Frequently Asked Questions – Dominican Hair Products
    …and how to order them from Amazon.com

• What is so special about Dominican hair care?
• Where can I find a Dominican hair salon in my area?
• What is so special about Dominican hair products?
• What are the Dominican hair products?
• Who can use these hair products?
• How can I get these products?
• Can I get these products in a store?
• Can I sell these products too?
• Can products be shipped outside the USA?
• If the product I want can't be shipped to my country or or the shipping is too expensive??
• Can you recommend products for me?
• Can I read reviews?
• What products can I use to restore damaged hair?
• What products are best for hair growth or to prevent hair loss?
• What about relaxers?

I am a Beauty Consultant specializing in makeup and skin care. Although I am not a hairdresser or a manicurist, I believe that, in addition to makeup, hair and nails are essential components of a women's beauty, and I like to offer full service to my clients and as much useful information as possible.

As a Beauty Consultant who is also from the Dominican Republic, I receive a Lot of requests for Dominican hair products, which are famous all over the world, and so I have put some pages on my site that gather together in one place the brands and products that are popular among Dominican women:

http://www.aleida.net/hair-en.html

and also some pages highlighting specific brands or products:

Avanti Silicon Mix	Intensive Hair Treatment	http://www.aleida.net/siliconmix-es.html
Universal La Bomba	Deep Treatment in 3 Steps Deep Treatment Avocado Cream	http://www.aleida.net/labomba-es.html http://www.aleida.net/aguacate-es.html
Boé	Crece Pelo Maravisus	http://www.aleida.net/crecepelo-es.html http://www.aleida.net/maravisus-es.html
Alter Ego	Impac Ego Garlic Treatment	http://www.aleida.net/alterego-es.html
Lady Fior	Natural Avocado Conditioner Olive Oil Relaxer	http://www.aleida.net/ladyfior-es.html http://www.aleida.net/kitaondas-es.html
Capilo	Olive Oil Conditioner	http://www.aleida.net/capilo-es.html
Lafier	Amazonia Maracuyá & Vitamins	http://www.aleida.net/lafier-es.html
Greit'Oll	12 in 1 Deep Conditioner	http://www.aleida.net/greitoll-es.html
Miss Key	10 in 1 Super Conditioner	http://www.aleida.net/misskey-es.html
Star Lacio	High Shine Leave-In Conditioner	http://www.aleida.net/starlacio-es.html
Salerm	Wheat Germ Oil Hair Mask	http://www.aleida.net/salerm-es.html
UNA	Intensive Protein Treatment	http://www.aleida.net/una-en.html

http://www.aleida.net/hair-en.html

http://www.aleida.net/gloss-en.html

But with every new page or service come more questions, more than I could ever answer personally every day! Here are the questions I receive most often, with answers.

What is so special about Dominican hair care?

Dominican women are like the “stress test” for hair products! We have African hair, mixed with European Spanish and Native American (Taíno / Caribe / Arawak) in all different proportions and combinations. And we come from a tropical paradise where it can get very hot and the sun can almost cook our hair!

Over hundreds of years, Dominican women have perfected hair care techniques based on the healthy natural ingredients of our country like coconut, cinnamon, avocado, olive, and rosemary, that beautify our hair and allow it to grow without using harsh chemicals or direct heat (hot combs). In the modern age of electricity and hair dryers, Dominican stylists, always ingenious, have developed what Americans call the “Dominican Blowout”, but we just call the levado y secado (wash and dry), that makes our hair smooth and lush and silky without hurting it.

Where can I find a Dominican hair salon in my area?

So far I am only recommending the salons where I have my own hair or nails done, which is in New York City and Connecticut, because I know personally that they do a very good job and if you visit them, you will not be disappointed (tell them Aleida sent you!)   They are:

Martha's Unisex Salon	2 Saint Nicholas Terrace	Manhattan NY 10027	1-212-280-1200
Iris Unisex Salon	1195 Sherman Avenue	Bronx NY 10456	1-718-590-9995
Yani Vanet Beauty Salon	209 East 165th Street	Bronx NY 10456	1-718-588-5102
Villa Unisex Beauty Salon	3175 Villa Avenue	Bronx NY 10468	1-718-367-8461
Elaine All Nails	By appointment only	Bronx NY	1-646-579-6871
Melany's Unisex Beauty Salon	1131 Sutter Avenue	Brooklyn NY 11208	1-718-235-9188
Yenni's Grand Salon	601 North Main Street	Waterbury CT 06704	1-203-591-1786

To find other Dominican salons or to search for a Dominican hair salon in your area, please visit my page, The Dominican Hair Salon Experience; it has a new section with information on where Dominicans live in the USA, and two exclusive Dominican Salon Locators: one based on Google and the other based on telephone directories. CLICK HERE to search for Dominican beauty salons.

