‘OG’ hair product your mum til this day swears by!

I can already smell the Pink lotion while writing this article. Pretty sure everyone remembers those days where you used to sit between your mum’s legs while she was yanking your hair trying to get those knots out so she can braid it properly. To make sure you didn’t lose all your hair, chunks of hair grease were smeared on, leaving it shiny and greased up. I can remember the pivotal change from hair grease that let’s be real, didn’t moisturise your hair at all, to paraben and sulfate-free leave-in conditioners and moisturisers. I completely changed my hair routine because I wanted my hair to be like those of all the famous YouTubers. As I’m older and wiser now, sort of, I know that everyone’s hair is different and grows differently. Either way, my natural hair journey came to a start. I tried to explain to my mum why the hair products she used all her life were not that great, well at least so I thought. Needless to say, she didn’t toss any of the ‘OG’ hair products away and frankly still uses some till this day. So, here are 5 ‘OG’ hair products, my mum, till this day swears by.

1. Hair grease

Grease products like Blue magic and Dax were my mum’s go-to! These products would grease up your hair nicely, and that would honestly be it. Nicely greased up hair meant that your hair was moisturised. Would’ve been nice if this was the case, but no. For products to moisturise your hair, the first ingredient on the list should be water. Guess what the first ingredient in grease products is? Petroleum/vaseline. I have to admit for some reason grease did make your hair grow, so it seemed. Probably why my mum wasn’t giving it up. Nonetheless, applying massive chunks of grease to dry hair and combing it did more harm than good.

Now, if you’re a person that loves products with natural ingredients, the following is not for you. Today, some people have gone back to grease products and have combined them with natural hair products. Especially, if you suffer from hair that doesn’t retain moisture easily. However, don’t use grease on its own because you’ll end up with dry hair that only looks moisturised. Using a petroleum-based product after you’ve applied your leave-in conditioner could be a nice little sealant. Don’t over grease your hair, especially if you have finner hair. A small amount goes a long way.

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2. Luster’s Pink Oil Moisturiser Hair Lotion

Pink lotion was like a follow-up to grease products for me. If you felt that your hair needed a bit of moisturising between washes, all you had to do was fully, and I mean fully, cover it with some Pink. This is the old school product I wished worked. I even tried to incorporate this product into my haircare routine quite recently because I figured if it worked for our parents, why not for me? Not for me, indeed! One word, disaster! I had high hopes as the first ingredient listed on Pink’s packaging is water. A good start, for an ‘OG’ product at least. Second ingredient mineral oil, which isn’t great but even worse, is the last ingredient listed, alcohol. Why would I want anything that dries out have applied to my hair? Needless to say, Pink’s reintroduction to my hair care routine was a flop and my hair dried out. How could I not have remembered how drying this product was. Let me not be too harsh, if this still works for you great, but it’s a no for me

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3. The Dark and Lovely cholesterol conditioner

Dark and Lovely had/has it all! Relaxers, moisturisers, conditioners, shampoos, gels, etc. The product I best remember is the yellow cholesterol conditioner. This was IT after relaxing your hair. Using this almost felt like it didn’t just go through a massive chemical explosion. Knowing a bit more about hair, the cholesterol conditioner builds up the protein you just had destroyed in your hair. Cholesterol conditioners are not all that bad, they help moisturise and strengthen your hair. If you’re protein sensitive do make sure you buy the correct cholesterol conditioner.

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4. S Curl No drip Curl activator

The holy grail of the Jheri curl. Spray some of this glistening goodness on and your curls would magically appear. S curl and any other curl activators work because of glycerin. Now my mum (yes mentioning her again), uses this product every day and her curls be poppin’. She just doesn’t use it in a way where your hair looks soaking wet, remember Ice Cube in the 90s?

Whenever it’s dry outside glycerin will pull moisture from your hair, which isn’t great. But whenever there’s a lot of water and humidity in the air, so 359 days a year in the UK, it pulls moisture from the air into your hair. Meaning your hair will stay moisturised for longer. You don’t need a curl activator to get glycerin, most leave-in conditioner these days have it as well.

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5. Everything for Motions hair care

At some point in time, we had the whole product line from Motions, which made our bathroom smell as it does at the hairdressers. Motions Lavish Conditioning shampoo was it! Washing my hair and not using a conditioner, because the shampoo already conditioned my hair. Yes, now I know that’s not how it works. When I did figure out that maybe, just maybe I wanted to throw a deep conditioner in my hair, I still used Motions. When they introduced a product line for natural hair I started using that. Honestly, I liked Motions and from what I can remember Motions wasn’t all that bad. Thinking about it, I might want to give the Motions natural hair product line another try, who knows.

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There’s a reason some of the old school products were left behind and are now just a vague memory. But some products are making a comeback because people are realising that products that worked for our parents might still work for us. Please remember that not all old school products should be reintroduced but why not give some of them another chance. Everyone’s hair is different and what may work for someone might not work for someone else. Which ‘OG’ hair product is still part of your hair care routine?