Since, as a Muslim I choose not to show my own hair in a public post, here’s a kid test using the same products on some seriously difficult curly hair. Jayden’s hair was actually worse than mine.
If anyone tells you that Muslim women like me don’t care about the state of our hair because “it’s always covered,” they’re off base. When you only reveal yourself to a selected few it’s even more important that your hair be amazing.
In fact, since becoming a Muslim last year and choosing to wear a hijab in public, the state of my hair at home and with family has become a much bigger deal.
I quickly learned that while a hijab protects hair from damaging UV rays I need to wear a cotton band under the scarf to keep it from rubbing my scalp. Also, I choose cotton scarves instead of materials that don’t breathe. No matter what you do, your hair dries out under there.
Therefore, I decided to go on a quest to manage my mop of fine, curly, dry hair, which had split-ends from flatirons and years of coloring. Also, its growth had slowed to a glacial pace.
Last March I put out an all call on social media asking people to send me suggestions. Therefore, I’ve tried hair masques, coconut oil packs and Argon oil spritzes. I ran the table from fancy-schmancy to DIY recipes. While there were occasional, short-lived successes, I was always a fright wig reveal at the end of the day.
The hijab was starting to look like a 24-7 alternative to some IT-level clown hair.
My go-to was keeping it slicked into an eternal ponytail with the Moroccan Argan Oil spray. This tip came from women at the mosque who are from Morocco where kernels of the Argan tree (Argania spinosa L.) that is endemic to Morocco are ground into oil that’s used to dip bread in, or drizzle on couscous.
Of course there’s a Come to Allah moment now to reveal the product that actually revived and renewed my ailing tresses.
Spoiler: I don’t sell it. Although I do buy it and have done so for the past six months. I don’t profit in any way from writing this, other than the warm feeling of knowing that I might just help some sister out of hair purgatory.
The stuff that worked for me is a line called Monat. It was suggested by a colleague in response to my social media SOS. I buy it at the same price as everyone else. No kickbacks or special discounts for writing this.
On the tech end Monat is, according to the website: a proprietary blend of 11+ ingredients, which include botanical oils, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, beta-carotene, omega-6 fatty acids, nutrients and amino acids, suitable for all skin and hair types.
The blends are advertised “to reduce hair thinning, prevent oxidative stress, and add volume and shine” and “rehabilitate the scalp to visibly repair hair with instant and long-term age prevention benefits.”
In layman’s terms, “Wow!” It works and keeps on working without any boomerang effects. Too often I’ve had one good hair day with a product only to find that after a few uses hair became a portrait of Dorian Gray.
Monat took me from frazzled to curly in one use and kept me there despite the hijab’s best efforts.
Here’s another example of someone who used Monat and got the same results that I did.
One use of the Renew shampoo ($35 for 8-oz) and Revitalize conditioner ($47 for 6-oz) - my curls were back in action.
One week, adding in a Restore leave-in conditioner ($33 for 4.5-oz), the curls hold and don’t frizz. Also, the chronically itchy scalp, is now gone.
One month into using it I started seeing baby hairs growing like a little wispy fringe across my hairline.
Now, at six months (when I finally had to reorder) my hair went from just below chin length to two inches below my collar bone.
Here are the only Nos associated with Monat:
NO: Parabens, Sulfates, DEA/MEA, Phthalates, Phenoxyethanol, Ethanol, Petrochemicals, Glutens, Sodium Chloride and it’s vegan. Also no Harmful Colors or Fragrances.
As product tests go, this is one I consider to be a rare success for beauty products.
I knew it was real when I ran out of product. There I stood in the hair care section in of the local pharmacy deciding if I should just buy the cheaper stuff I’ve always used.
When I couldn’t bring myself to risk the success, deciding to give up something else in order to afford a reorder, that was when Monat finally passed the test.
More importantly, I wish that hair and beauty companies catered to the Muslim women by being vegan and alcohol free so they could get the Halal symbol on their labels. Don’t assume that just because we don’t flaunt our beauty in public means we aren’t interested in looking and feeling beautiful.