I’ve been noticing, now that the weather’s been getting colder that many naturals are looking for good moisturizers that will get them through the winter months. I can tell you that my hair has gotten significantly drier in the past month and I’m counting the days until I get my hair braided.

As I’ve said before, I’m certainly no expert. I know what I’ve tried and what has worked for me and what hasn’t worked for me. So, here’s a two-part series on moisturizers. Today, I’m listing what I like and what I use and this week, I’ll let you know what I’m planning to try and the ones that I’ve heard are good.

Shea butter (low): It’s cheap and it works. I was introduced to shea butter years ago as a skin moisturizer. Last fall — actually it was last Thanksgiving — when my scalp and the skin on my temples were flaking constantly, I decided to try it out as a scalp treatment. It totally worked for me. What I liked about shea butter is that it didn’t make my hair just feel greasy, but my hair felt soft and manageable. The bonus is that a little goes a long way. Some people say it’s heavy — possibly it is, but I like it just the way it is. Shea butter is locally available — I find it at a hair store not too far from me — as well as available through a number of online vendors. When I was at Bath & Body Works this weekend, I saw that they are selling it too. Personally, I think that is a great waste of money. For $19.50, I can get three blocks from my hair store or a pound from the online shop that I buy from.

One caveat: folks with nut allergies beware, you could have a reaction. I’m allergic to all nuts and I’m fine with it, but be cautious.

Blended Beauty’s Happy Nappy Styles (medium): I like the name, but even more, I like the product. It’s full of good stuff that my hair likes — including shea butter. See the ingredients below.

Aloe and Chamomile Water, Rice Bran Oil, Shea Butter, Natural Conditioner, Polysorbate 20, Vegetable Glycerin, Capryl Isostearate, Soy Lecithin, Guar Gum, Natural Preservative Optiphin, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Silk Powder.

What’s great about this moisturizer is that it’s thick and rich. With thick 4A/4B hair, I need something my hair won’t laugh at. For the little 3C hair that I have, it rolls with it. I also enjoy Blended Beauty’s conditioner, so I feel like I’m getting the benefit of the entire product line. The price is kinda steep, $19 CDN of 250ml — not horrible, but certainly can be pricey when you add in shipping. Winter is drying and you can’t be a punk with the moisture, so you end up giving the hair what it wants — even if it’s a $19 moisturizer. Price be damned! I order it directly from Blended Beauty’s web site or via honeyfig.com.

Miss Jessie’s Curly Buttercreme (high): It’s good. The best darned buttercreme ever? I don’t know about all of that. I will say that my hair does like this ingredient combination:

Deionized Water, Acetylated Lanolin, Beeswax , Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Carbomer 940, Fragrance, Peppermint Oil, Castor Oil, Dilaurate Laneth-15, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, Hydrolyzed Animal Protein, Imidazolidinyl, Jojoba Oil, Laneth 15, Mineral Oil ,Methyl Paraben, Milk Protein, Panthenol, Paraffin, PEG-400, PEG-100, Stearate, Petrolatum, Propyl Paraben, Triethanolamine, Vitamin E, Wheat Germ Oil.

I don’t profess to know the good and bad of all ingredients, but the ones bolded I know aren’t so good. At least the ingredients that aren’t great aren’t high is the listing. Because I don’t use shampoos with sulfates or surfactants like coco betaine, getting mineral oil and petrolatum could be a pain. I say ‘could’ because I haven’t found that to be the case as yet. Anyhow, this is another product laden with shea butter — maybe that’s why my hair loves it so. Miss Jessie’s Curly Buttercreme was one of the first moisturizers that I bought when I first went natural. When I use it, my hair feels soft, moist and manageable — letting me know that this is a good moisturizer. It also smells like peppermint candy and I like that a lot. What I don’t like, aside from the mineral oil and petrolatum, is that at $36 CDN for 240ml, I feel robbed — even though I like it.

Long story short – there are products to suit every pocket that will do what you need them to do. Stay tuned for part 2!