4C Naturals: Silicone's are Silly Because......

By no means am I product junkie or a 100% naturalista that uses ONLY natural products from Whole Foods. Not that there's any problem with that, I just rather have my hair look fly and still be able to pay my iPhone bill lol. Still though, even I look at the ingredients on the back of a product and examine my schedule for that week, so that I can properly moisturize my hair. I don't always avoid silicone's especially if I am going to use heat but I must warn you that there are reason's why 4's should avoid silicone's.

1) Wash Day after Silicone Use....
...may be harsh. The only way you can wash your hair to avoid build up after having silicone products resting in your naps is if you use sulfates. Sulfates are VERY drying and if you haven't found your regimen, you may experience some difficulty getting your hair back to the soft feel that us 4C'ers enjoy. Sulfates REALLLLY clean your hair, it even strips it of its natural oils and causes excessive frizz. The less you use silicones, the less you would NEED to use sulfates, the less damage you begin.
BUT...
I can not be hypocritical. I use many products that have cones in it starting with Wash day (sometimes). So using Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Shampoo and Condition cleans my hair and moisturizes it. You probably don't even have to use the shampoo but I accidentally brought 2 large shampoos thinking one was conditioner blah blah blah... and it's really cleansing and moisturizing. I can finger comb while the shampoo is in (which is mind-blowing!) and I can wide-tooth detangle pretty easily with the Hello Hydration conditioner.

2) Retaining Length? when Silicone's = Dry Hair = Split Ends? Not happening...
Going natural isn't all about hair length. Yet, having 4 type hair (especially 4C hair), your life is surrounded by shrinkage. If you're anything like me, your hair grows fast and you can't even tell because elongation is a pain. Using silicone's can make retaining length impossible. Silicone's washed-out properly (meaning the use of sulfates) WILL dry out your hair. Dry hair in turn, will cause breakage, snapping, shedding, and more terrifyingly - SPLIT ENDS. This means more trimming or breakage which of course means you can't see your scalps and follicles hard work. I went natural mostly because of hair breakage and how much it'll pain me to trim my hair so now that I'm natural I try to avoid the trimming and breakage part as much as I can. Less silicones the better.

3) Using Silicone's Once = Needing to Use More
Pretty self-explanatory. If you use a silicone based products for shine, or to pull back frizz you are going to need to use more and more before wash day. This causes product build-up in one section of your strands. If you have product build up you are making it even more difficult for your natural oils to flow down your 4C coils. It's already difficult as is and using silicone's is just silly because you're making it worse. So I use a really good deep conditioner after washing out my silicones. Deep conditioning opens up your individual strands which  allows water and other moisturizers into the shaft to hydrate your coils.

With that being said if you are a natural headed person and you want to use the Curly Girl Method you will have to refrain from silicones because you have to use sulfates to clean your hair. If you want to go all natural then you will have ridiculously awesome results anyway. If you plan on straightening  your hair, silicones are awesome! because they protect your hair.