7 Essential Ingredients For Gorgeous Black Hair

There's so much information out there to tell you what's good and what's not so good for Black hair. But how do you really know if this information is right for you? Remember: a product your best friend loves may not work for you at all.

All this said, there are a handful of ingredients that just about every hair care expert, and just about every hair type, can agree on:

1. Water

Water is the ultimate moisturizer. Not only does it work on the outside of your body, it works from the inside, too. If this is the first ingredient listed on products, that's a good thing.

2. Shea Butter

Look for pure, unrefined shea butter that's pale yellow and smooth. Gritty, dark yellow, white or green shea butter is either too refined or even rotten.

Again, look for a light yellow color and uniformity when buying shea butter. Plenty of products have jumped on the shea butter bandwagon, but if it's not one of the first five ingredients listed, it's probably not doing you much good.

You can either buy a shea butter-based product, or better yet, use it straight from the jar. Pure shea butter can be firm, but it melts easily and absorbs into dry hair well.

It can be used whether your scalp is dry or oily. On an oily scalp, it helps reduce excessive oil production by the skin glands. It can moisturize dry scalp and reduce flaking due to dryness. A great advantage of Shea butter is that it doesn't leave the hair greasy.

3. Olive Oil

Another multi-tasker here, olive oil is great for hot oil treatments and for mixing with rinse-out conditioners. Use sparingly as this is a heavy oil and can weigh your hair down when used in large amounts. Also, beware of fake olive oil.

4. Jojoba Oil

Jojoba oil is prized as a natural ingredient because its composition is similar to your scalp's natural oils. Use straight from the bottle, although it's not considered as effective a penetrator as coconut oil, or mix with conditioners and hair moisturizers.

Mix a few drops of Jojoba oil with olive or almond oil. Apply a few drops on the scalp and massage it in. Do this regularly, especially in the evenings. Add a few drops of jojoba oil to your DIY hair spritz, which normally contains a leave-in conditioner, water and oil.

5. Sodium Laureth Sulfate

For those of you out there who are already into reading ingredient labels, this one may throw you, especially if you avoid using sulfate-based shampoos.

The vast majority of commercial shampoos contain either sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate. The former, sodium lauryl, is drying and should be avoided. The latter, however, sodium laureth sulfate, is a suitable cleanser for Black hair that won't overly dry it.

6. Avocado Oil

If you've ever used mashed avocado as a conditioning treatment, you're familiar with the moisturizing properties of this vegetable. The oil is good for use on dry hair.