I’ve always wanted to write this post after my study abroad program in Japan, but after receiving more than 20+ emails about my natural hair experience in Japan. It’s finally time!
Summer of 2014, I participated in a study abroad program in Fukuoka, Japan. Preparing for the trip, I wanted to be able to carry the right amount to fit in one luggage. Packed a travel sized shampoo, conditioner, and carried a full size daily hair moisturizer. I had assumed I would be able to find an organic or natural hair cleansing product in Japan that focuses on moisturizing the hair. I was wrong… completely wrong. As a Kinky Natural hair girl, products for my hair type did not exist, and the humidity was worse than back in South Florida. I could not believe that a country that has almost everything, and makes anything, did not have a simple basic shampoo and conditioner. I’ve googled for Sally Beauty supply store and such; but the one location that replaced the Sally’s only had styling products. Epic failure!
How did you survive? It was TOUGH! Trying to order natural hair products from eBay was expensive, and would take to long. Having family to ship those items just for the brief stay was not worth it, when I had considered how long it would take and the cost for faster shipping. So what now?
Here’s a few factors that were challenging for for me to deal with:
HUMIDITY: My gosh people, it was worst than South Florida’s humidity and I live there. The humidity was awful, and at its peak from early morning to late afternoon (basically all day)
HEAVY SMOKERS: Exploring Japan’s nightlife had its highlights but the heavy smoking was my enemy. The first weekend I went clubbing, took a shower after returning to my hostel. The following morning I took a stroll to some shops and couldn’t figure out why I wreaked of cigarettes. The wind blew and I realized that my afropuff was huffing and puffing a cigarette joint. That’s how strong it was.
LACK OF PRODUCT AVAILABILITY: Majority of Japan’s hair products are heavily fragrance, and catered to the predominant hair type in Japan. But of course I’m in Japan, curly hair Japanese are rare, it’s all straight hair honey. With the amount of department stores, malls, and convenience stores I visited; was hoping to run into Herbal Essence or Aussie Moist. I was really hoping, but had no luck. I bought sample packets and travel size bottles of various hair brands from Loft, but the results were no go.
AFROPUFF: I was a walking rare item. Black girl, tall, eyeshadow-aholic and topped off with a nice afropuff. Trust me the attention was interesting, especially one of my male classmates was 6’2 with a high top. Fascinating.
Thanks to Pinterest, I was able to find some awesome DIY recipes to aid in the cleansing of my hair. I had already possessed a full size hair moisturizer of Camille Rose Naturals Curl Love Milk and Tropic Isle Living Jamaican Black Castor Oil with Aloe Vera which I brought with me from Florida (best decision). These items you can get from any convenience store (konbini/ ｺﾝﾋﾞﾆ), Sunny’s Supermarket (not sure if they are all over in Japan but I only found one in Fukuoka where 95% of my stay was located at), and/or other grocery stores.
My top 3 rescues for my stay in Japan are:
DIY BAKING SODA SHAMPOO AND APPLE CIDER VINEGAR CONDITIONER
Simple and Effective, 3 ingredients needed that packed amazing results. Thanks to Erinn’s Beauty Blog I was able to rescue and properly care for my hair. These items can be found anywhere in Japan, so you are lucky. This was a big lifesaver! The stench my hair retained from the aftermath of clubbing was unbearable. I used this when clarifying is strongly needed and made sure to follow-up with my moisture products that I brought over.
DIY HONEY SHAMPOO
Fukuoka’s humidity was unbearable, shoot Japan’s summer humidity was harsh! So I needed to add some extra moisture in my routine. Another lucky find I discovered on Pinterest was Empowered Sustenance DIY Honey Shampoo Again, the ingredients were easy to find in Japan’s convenience/konbini stores. Honey is a great moisturizing ingredient, so say bye bye to dehydrated strands.
DIY HOMEMADE PROTEIN DEEP CONDITIONER
Sudden environmental & climate change had my skin and hair on edge. I broke out horribly the first week, but had ordered a familiar item from England to assist. Naturally Curly Homemade Mayonnaise Conditioner. My hair needed some additional reinforcement to strengthen the strands. 3-4 basic ingredients and your hair will love you. If you can’t find olive oil or don’t any it is fine to substitute it with another oil or just omit it.
During my stay in Japan, these were the the methods I used to cleanse my hair. For any curly hair individual that is visiting, if your stay is short just buy some travel size product! If you are staying for a while, carry full size items over, to last you for the duration of your trip. Or you can utilize these methods, if you are trying to travel light! Feel free to leave a comment or email me, I will respond with any feedback that can assist you.
Hey! I currently live in Fukuoka too. Do you have any recommendations of where I can buy 100% essential oils form? I tried checking on amazon but most of the reviews are in Japanese and I don’t wanna risk buying impure oils as I will be using them on my skin as well. Do you know any stores I can check out?
Hey,
I really do miss Fukuoka and it’s my favorite city in Japan. As far as buying oils, it was difficult for me then, I actually traveled with my 2 bottles of oils. Majority of Japan’s hair products is very perfumey and meant for Japanese straight and fine hair. I had to order my skincare stuff from stores on eBay located in Europe. I know this because I’ve searched up and down Fukuoka and walked from one end to another looking for stores. Another option, is if you can have someone send you a package with oils and etc; I did this option for my friend who lived in Fukuoka for another 2 years. Getting pure oils is hard in Japan, the only one you might be able to get is Olive Oil.