Get to know Komaza Care

I'd like to introduce you to Rene, owner and founder of Komaza Care hair products.

Komaza is a line of products designed for and mostly marketed to people with African American (or "ethnic") hair, but like Donna Marie, Caucasians have fallen in love with them, too. The Komaza line is free of sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates, mineral oil, petroleum, and silicones, which of course, makes it a big friend to those who are CG ("Curly Girl"). I must confess up front that I have never tried this line, and yes, I'm as shocked as you are by that oversight! But I've been reading the many raves on the discussion boards at NaturallyCurly.com and I know that this line has lots of fans. I also know that Rene, similar to Marsha at Curl Junkie, is as committed to providing high quality products as she is to delivering attentive, responsive customer service.

Rene started her company because she was fed up with the poor quality and synthetic properties of the products that were available for ethnic hair. Hair and scalp issues were so common that she vowed to develop products that would encourage growth (by keeping pores and follicles unclogged) and not build up on the hair. Rene is also smart enough to offer samples of her products, so if there's something you're curious about, you can just try it out rather than making a big investment.

Enough of my blathering! Let's talk to Rene.

Jillipoo: Do you formulate your own products? If so, what is your method/process? If not, who does it for you?

Komaza Care Rene: Yes, I formulate my own products. I think about what results I want to achieve for the hair type I am creating the product for. I know that each hair type does well with certain ingredients based on the hair type's structure. Some hair types need ingredients that help the hair absorb more moisture and retain it while some do not.

J: Komaza was started to give people with ethnic hair an alternative to the mineral oil-laden and petroleum-based products that have been a staple for them for years, and that's wonderful! You may have seen my recent post on "natural" products. Do you consider Komaza's ingredients natural, and if so, why? Are there some ingredients that you consider very unique to Komaza? Do you feel that there are any synthetic ingredients that are benign or actually good for hair?

KCR: First, I must say, I agree with your Natural Product post. Komaza Care products are considered natural because they are plant based. But you are right, most plant based product have been altered to make them more compatible and "natural" doesn't always mean that they are not harmful. I wouldn't consider any of the ingredients unique to Komaza -- just the formula is unique. There are so many ingredients that work wonderfully for hair, especially if used in a balanced combination.

J: Your hair care as well as business philosophy speaks as much to lifestyle as regimen -- you encourage people to eat well, be kind to themselves, drink plenty of water. Have you seen first-hand that this approach has positive results?

KCR: Yes, most definitely. I am living proof. I know that it works and this is why I encourage it. I changed my lifestyle because it was necessary. It was a gradual thing but I noticed big changes in my hair, my skin, my figure, and most of all my attitude. Health is beautiful and very important. As long as you are healthy you can do and be anything. We spend years neglecting our health because of time and money but then soon learn that it takes twice as much money and time to recover from those years of neglect. It is always best to do the right thing first.

J: According to your website, product recommendations are made according to curl pattern (2, 3, 4 and their gradations). What made you choose this classification system rather than the classic fine/medium/coarse definition that is taught in beauty schools?

KCR: The reason I did not use the classic fine/medium/ coarse system first because our customer base is very hair savvy. Most of them have hair down to a science and understand that their curl pattern matters just as much as the fullness. Also I use this method to help formulate products. Some of us have a looser curl and may want a product that tightens the curl and vice versa. If we at Komaza know the curl pattern as well as the fullness, then we can better serve you.

J: Komaza means "growth" in Swahili. (Do you speak Swahili, by the way?) Obviously, occlusive substances like mineral oil block pores and hair follicles, preventing growth, whereas oils that are compatible with skin and hair do not produce that reaction. I've heard some curlies say, however, that their hair seems to grow *faster* once they start using your products. What do you say to that?

KCR: I wish I was fluent in Swahili but I am not. I am always happy to hear people are getting great results; however, I think that Komaza products provide hair with the essentials to help it grow to its full potential and proper rate.

J: How involved are you in the day to day operations of your company? Do you have customer contact? What kind of experience should customers have when they deal with Komaza and how do you ensure that that happens?

KCR: I am heavily involved with the day to day operations of Komaza. I love customer interaction and get most of my ideas from listening to what people say they need for their hair. The kind of experience a customer should always get when dealing with Komaza, first, is kind honesty. It is most important that we do what is best for your hair rather than to sell our product. We have had some customers completely turned off by this concept and I can understand why; however, it can not waiver our duty to do the right thing. Secondly, everyone should be treated as family or as an old friend with kindness, compassion and respect. God has blessed us with a wonderful staff here. I always hear from customers informing me how wonderful the staff is and how knowledgeable they are. It makes me proud. All of us are constantly being trained in hair care and we follow a simple motto: Treat every one with kindness and compassion even when you don't feel like it or think they don't deserve it.

Thanks for talking with No-Poo Jillipoo, Rene. What a great attitude you have about life and hair!

(Be sure to check out which products best suit your hair at Komaza Care by using the site's hair typing system!)