If you would like to recommend a Dominican salon in your area, contact me. If I receive some good recommendations, maybe I will start publishing them on the site!

What is so special about Dominican hair products?

These products were developed to satisfy the diverse needs of Dominican women and their different hair textures. A lot of Americans have hair like ours, and so do many Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Venezuelans, and others. We use these products because they work so well for us without harming our hair. We also use some brands that are made in other countries, such as Italy, Spain, Brazil, France, and even the USA – if it works, it doesn't have to be Dominican!

What are the Dominican hair products?

Shampoos, rinses, deep conditioners, leave-in conditioners, relaxers, detanglers, emergency repair treatments, anti-hair-loss treatments, growth stimulators, plus special shampoos for dandruff or oily hair or dull hair, and other products for special purposes like adding shine, covering gray, and so on, here is are some samples (reload this page to change the samples):

Some of the best selling brands are Avanti Silicon Mix, Universal La Bomba, Lafier, Lady Fior, Capilo, Miss Key, Nacidit, Star Lacio Lacio, and Crom Toque Mágico, to name only a few! Some brands made in Italy, Spain, France, Brazil, and other countries are popular too, such as: Alter Ego, Cosmo, L'Oreal Kérasaste, Salerm, Sedal, Sebastian, and UNA, among others.

Who can use these hair products?

The hair products on my site are mainly intended for two kinds of woman (who can often be the same woman!)...

1. Women with textured hair, Caribbeans like us, or African Americans, or West Indians, or anybody whose hair has some “African roots” or is coarse, or very curly or unruly.

2. Women with hair that has been damaged by overprocessing, hot combs, harsh chemicals, or exposure to the sun, excessive bleaching or coloration, and is dry and brittle, or won't grow, or might even be falling out.

But many of the products can be used by anybody. Even men! When you go to a product order page like this one, you can read about that product: what it's for, how to use it, the ingredients, plus any customer reviews.

Be sure to read the product description on the product page before ordering to make sure the product is appropriate for you. For example, some products are for professional use only, meaning they should be used only by hairdressers. Others, especially relaxers, might require you to wear rubber gloves and avoid contact with the skin. Always read the instructions.

How can I get these products?

Follow the links on my pages to order them, such as the main hair products page. The order is processed safely and securely by Amazon.com and shipped directly from Amazon or from one its affiliated companies. I do not handle the products personally. If you can't find a product that you are looking for, let me know, maybe I can help.

Since each product might be shipped by a different company, the shipping policies and costs can be different for different products. Check each product page for details.

Can I get these products in a store?

Most of the hair products – especially the Dominican ones – are hard to find in stores. Perhaps some of them are sold in some stores but I do not have a list. Sometimes they are sold in Dominican beauty salons. But it is because these products are hard to find that I made my hair products web pages, where you can find almost all the brands that are popular among Dominicanas in one place where they can be ordered conveniently and securely.

Can I sell these products too?

As far as the hair products are concerned, I am an sales agent of Amazon.com, a company based in the USA. I'm not an importer. I am not a wholesaler. I can't supply products to retailers or beauty salons at a discount.

If you want to sell these products, you can order them from the website at the regular price, or you can see if you can locate a wholesale distributor in your area, or you can try to establish a direct relationship with the manufacturer. I do not have information about the manufacturers or distributors or wholesalers because I deal only with Amazon.

The possibility of becoming a distributor of products that come from another country depends on the import laws of your own country, the export laws of the country of origin, and any bilateral agreements between the two countries, plus any requirements of the manufacturer as to warranties, and so on.

Can products be shipped outside the USA?

Every product can be shipped to any country if you use a package forwarding service (next item). Otherwise, read the rest of this section about Amazon shipping policies.

Some products that you find at Amazon.com are sold and shipped directly by Amazon, others are shipped by separate companies, called “Amazon affiliates”.

