I’ve been receiving quite a few questions regarding where I purchase my hair products in South Africa (SA). Some of them I’ve purchased online while others have come directly from cosmetic and health stores. To take some of the guess work out for you I’ve compiled an online list where you can get your hands on some of my favourite products as well as some sites that I’ve found through a simple google search that stock natural hair products in SA.
Have a look at my updated regime post if you’re interested to see a run-down of the products I currently have in high rotation.
Stores I’ve purchased from
Birkeye stocks a variety of products from Organix to Miss Jessie’s to Jamaican Black Castor Oil. Personally I’ve purchased ApHogee Keratin 2 Minute Reconstructor, Shea Moisture’s Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque and Kinky Curly’s Knot-Today Leave-in Conditioner.
They stock the following brands: Curls, Hairveda, Shea Moisture, Eco Styler, As I Am and Kanuri. My purchase was limited to Shea Moisture’s Coconut and Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie. A quick squiz over their website just revealed that they’ll soon be stocking Giovanni products as well.
This online store stocks the As I Am, Mixed Chicks, KeraCare, Carol’s Daughter, and Shea Moisture brands. Personal purchases include the As I Am Curling Jelly and the As I Am Coconut Cowash.
Stores I’ve not purchased from
I’ve never shopped here but I do love the fact that they stock a wide range of Shea Moisture and Sunny Isle products.
Products include Design Essentials, T444Z Hairfood, shea butter and silk scarves.
They stock a variety of products, but every time I’ve been on the site the prices don’t show up properly. I’m not sure if it’s just my browser so have a look for yourself. If you see a product you’d like to purchase but can’t see the price I suggest you contact the store directly by picking up the phone or sending an email.
This is a proudly South African natural hair care range that launched last year. It includes a sulphate free repairing shampoo, a deep penetrating moisturising conditioner, a repairing and strengthening protein treatment, a conditioning moisturiser and a super hair growth crème. After only hearing amazing things about it, this range is definitely on my future must-try list.
Ruutos seems to be a South African hair care brand in its own right. Unfortunately I don’t know much more about them but I thought I’d include it here in case any of you would be interested to check them out.
They stock a variety of natural oils, crèmes and butters.
A few other places to purchase from
- The Wellness Warehouse for Giovanni Hair Care products, carrier and essential oils;
- Rockin Naturals for shea butter, flaxseed gel, oils and hair accessories. Contact them on +27 78 208 3344 if you’re in the Cape Town area and,
- Dis-Chem and Clicks for Très Emme Naturals, other selected products, carrier and essential oils.
Some stores are pricier than others so do your research properly and take it from there, but don’t you just love the fact that we have more options available now?
Love your curls!
Image via Pinterest
Thanks Eleanor. I know some Foschini stored do sell design essentials, I have seen it at Foschini Woodlands in Pretoria.
Foschini – wow, that’s a surprise. Thanks for sharing though Gugu. I’m sure this will help our fellow naturals in Pretoria.
Hello, just found your site and had to follow. I’m natural for a long time. I’m not an online shopper yet but I do find that some stores have all these products we read about in other blogger’s pages that give them their amazing hair but I’m reluctant to shell out R200 for eco styler gel just yet. I’m not even a gel lover. I’d like them to bring more curl friendly products without mineral oil into our market as we are lacking it tremendously.
I do mostly make my own products as a result of this. I love to go to Dischem for my oils both carrier and essentials. I also find many organic and paraben- / sulphate-free products in their hair care aisle. Other products you can find at your grocery store or even in your backyard if you garden (example, tomatoes and herbs).
I’m In Johannesburg, if anyone finds reasonably priced products that they’ve found please let me know.
Hi Hun, thanks so much for taking the time to comment and to follow Eleanor J’adore. Yes, I completely agree, products can get expensive so it’s important to remember these products aren’t a requirement for having healthy and beautiful natural hair. Healthy hair can be achieved just with water and an oil alone! And yes, I’m all for making my own products too. It’s an amazing feeling to know that you’re putting quality products, made by yourself, onto your hair. I love Dis-chem, Clicks as well as The Wellness Warehouse for natural products.