Like trying to scrape gum off a shoe

Months ago, I wrote a post about cationic polymers. Before your eyes glaze over, let me just say that cationic polymers are known by most of us as "polyquats." They are the ingredient names that begin with Polyquaternium and then a number. The numbers express some kind of molecular chain organization.

I had written the post because one of my favorite blogs, The Beauty Brains, had raised concern that cationic polymers attached themselves to hair more stubbornly than silicones, and therefore were potentially more troublesome. I did some research and sort of confirmed that they may have been right. But I didn't dig deep enough.

Yesterday, I slogged my way through my trusty copy of Chemical and Physical Behavior of Human Hair by Clarence R. Robbins. This is not light reading, folks. Quite a bit of it is essentially Greek to me, but now and then, I can figure out the message. And with regard to cationic polymers, I learned just enough to develop a bona fide fear of polyquats.

The message is this: cationic polymers do not necessarily penetrate the hair to a great extent, but they are damn near impossible to remove.

Think of polyquats like gum on the sidewalk and your hair like the bottom of a shoe. When those two meet, it's hard to separate them. Things can get ugly.

Now, the book addressed Polyquaternium 10 in most instances. According to Tonya McKay at NaturallyCurly.com, this is one of the more conditioning cationic polymers and is often added to shampoos to impart softness and manageability. But other polyquats -- specifically those with different molecular weights and chemical structures -- are used in styling products because they adhere better (!) and result in a better hold. Polyquat 10 is favored more as a conditioning additive than a styling/holding one.

(For you geeks out there: "Cationic ingredients in general are highly substantive [resist removal by water rinsing] to hair because of hair's low isoelectric point, which is approximately pH 3.67 in cosmetically unaltered hair, and even lower in bleached hair. Therefore, at any pH above the isoelectric, the surface of hair bears a net negative charge, and positively charged (cationic) ingredients are attracted to it." Chapter 7 )

The news is worse for those who have had chemical services done to their hair because the "holes" created by these services create additional opportunities for cationic polymers to attach themselves. So, if your hair is colored or straightened or otherwise messed with by some sort of chemical, you can expect that polyquats will stay with you for quite some time.

So just how long do they hang around? The experiments cited by Robbins indicated that less than 15% of Polyquat 10 was removed from the hair after soaking in distilled water for 30 minutes. (Note that they used distilled water, though. I don't know whether that might make a difference -- seems like it might?) Salt removes cationic polymers better than water, but it's not clear that you could call that removal "effective": "sodium dodecyl sulfate, analogous to a shampoo, was much more effective, removing more than 50% of the polymer in one minute and nearly 70% in 30 minutes." And get this: "Even after a week in 0.1M lanthanum nitrate solution [also a salt], approximately 40% of the polymer was still bound to the hair."

Salt and surfactants combined with cationic polymers decrease the uptake of them to the hair. So, if you find Polyquat 10 in a shampoo or in a styling product that contains magnesium sulfate (salt), the stuff won't stay on your hair as much. But a small amount will remain. Depending on how often and how much you use the polyquat, and what strength it is in the product, you could be looking at days.

Now, the question is: Is this bad? Are cationic polymers blocking moisture like silicones do? That isn't clear, either from the Robbins book or from McKay's article. But anything that has the potential to build up on your hair and be difficult to remove doesn't seem like something to gravitate to.

I realize that I have simplified this topic considerably that not all polyquats are the same by any stretch of the imagination (or science!). If you are using stylers and/or conditioners with a polyquat or two in them and your hair feels funny or you can't get it clean, maybe this post will help you figure out why.

What an honor!

NaturallyCurly.com (source of great discussion boards, articles, and Curl Mart) recently polled its thousands of users and asked them to reveal the products, celebrities, blogs, and books that they liked best. From a curl perspective, of course. They are calling it their Best of the Best awards.

Some of my favorite products, such as Kinky Curly Curling Custard and Jessicurl Too Shea, took top honors in the product categories. And Jessica McGuinty won for Inspirational Curly!

I am delighted to report that No-Poo Jillpoo shares the Best Blog title with Curly Nikki! (I'm a big fan of Curly Nikki, so the honor is especially nice for me.) Thanks so much, NaturallyCurly.com and all of you curious curlies out there!

Heads up, Curl Junkie fans!

A little birdie just told me that Curl Junkie is having a Fourth of July special!

Get 20% off your order of $50 or more!! Type the coupon code "JULY4U" at checkout to get your discount.

Offer is good July 2nd-4th, 2009, and the coupon must be used at checkout to receive checkout.

(So if you've been waiting to buy Curl Junkie's Aloe Fix gel -- the one that's getting all kinds of raves at NaturallyCurly.com -- this might be an excellent opportunity to spring for it!)

Fear of success?

I've had more bad hair days in the past couple of weeks than I've had in the whole year prior. And I just can't take it anymore! Especially since those bad hair days were all the result of straying from combos that I already know work for me. (By the way, that's not a photo of me. She looks a little better than yours truly of late.)

What the heck goes on in my mind, I wonder, when I decide to forego the tried and true in favor of the unknown? Do you do this too? Maybe I think I'll discover something new. Or maybe I just have a subconscious wish to look less than pretty. The old "fear of success" phenomenon. (Which, according to that link, I actually do have. Awesome.)