Amazon has its own shipping policy, which is described HERE. Amazon ships books, CDs, DVDs, and video tapes to any country, but other items (such as beauty products) are shipped only to the USA, its protectorates (such as Puerto Rico), to United States military APO and FPO addresses. This is because of United states export laws, and/or the import laws of the other country, or warranty or service restrictions (CLICK HERE to read about exportaton of beauty products).

Amazon will ship certain items to other countries too, such as Canada, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom (and a few others), through a program called International Direct. Unfortunately, the selection is limited, and there is no way to find the product you're looking for except to "browse" through the entire list of products within a given category.

But fortunately, most of the hair and beauty products that you find on my website are sold by affiliates, not directly by Amazon. Each affiliate is free to set its own shipping policy, and some of them ship to more countries than Amazon does.

So to find out if a product can be shipped to your country, look on the Amazon page for that product. Each product page has a Product Details section that tells where it can be shipped and gives a link to shipping rates and policies. (Next to where it says Shipping weight, click the “View shipping rates and policies” link.)

One of the Amazon affiliates that handles many of these products, on its shipping page (CLICK HERE TO READ IT) says that it will also ship to Canada, Europe, Asia, and “Outside USA, Europe, Canada, Asia”, but the shipping charges can be rather high. Here is a typical shipping "Region Key", which defines exactly what is meant by Europe, Asia, etc. Notice at the end the definition for “Outside USA, Eur., CA, Asia”, which I have highlighted in color.

Region Key
Continental US	Continental US states not including Alaska and Hawaii
APO/FPO	Army Post Office and Fleet Post Office
Alaska Hawaii	Alaska and Hawaii
Canada	Canada
Europe	Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jan Mayen Is., Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Republic of Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Svalbard, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Yugoslavia
US Protectorates	American Samoa, Guam, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands (U.S.)
Asia	Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Christmas Island, Cook Islands, East Timor, Fiji, French Polynesia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Lao People's Democratic Rep., Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Vietnam
Outside US, Eur., CA, Asia	Brazil, Mexico, South Africa

As you can see, in this case the product can not be shipped to any Latin American country except Mexico and Brazil, so you will not be able to order it for delivery to (for example) Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Perú, Colombia, or any other Latin American country besides Mexico and Brazil.

Since I do not handle these products personally, I can not send products to you myself. If your country is not listed in the product's Region Key, then consider signing up with a package forwarding service (keep reading…)

If the product I want can't be shipped to my country or the shipping is too expensive?

It is a common problem that USA companies will not ship packages to certain countries or, in some cases, will not ship internationally at all. In other cases, they will ship to your country, but the cost is prohibitive. The solve these problems, international mail and package forwarding companies will provide you with a shipping address in the USA to which your mail or packages are delivered, and from there they will ship them to you at your own address in your own country. You can use this service not only with Amazon.com, but also Endless.com, Mary Kay, and any other place where you would shop online. CLICK HERE to read about international package forwarding and mail forwarding companies. Here are some examples:

Company and Link	Ships to	Website Language
Atravesde.com	Mexico	Spanish
Access USA Forwarding Services	All countries	English
Banker Trust	Dominican Republic	English
Bongo International	All countries	English, Spanish
Borderlinx	Mainly just Europe	English
Carribean Ocean	Dominican Republic	Spanish
Compraporinternet.com	All countries	Spanish
Corona Companies Inc	Venezuela	Spanish, English
CPS Miami	Dominican Republic	Spanish
CSF Couriers	Trinidad and Tobago	English
EPS	Dominican Republic	Spanish
Eshopex.com	Colombia, Chile, China, Ecuador, México, Perú	Spanish
Finlay's Ship to the Caribbean	Anguila, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Nevis, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, St. Vincent, Suriname, Tortola, Trinidad	English
Global Courier Services, Ltd.	Jamaica	English
MailBox Exchange	Everywhere	English
MailBox IT International	Everywhere	English, Dutch
MailForwarding.biz	All countries	English
MasterDelivery	Almost every country	English, Spanish
Merkalink.com	Mexico	Spanish
MiDireccionEnMiami.com	Most countries	Spanish
MyUS.com	Everywhere	English
OneUSAaddress.com	All countries	English, Spanish, French, Japanese
Shipito	Everywhere	English
SkyBox.net (formerly LanBox)	Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe, United Arab Emirates	English, Spanish, Portuguese
Tucusito.com	Venezuela	Spanish
USA2ME	All countries	English
US Global Mail	All countries	English
USAMail1.com	All countries that DHL ships to	English
VBV-Logistics	All countries	English
West Express Logistics	All countries	English

Can you recommend products for me?