Hi dear. Honestly speaking yes they are expensive but I found a website called african-flair.co.as and they quiet reasonable to me, you find Eco-Styler for R89.00, also selected Clicks stores stock Aunt Jackies products too. I stock up on like two products a month until I have all I need for my regimen, I’m just starting out but I’ve quitter shampoos completely and opted for baking powder wash and amla oil for now until I’m in full transition swing. Good luck in finding the products you need. I’m only stuck in finding Shea butter somewhere cheap.
Thanks Fawzia. I’ll check out african flair as well.
Hi, thanks for the share, I’ve heard of the website and was happy of the price too but it was sold out the last I checked. You can get Shea butter in Dischem now (Soil brand) for about R80 or buy in bulk from Kina Oils which is local and I get mine from a Rita (one of the suppliers) who you can buy in a variety of sizes, bigger is more cost effective. You can google their site, they sell a variety of products, but Dischem is now catching up on the trend, but they don’t exactly keep their prices as reasonable (regarding some product price hikes)
Thanks for the info
Will definitely check out that site for Shea butter as well. Yeah dischem is not so reasonable, I buy the 1litre bucket of organic virgin coconut oil from them and I’ve seen quiet a few nice products in the gluten free/ organic foods isle, I think the brand is Nature something or something Nature can’t remember. I’ve been clarifying my hair for two weeks now with baking powder and now it’s really dirty, I’m out of baking powder and I’m just short of conditioner and Shea butter so I can moisture and seal. Can any brand Apple cider vinegar work?
Hi Fawziah, are you not getting bad results from using baking powder (is it not bicarbonate soda?) Also yes any brand of ACV works, there is the filtered version and the unfiltered (and organic). Unfiltered still has a lot of cultures and good things in it, much more potent. You may want to rather use the ACV for clarifying rather, but be warned, it does lighten the hair (not hectic, but natural highlights type of way). And using a clarifying shampoo store bought isn’t always bad. I use the ORS brand. Only use it when I know I have mad build up.
I’d also suggest that you rinse your hair very well before shampooing so that you don’t have all the baking powder absorbing into your hair only. Rinsing means running your hair in water and just rubbing gently to remove anything from the hair and scalp without any product, it helps reduce the need for clarifying shampoos and using heavy duty products.
There are some naturals who like bentonite / rhassoul clay to help with build up and also moisture (really good on opening up the cuticles of the hair to improve moisture retention), but I find that it leaves bits in my scalp, which makes me rewash. Others have great luck with this.
Good luck and hope you have a happy hair journey.
Honestly speaking the baking powder paste was bad because it made my hair hard. So instead of detangling, I rinsed it all out and then applied my Tresemme Naturals conditioner, let it sit a while before detangling and after that I was like bye bye to that silly remedy for clarifying. I’ve just been prepooing and then cowash seal and style
Reblogged this on The Isabella Coza Effect and commented:
So a lot of you have asked what products to use when you go natural. My girl Eleanor did one better and posted links to where you can actually get them here in SA. So this is for all my natural readers, for those wanting to embrace their natural hair and for those who are still considering it…..
*Appreciation goes to Eleanor J’Adore for this awesome post <3
Thanks so much for the love and for sharing this piece with your readers Beautiful. Much appreciated <3
I need to buy some of this aloe vera products for hair loss
Another onlineshop based in Cape Town is Healthy Coils, http://www.healthycoils.com. it has a great variety.
Hi Eleanor, thank you for your blog. I am needing some advice. I am a vanilla mommy who recently adopted the most beautiful chocolate baby girl ever. My big concern is that I don’t want to fail at looking after her beautiful hair. She’s 5months old but already has a full head of soft tiny spiral curls. What shampoo, conditioner, detangler products would you recommend to keep her little curls definition and health? Her hair looks similar to yours. Please help! I want to avoid the trial and error route with such a little girl and I really want her to grow up proud of her natural hair. Many thanks xx