So what's to be done? I hereby vow, for at least this coming week, to use only products and combos that I know will work for me. Things I've tried before and really liked. This experimentation stuff has got to stop. I am sabotaging myself!

Plus, I really do need a haircut. That's probably not helping matters.

Anybody else want to go in on this pact with me?

Fun game!

On L'Oreal's site, there is game that runs too long but is still quite fun -- especially if looking at things (such as hair) under a microscope is your idea of a good time. It's called the Hair Profiler. Enjoy!

Are "natural" products better?

Gradually over the past decade, perhaps with our enlightenment about the harm we're doing to the planet, we've come to regard all the plants and their existence in our products with great reverence. We want to buy products that are "natural" and look with suspicion on hair care that is devoid of herbs, flowers, and obscure, lesser known oils.

What does "natural" mean, anyway?

I'm serious. That was not a rhetorical question. I want to know. If you had to define it, what would you say?

I've come up with some reasons why I suspect people think so-called natural products are better.

No Preservatives
I've addressed this before but it bears repeating. Preservatives are not universally bad and in fact, without them, you would have a head full of bacteria. Bacteria is natural, too. Does that make it good?

Natural products use preservatives, too, and sometimes, they are not straight from nature. Paula Begoun, author of Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me has this to say: "...natural or plant-based preservatives have extremely poor antimicrobial or antifungal properties. Complications for skin due to a product being contaminated are a serious consideration when it comes to how a product is preserved."

Concerned about parabens? Even the Environmental Working Group's Cosmetics Database lists most of them as having a score below 5 (the group's highest score, which indicates the highest level of danger or toxicity, is 10). And the EWG, considered alarmist by some, overly cautious by others, could not possibly be accused of underestimating the danger of any ingredient. So, if methylparaben and sodium methylparaben achieve scores of 8, these may be cause for concern if you use a lot of products that contain this ingredient, but do you know how much of this stuff you'd have to use in order to be worried? Tons! There's no way you could use and/or absorb enough to adversely affect your health. Better you should worry about getting hit by a bus or slipping on a banana peel.

Mother Nature is Our Friend
Well, yes, often she is. Except when she isn't. Some examples:

- Hurricane Katrina
- Belladonna
- Smallpox
- Poison ivy

I hope you see where I'm going. Not everything that is of the earth is good for us. Lots of things are, though, and we would hope that those would be the things that end up in our products. Is this true? Sometimes.

In the Paula Begoun article I mentioned above, she lists some of the compounds found in nature that are good for our skin and/or hair -- and some of the ones that are not so good (such as lavender oil, lemon, rose, and sage). Tea tree oil is another one that's been getting some attention lately, and according to Dr. Benabio's Dermatology Blog, there's reason to be cautious with this substance. Although the article is about the efficacy of tea tree oil used to treat acne, he raises some excellent points about how harsh it can be for many people.

Natural or Organic Equates to Purity
No, it doesn't.

Did you know that a cosmetics company can claim anything is natural or organic? And that they can do so because there are no FDA guidelines or definitions for either word (in the cosmetic industry)? This means that if a product is 90 percent water, which is "natural," a company can claim that its product is natural. Even "organic."

Most of us cannot step out into the backyard, pick a plant, and apply it directly to our bodies and wait for beauty to happen. Herbs and plants and oils need to undergo various processes to either make the ingredient compatible with other ingredients or to extract what is actually useful from a plant. These processes almost always involve the use of chemicals. Are all chemicals bad? Hell no. In fact, many of the unpronounceable ingredients in hair care products are responsible for making our hair manageable, beautiful, and better conditioned. (Case in point: Cetyl alcohol, which is not a drying alcohol but an emulsifier and emollient -- a "fatty alcohol" -- yet companies such as Aubrey Organics list it as "coconut fatty acid base" because it sounds less "scientific" than what it really is. Without a lab, this ingredient would not exist. Is that natural? You tell me.)

Here, at last, is my point: If you are using "natural" hair care products because you think they are better for your hair, you are probably deluding yourself. There is no evidence to prove that they are any better for you, or work any better than synthetic or non-organic or unnatural products/ingredients. By all means use them if you like them (I use several myself), but do not be fooled by the hype.

I leave you with this from the Organic Consumers Association:

The industry’s hopes for eternal youth are validated by stunning 39 percent growth in the natural and organic cosmetic sector annually. In one survey conducted by Health, 83 percent of responding consumers indicated that they would rather use all natural body products, though more than half could not define “natural” or “organic.”

"Natural" products are likely doing more to ease your ecological conscience than they are doing for your hair.

I encourage your comments on this. Did I miss any of the reasons why you choose natural over synthetic? If so, tell me.

Addendum: I found this story at Cosmetics Design a day after writing this post. It talks about how companies are getting sued by making false claims about being natural and/or organic. What's even more interesting is that the Federal Trade Commission is putting together guidelines to help companies avoid deceptive claims, and even though there is already a set of guidelines out there, the article says most companies do not even know they exist. Little wonder the greenwashing business is thriving!