In the following questions I will try to give you some suggestions, but I can not tell you which product will work best for you, because every woman and every head of hair is unique, and different products work differently for different women. That's why there are so many products! What I do recommend, however, is that (unless you really know what you are doing) you don't mix and match shampoos, rinses, and conditioners from different companies, but instead use the ones that come together in a combination set, because they are designed to work together. For example, see the instructions for the La Bomba Deep Treatment or Boé Crece Pelo. (You can see some combination sets in the Amazon banner above; if you reload the page the selection should change).

Can I read reviews?

Amazon includes all reviews submitted by customers for each product, right on the product page. You can even write your own reviews. For example, see the Alter Ego Hot Oil Treatment with Garlic page, that includes a very helpful review from a customer who lets us know that our “hair will NOT smell like garlic after using the product!”

What products can I use to restore dry or damaged hair?

All the brands listed on my pages are specially formulated for women with damaged or overprocessed hair that is dry or brittle. Everybody has their favorite brand. I can't say that one brand or product would be better for you than any other one, but I can say that I have had very good results with Silicon Mix, Alter Ego, UNA, and Lafier. But that's just me! Anyway, I also recommend you read this page from the United States Food and Drug Administration Office of Women's Health about hair dyes and relaxers. Here are some of the products you can order here that are specially formulated for dry, damaged, or overprocessed hair:

• Alfaparf Extreme Color Protection Hydrate Shampoo, Dry or Damaged Hair
• Alter Ego IMPAC EGO Treatment with Garlic 500ml
• Cosmo Service El Bebo Dry Hair Lotion 10 Applications
• Lafier Avocado Oil Conditioner with Vitamin E for Damaged & Breakable Hair
• Kerastase Nutritive Bain Oleo-Relax Smoothing Shampoo for Dry and Rebellious Hair
• KUZ Restructuring Cream for Dry and Porous Hair
• Lafier Honey and Almonds Conditioner for Dry Hair
• Lafier Avocado Shampoo with Vitamin E for Damaged & Breakable Hair
• Lafier Collagen & Placenta Shampoo for Damaged and Brittle Hair
• L'Anza Dry Hair Detangler
• L'Anza Dry Hair Moisturizing Shampoo
• Miss Key 10 in 1 Super Conditioner
• Phytojoba Intense Hydrating Shampoo for Dry Hair
• Silicon MIX Intensive Hair Deep Treatment
• Salerm Deep Impact Moisturizing Deep-action Mask
• Sebastian Laminates Conditioner for Dry, Frizzy or Chemically Treated Hair
• UNA Intensive Protein Treatment 500ml
• Universal La Bomba Deep Treatment

When choosing a treatment, keep in mind it is best to use it together with a shampoo, rinse, leave-in, detangler, etc, of the same brand, that are designed to work together. Usually these are sold as combination sets, such as the ones from D'Fina, Lady Fior, Nacidit, Salerm, Sedal, Silicon Mix, La Bomba, etc.

“But these products contain alcohol, won't that dry out my hair?” There are different kinds of alcohol. Ethyl alcohol (ethenol), SD alcohol, propyl alcohol, and isopropyl alcohol can dry your hair out; these are used in a lot of drug-store hair products.

On the other hand, the “fatty alcohols” such as lauryl alcohol (dodecanol), cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, and cetearyl alcohol are emollients that help to hydrate and condition the hair and make it soft and manageable. The fatty alcohols are the ones that are used in the Dominican products and other products listed on this site.

Sometimes when you read the ingredients of these (or any other) products, you wonder about the long chemical names. You can look them in Google. For example, cetyl alcohol is natural, nowadays usually made from palm kernel or coconut oil; ditto for lauryl alcohol. Stearyl alcohol comes from animal or vegetable fats or oils. Cetearyl alcohol is a mixture of cetyl and stearyl alcohol.

What products are best for hair growth or to prevent hair loss?

