Revolutionizing Hair Care
The natural hair care movement is in full swing and its part and parcel of our modern-day living. African hair care has evolved from chemically laced products, meant to alter our hair type, all the way to taking our power back and expressing our hair through the biggest curls to the most expressive protective styles. Pre the natural hair movement, relaxers and chemicals had thinned and broken African hair. Consumers were sick and tired of unhealthy hair that would not grow, and relied on the very products that were harming their hair. It was not until the African consumer demanded better quality products, the consumer started concocting their own hair solutions, and more and more African women started formulating their own natural hair care.
Finally, products formulated for natural, kinky, coily hair emerged victorious and the consumer was serviced. It was all about the ingredients, the formula!
Like most African women, our natural hair is characterized by kinky curls grows closer to the scalp which makes it a challenge for our hair’s natural oils to t travel down the hair strands to its tips. Now more than ever, African women are getting more educated about how to grow out and maintain their healthy hair by incorporating natural hair products that aid in adding and locking in moisture into the hair. They are also turning to protective styles that not only encourage growth and locking of hair moisture, but also the maintenance of hair health!
This education has spread far and wide and demand for products that are effective is in high demand. It is therefore important for brands to formulate and manufacture products that have scientifically studied ingredients and nutrients that encourage moisture retention and encourage natural hair growth. One such ingredient that has revolutionized hair care products formulated for natural hair is Panthenol, also known as Pro-Vitamin B5, used in the Nilotiqa Detangling Cream.
Panthenol is known for its nourishing, healing, regenerating and especially moisturizing properties. It is a type of humectant, used to maintain moisture that can be easily lost in natural hair. Panthenol is easily absorbed when used on the scalp skin as a hygroscopic, meaning it readily binds with water molecules and therefore retains moisture, onto and into the scalp and hair. Natural hair loves moisture for its ultimate health, and panthenol prevents water loss. It is also known as the most effective hydrating vitamin for dry and damaged scalp and hair. Its benefits are felt almost immediately in hair care.
Panthenol is an emollient, which, when applied to the scalp and hair, penetrates into the deeper layers of the hair strands and shaft to strengthen hair and prevent breakage, which natural hair is prone to. It is a chemical substance that occurs organically from plant and animal sources. This vitamin, Pro-vitamin B5, not only maintains moisture, but also protects the outer layer of the strands from environmental damage (e.g. chlorine, sunlight, hair toll heat), while deeply hydrating each strand of hair. It is said to hydrate and nourish the hair inside out. Therefore, hair is left with improved elasticity and resistance, with a beautiful shine.
Incorporating pro-vitamin B5 into your hair regiment has nourishing and growth stimulating benefits for the hair. Healthy hair growth begins with a healthy scalp. When natural sebum/oils from the scalp decreases due to hair washes and styling, or due to the natural hair’s pattern, panthenol can be massaged onto the scalp as a nourishing agent to stimulate blood circulation and to encourage healthy hair growth. The increase in hydration of the scalp ensures that the follicles grow from the healthiest environment, thus growing thicker stronger hair. The increase in hydration and reduction in tangles ensures that hair also retains its length, which is a constant struggle with natural hair. African natural hair can now grow into its healthiest, longest state with panthenol.
Due to protective styles (plaits, braids and weaves) another prominent struggle for the natural hair care consumer, caused by inflammation and dryness of the scalp, is an itchy scalp that produces dandruff. The African consumer uses salon services to install protective styles, with little to no control of how their hair is handled. The general consensus is that day one hair from the salon is always uncomfortably tight, irritating to the scalp and may cause scalp issues such as an itchy scalp, weakened follicles and therefore possible hair loss. The unpleasant feeling of scalp irritation can also be caused by synthetic hair extensions product buildup. Pro-Vitamin B5 contains anti-itch properties that soothe and treat the scalp; and eliminate dandruff. Scalp health is improved by keeping it moisturized, thereby preventing further dandruff and other scalp issues.
Nilotiqa incorporates this powerful ingredient in the multipurpose Detangling Cream. Initially formulated to melt away knots from natural hair before washing it, the cream is also brilliant as a heat protector. Natural hair is extremely versatile and accepts different hair styles – from braids, to weaves, to keratin treatments. The main issue for kinky coily hair that easily curls onto and into itself is that it causes a lot of knots.
Hair shedding, which is natural for all hair types, also causes knots as the kinky hair does not easily fall off the strands. The detangling cream is formulated to remove the shed hair and knots from strands easily, by using its moisture penetrating and softening properties. The cream is the prefect tool to reduce/eliminate knots once the shampoo to wash the hair goes on.
Furthermore, the coating properties of pro-vitamin B5 protect the hair when using heating tools. As more African women experiment with their hair, heat damage remains a persistent issue. With excessive heat damage, hair tends to lose its curls, looks stringy and thin; hair ends up being dry and brittle from the damage. With pro-vitamin B5, each strand is coated to create a protective barrier that prevents moisture loss. This means, the Nilotiqa detangling cream can also be used after the shampoo and conditioning process to coat hair and maintain the moisture in hair, improving the quality of hair and boosting its volume.
Trend setter
Pro Vitamin B5 first emerged in our formulations in 2014/2015, and now is being incorporated in skin care solutions and a deeply moisturizing component for body and bath care and skin care. This upward trend is caused by the demand for the ingredient for products that are highly functional. Consumers knowledge has evolved, and customers demand products that are natural and are effective. We have seen the vitamin being touted for its hydration properties in hair care and now pushed even more for its antiaging and healing properties in skin care.
About the Author
Thokozile Mangwiro, founder of Nilotiqa Haircare for black women discovered her own formulation of organic hair treatment that speaks to every black woman who has stood in the face of adversarial marketing that wants to straighten, smooth, dye and reshape a black women’s hair, as if her natural crowning beauty is something to be avoided and changed.
The Nilotiqa Hair Care Range is 100% home-grown, organically sourced and locally formulated to deliver a plant-based moisturizing hair care range perfectly suited to natural African haircare. Inspired and birthed from exquisite shea butter, made from nuts of the vitellaria nilotica tree, a beautiful tree indigenous to the upper Nile region of Central Africa.
