The Annoyance Of Product Flaking In Natural Hair

The annoyance of product flaking in natural hair, is the bane of our lives, and so after all the hard work of washing and deep conditioning our hair, we apply our products, and we are left with this horrible white flakes in our hair!

Believe me you are not alone in this department, I have encountered this problem myself, there is a way to avoid this problem from happening, and I will get tucked into this.

The cause of this problem boils down to the conditioning ingredients that is found in the leave-in conditioner that your are using, it does not react well with certain ingredients in the gel that you are applying to your hair.  I also find that if I use a leave-in conditioner, then apply a hair custard to my hair, I tend to get this problem as well, but again the ingredients in both products do not seem to mix well together, which is why I had the experience of white flakes in my hair.


In order to eliminate this problem, is to ensure that the ingredients are balanced.  You need to establish whether the reaction happens between your leave-in conditioner and your gel, the best way to establish this problem, is to test this,  mix a little of each product on your hand to see if the products mixes well together, before committing this directly to your hair. Did the products mix well together? If it did mix well, you should see no signs of lumps in the mixture.  If it did not mix well, you will see how the mixtures curdle on your hands.

It has been said that when buying hair gel, look for ones that contains more flexible polymers, such as PVP which are polmers that are typically is based on vinyl monomers, and have names like PVP known as (Polyvinyl Prolidone) or VP (Vinyl Pyrolidone). These poylmers give good hold, while still being water soluble enough to wash out easily from your hair.

Things to consider

Heavy Handed - Are you one of those, that applies lashings and lashings of hair product to your hair, to ensure that every single strand, has been consumed with the product.  Well a little does go a long way, you only ever need to apply a small amount to your hair.  If you apply to much product, and product has not been absorbed throughout your hair, and that applies to using gel as well, when your hair dries, it will just flop, because there is no hold, your strands has no room for your hair to absorb any product, so do bear this in mind.

Multiple User - I get really excited when I can get hold of a full product line, but I have learnt that with the type of hair that I have, I need to be selective on what I purchase and use. I need to be in tune with my hair, and know what products works well in my hair, and how much products my hair can take, without my hair feeling greasy, weighed down and hair feeling limp.  I used to use a lot of products, in my hair, all at one time, then when it came to apply gel to my hair, my hair felt sticky, and when dried I could brush my hair, and see flakes coming from my hair.

I had to re-evaluate what products I used, and eliminate certain products , so now I use my water based leave-in conditioner, such as Ors Moni Oil leave- In Creme or my fav Aunty Jackies Leave-in, Jojoba oil because of the great penetrating properties it has for the hair shaft, along with a gel, I like to use the Aunt Jackie Flax Seed Gel, but I am currently finishing off my Eco Argan Oil gel, this mixes well with my leave-in conditioner and I get zero flakes!  I like Aunt Jackie's Leave-In Flax seed, because of the flax seed oil that has omega 3 rich, that helps to improve elasticity and helps to smooth the cuticles and nourishes hair follicles as well as help stimulate hair growth and increases hair strength. These properties here is what my hair loves, it keeps hair moisturized and provides a good hold in my hair!

My advise is to use less products in your hair!


Product line mix up - Hey its a habit, most of us all falls into this category including myself, but you may find that you can get away with mixing some product lines, and your hair has taken to it well, but I like to stick to one brand line if possible, in order to avoid flakes and that white fuzzy mess in my hair.  Certain brands you will find, does not mix well with others because they are all made up differently. So do bear that in mind when committing to mixing up different lines and apply to your hair!

Incomplete Rinsing - Hands up, I am guilty of doing this sometimes, and boy I have paid the price for my shear laziness.  When I have conditioner and or shampoo in my hair, I need to make sure, that all of the products used in my hair, is completely washed out! Why? Lack of rinsing out products, will only create product build up, which leads to flaking. Washing and conditioning your hair is work, but work if done correctly, will pay off well in the end!

Mixing of Oils- Now this one may get most of you, I love using jojoba oil more than coconut or any other oils, purely because it is close to our own natural scalp sebum so in my opinion, you should not experience any problems when using this oil.  You may find that when you use a heavier oil or a moisturizing oil such as almond oil or coconut oil, it may not mix well with your hair gel, creams or curling products, so do the hand mix test first before committing products to your hair.

Labels - Best practice is to read what the product says to do on the label, if you have a product and it clearly states to use product on wet hair, then you need to ensure that your hair is wet first, before applying product, as this product works best on wet hair.  Remember, these products has been tested before, and so they know how best to use the product, and as a consumer, we expect the product to live up to what it clearly states it will do for our hair.

Have you experienced flaking? What did you do to overcome this problem?