There are lot of products for that! Many of them are especially formulated for women whose hair has been damaged by years of strong chemicals or direct heat for relaxing their hair. Some of these companies are devoted exclusively to hair growth / hair loss issues, such as Boé (“crece pelo” means “grows hair”). Here are some examples:

Alfaparf Milano	http://www.aleida.net/hair-en.html#Alpfaparf Hair Power Nano Tech Emergency Kit for Women	Italy
Alter Ego	http://www.aleida.net/alterego-en.html Revitalizing Lotion Curativ Ego Cren Nequal Shampoo Prevention for Hair Loss Nequal Intensive Energizing Hair Lotion	Italy
Boé Cosmetics	http://www.aleida.net/crecepelo-en.html Crece Pelo Natural Phitoterapeutic Treatment Crece Pelo Natural Phitoterapeutic Treatment Crece Pelo Natural Phitoterapeutic Shampoo Crece Pelo Natural Phitoterapeutic Rinse Crece Pelo Natural Phitoterapeutic Combo Set Maravisus Mix Intensive Capilary Treatment Maravisus Mix Anticaida Intensive Capilary Shampoo Maravisus Mix Anticaida Intensive Capilary Rinse	Dominican Republic
Cosmo Service	http://www.aleida.net/hair-en.html#Cosmo Stimulating Re-growth Lotion Energizing Anti-hair Loss Shampoo Energizing Anti-hair Loss Lotion 12 Applications El Bebo Energizing Anti-hair Loss Lotion	Italy
Doo Gro	http://www.aleida.net/hair-en.html#DooGro Moisturizing Growth Shampoo Leave In Growth Treatment Hair Grow Kit	USA
Kuz	http://www.aleida.net/hair-en.html#Kuz Hair-loss Preventive Shampoo Hair Loss Control Cream Hair-loss Preventive Lotion Leave-in Treatment Hair Loss Combo Set Regenerating Cream for Hair Growth Growth Regenerator Leave-in Treatment Hair Growth Combo Set	Dominican Republic
Nioxin	http://www.aleida.net/hair-en.html#Nioxin Click here to see Nioxin products for thinning hair	USA
Salerm	http://www.aleida.net/hair-en.html#Salerm Biokera Intensive Specific Hair Loss Lotion Locion Anticaida for Hair Loss Biokera Falling Hair Shampoo	Spain

I can't guarantee results or tell you which brand will work best for you, but I can tell you that the Boé Crece Pelo and Alter Ego brands are big sellers and have ratings from Amazon customers.

What about relaxers?

If you live near a Dominican salon, you might not even need a relaxer! A lot of Dominican women (including me) go to the salon once or twice a week for the levado y secado (wash and dry), that relaxes our hair and leaves it with a lot of body! You can read about that in my Dominican salons page.

The Dominican Star Lacio Lacio products are famous for relaxing (Lacio Lacio means "straight straight") but Amazon does not yet carry Star's relaxing products such as the Bio Complex Formula Perfecta Balanced Relaxer, just the high-shine conditioners and leave-ins. Miss Key, D'Fina, BPT, and some of the other Dominican companies make relaxers too but Amazon doesn't carry them yet. Here are the Dominican relaxers you can order from Amazon now:

• Lady Fior Olive Oil Curl Remover Plus "Kita Ondas"
• Silicon Mix Hair Cream Hair Relaxer Regular or Super
• L'Anza Straightening Balm

The Lady Fior product is recommended for those who want a gentle relaxing product; here is the product description:

Olive Oil Plus Kita Ondas (Curl Remover): A unique formula made with vitamins and moisturizer that works like a relaxer straightening your hair but without damaging chemical elements, while leaving it shiny and conditioned. Directions: After washing your hair with the Olive Plus Shampoo, apply the Olive Oil Rinse and after rinsing apply the Olive Oil Plus Kita Ondas. Massage for a few minutes from the roots to the ends and rinse with plenty water. Finally, apply some Olive Oil Plus Leave In and style as desired. Click on the icon on the left to see the Lady Fior Olive Oil Combination Set with the Kita Ondas, Shampoo, Rinse, Leave-In, and Deep Treatment.

Here are some hair-relaxing products from other countries:

• Alter Ego Linange Shea Butter Relaxer (Italy)
• Cosmo El Bebo No-lye One-step Cream Conditioning Relaxer Kit (Italy)
• Phyto (France)
• Sedal Anti Sponge (Brazil)
• Doo Gro Smooth & Straight No Lye Relaxer Kit (USA)
• Sebastian Super Straitt (USA)
• Soft Sheen (USA)
• Kerastase made in Spain by L'Oreal Paris

Here are some examples: