research.org, humblebeeandme.com

What Is Cocoa Butter? What Are Its Benefits To Natural Hair?

13/1/2014

 
Cocoa Butter is an edible pale yellow vegetable fat extracted from cocoa beans. 

Benefits of Cocoa Butter to Hair:

All butters that can be used for hair have more or less the same benefits. They:
  • Nourish hair and the scalp with vitamins and minerals thereby helping to keep both healthier for longer. This nourishing feature makes oil great for treating dry, damaged and frizzy hair in hot oil treatments and for massaging the scalp. 
  • Have moisture sealing properties thereby keeping hair softer for longer. However, all liquid oils (except coconut oil (which is actually solid anyway) and jojoba (which is actually a wax and not an oil)) can seal hair better than butters because they have a higher proportion of polyunsaturated fats – the type that cannot penetrate the hair cuticle.
  • Penetrate the hair cuticle to fortify hair from the inside; they do this better than oils because they have a higher amount of saturated fats and monounsaturated fats.
  • Help to boost hair’s shine but not as well as liquid oils.
Picture
Picture
Different butters perform each of these functions to a different degree. 

Compared to other butters cocoa butter is relatively hard. This means that any hair butter or moisturisers with cocoa butter will tend to get thicker or harder over time.

Good Substitutes For Cocoa Butter: 

In the cosmetics industry, seven butters are considered substitutes for each other: cocoa, illipe, kokum, sal, shea, mango and palm but they are not perfect substitutes.

Illipe is apparently considered to be the best substitute for cocoa butter because it has a very similar fatty acid profile. However, illipe contains 3 times more vitamin e (tocopherols). It also has higher phytosterol levels so illipe would be more beneficial to you than cocoa butter if your scalp is inflammed or itchy.

My research suggests that kokum and sal butter are the next best alternatives to cocoa butter. Sal butter also has a similar melting point to cocoa butter.

Fat Composition Of Cocoa Butter:
SATURATED c.60%
  • stearic acid (24–37%)
  • palmitic acid (24–30%)
  • myristic acid, (0–4%)
  • arachidic acid (1%)
  • lauric acid (0–1%)
MONOUNSATURATED c.37%
  • oleic acid (29–38%)
  • palmitoleic acid (0–2%)
POLYUNSATURATED c.3%
  • linoleic acid (0–4%),
  • α-Linolenic acid (0–1%)
Picture
Melting Point Of Cocoa Butter: 34–38 °C (93–100 °F)

This means it will melt quite easily when you rub it in your hands to put it in your hair.

Picture

​Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.


You might also like:
  • Neno Natural's DIY Hair Recipes
  • What Is Shea Butter? What Are Its Benefits To Natural Hair?
References: wikipedia.org, swiftcraftmonkey, 

A Comprehensive List of Proteins Found In Hair Products For The Protein-Sensitive

24/6/2013

 
Picture
If your hair has adequate protein, then adding even more protein will cause it to become "hard, inelastic and rigid". Ultimately, this protein overuse will lead to protein-induced (or moisture deficient) hair breakage.

Why is protein included in many hair products?

The protein structure of relaxed hair is compromised by the relaxing process. Extra protein is need to replace the protein that has been lost. Because many women have relaxed hair many products naturally include lots of protein.

Natural hair on the other hand tends to have adequate protein so protein overuse is a real risk.

Which products contain protein?

Most products contain some protein the difference is simply the concentration of the protein. 

What form does the protein take?

Protein-rich deep conditioner usually contain hydrolyzed proteins. Hydrolyzed proteins are proteins that have been broken down to a small size so that they can be taken up more easily into the hair fibre. These smaller proteins bind quickly and aggressively to hair fibres.

What types of products are rich in hydrolyzed protein?
  • Protein-reconstructor treatments
  • Volumizing or thickening shampoos and conditioners
  • Many leave-in conditioners
  • Setting lotions
  • Many gels

What should you look out for on an ingredients list?
If you have protein sensitivity you will want to avoid products that have one or more of the following listed in the top ingredient. Generally, products list the ingredients used in the highest concentration first so if one these is less than 5th on the list there probably isn't much in there. However, 
   a)  some marketers try to trick people with alphabetical listings! AND 
   b)  you can't tell whether being listed 4th means there is 30% of that ingredient or 3%!

  • Amino acids, e.g. silk amino acids
  • Animal protein
  • Casein
  • Cholestrol
  • Collagen
  • Keratin
  • Milk protein
  • Oat flour
  • Panthenol
  • Rice protein
  • Soy protein
  • Wheat protein

This should help you understand which products have a lot of protein and which products do not. Achieving the right protein/moisture balance will help you retain more length.

Picture

Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.

References:
The Science of Black Hair by Audrey Davis-Sivasothy (Unit 2, Chapter 6)

Forward>>
    I now blog about wealth creation - so if you have any money questions meet me there, you can do all sorts of cool things like leave me a voicemail.
    Follow @NenoNatural
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    By Heather Katsonga-Woodward

    I was a natural hair blogger and mixtress living between London & Chicago from 2012 to 2017. I always thought I was 4C but some say 4B; images below - you decide! Heather xx

    p.s. I now blog about wealth and personal finance on my personal website.

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    About
    Aloe Vera
    Bad Chemicals
    Bad Hair Practices!
    Baggying
    Big Chops
    Braids Weaves Wigs
    Brands
    Breakage/thinning
    Butters
    Carrier Oils
    Carrier Oils & Butters
    Children
    Color
    Conditioning Hair
    Co Washing
    Cultural Issues
    Damage
    Dandruff
    Detangling
    Detangling/combing
    Diet & Hair
    Dreadlocks
    Essential Oils
    Events
    Exercise
    Food For Hair
    Frizz Control
    Giveaways!
    Growth Phases
    Growth Stimulators
    Growth Tips
    Hair Type
    Hard Water Solutions
    Heat
    Homemade Hair Recipes
    Ingredients In Products
    Interviews
    Itchy Scalps
    Lice
    Magazines
    Makeup
    Matted Hair
    Max Hydration Method
    Microfiber
    Moisturising Dry Hair!
    Other Naturals
    Ph And Hair
    Porosity
    Pregnancy
    Press And Publicity
    Product Reviews
    Protective Styling
    Queen Of Kinks
    Random
    Regimen Building
    Salon Reviews
    Scalp Conditions
    Science
    Shampoos
    Shiny Hair
    Silicones
    Sleeping
    Stretching Hair
    Styles
    Swimming
    Texture Issues
    Thin Hair
    Tips & Challenges
    Tools & Products
    Transitioning
    Trimming
    Vitamins
    Washing
    Weather

    Picture
    Click for free eBook!
    Picture
    Check out the podcast!

    Archives

    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    October 2011

    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo used under Creative Commons from robertivanc
  • About
  • Queens
    • QueenOfKinks
  • Hair Blog
    • Magazine
    • Headbands
    • Scarf
  • TV
  • FreeInfo
  • Courses
    • HotOilTreatments
    • HairButters
    • DIYshampoos
    • DIYconditioners
    • DIYmoisturizers
    • DIYdetanglers
    • Property
  • Contact
    • FAQs
    • Advertise