For any tender-headed girl, getting your hair braided by your mom meant going from picking what hairstyle you wanted to picking a fight with her from between her legs. Head-locked between my mom’s thighs with my hair caught in her fists, I remember always wincing and wriggling trying to free myself from the pain that supposedly came with beauty.
Even after I’d graduated from my mom’s lap to a salon seat, the soreness I got from braiding never left. It wasn’t until I took a random Target trip that I could treat my tender-headedness.
Going into Target is like going down a rabbit hole: you come in for one thing and leave with half the store. While I had no business being there–I was supposed to be buying strawberries– I immediately made a b-line to the beauty section.
There I saw that Shea Moisture had released a whole line of Jojoba oil and Ucoba butter-based products for protective styles featuring everything from a no-rinse cleanser to an itch soothing serum. According to the brand, they’d combined the two ingredients in order to treat the tension and irritation often caused by protective styles. Jojoba oil hydrates the hair while also strengthening it to resist breakage can result from shrinkage. Ucoba butter’s anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties helps relieve the scalp while its fatty acids help improve hair’s elasticity, also helping prevent breakage.
As a certified product junkie and an avid braid wearer, naturally I couldn’t help myself. The promise of having my tender-headedness treated was too good to pass up, so I caved and picked up their Braid-Up Conditioning Gel.
Since I had already scheduled a hair appointment sometime before that day, I made sure to bring in the gel for my braider to use on the set of feeder cornrows I wanted.
My moment of weakness turned out to be the ultimate win.
Once my stylist had sectioned my hair and applied the product, I immediately felt the difference. The gel has a cooling effect on your scalp which feels incredibly soothing. Then when all the braids were in, the tightness that’s normally typical was completely gone. Sleeping was so easy too. Instead of tossing and turning in bed waiting on my Advil to work away the pain, I passed out the moment my head hit my pillow. And it doesn’t hurt that the product has you smelling like a snack while you look like one.
I haven’t shed single tender-headed tear since I started using this gel. And with the spring and summer season making protective styles a go to, having it on hand will make for some much needed root relief.
Glamdom 