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I’m beginning to think the whole “natural hair” movement is a well-disguised ploy to separate a black woman from her money.

It started with my hairstylist.

She’d been doing my hair for years and I even followed her to three salons. She would relax my hair, color it, trim it, and generally help me maintain the bone-straight look I enjoyed.

Almost two years ago, she moved to a new salon where the stylists did not put relaxers in clients’ hair and they were trained to discourage you from getting relaxers elsewhere. Predictably, she started talking to me about quitting my relaxers. I’d been wearing relaxed hair for 12 years at that point – ever since Aaliyah graced the cover of the “One In A Million” cassette tape – so I didn’t even take her suggestion seriously.

After much discussion, she finally convinced me to quit getting relaxers. She promised my hair would grow; I didn’t need the Big Chop; and I could still wear my hair bone-straight.

Intrigued, I began growing out my natural hair.

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By Guest Hair Blogger Trissha Taylor

If there’s one thing most women have in common, it’s that we’ve all had our good and bad moments when it comes to our hair while sitting in the chair of a stylist. Sometimes you’re lucky enough to find a perfect one–a stylist that won’t overcharge you, helps you keep your hair healthy, gets you started on time, and doesn’t have your hair sounding like you’re lighting fireworks with her overheated flat iron. But sometimes, you get a really ratchet stylist. Here are a few signs to watch out for so you don’t lose all your hair, your money and your mind in the hands of one.

By Charlotte Young

You thought you were being health-conscious when you bought that granola bar and drank that soy milk, didn’t you? Turns out, you may have been wrong. In a perfect example of how you can’t trust marketing claims that this product is good for you or that product has less fat, Forbes examines some of the top healthy alternatives we think we’re making every day.

Soy milk may brag that it’s the healthy alternative to regular fat-free and reduced fat milk, but its hiding some scary details. According to New York dietitian Robin Barrie Kaiden, “half the time it’s flavored and it has added sugar.” Soy milk is also genetically modified and no one yet knows what damage that may cause later in life. So for about $90 more a year, soy milk buyers are getting a product with higher calories and with more risk factors.

Another outrageously priced product is organic peanut butter. No matter how you spread it, peanut butter is still peanut butter and it’s high in fat. It’s best to stick with the cheaper version or if you’d like to be healthier, experiment with fat-free cream cheese. You might find that a cream cheese and jelly sandwich taste just as good.

Perhaps the highest price product on the list is skin cream. People believe that all the fancy ingredients on the bottle equal a well formulated product worth the $400-$1000 price tag. Dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon Tony Nakhla tells Forbes that “there is no ingredient so amazing that’s worth spending hundreds on a skin cream.” He reveals that often times a good product can be found right at your local drug store. A good product should range from $30-50. Try to look for a plant-based brand or one with retinol. It may be a good idea before embarking on a product search to start with a licensed dermatologist who will be able to guide you in the right direction for skin care.

The list wouldn’t be complete with the last two items: bottled water and diet soda. Americans have become obsessed with the convenience of what they believe is purified water in a bottle making it a $4 billion a year industry. But medical experts are growing increasingly concerned about the risks of bottled water, researching whether or not the plastic container holding the bottle is leaking toxins into it when the bottle is left in the heat. They recommend that if you’re still not convinced to go with tap water, try using a basic faucet filter instead. The change could save you an estimated $150 a year.

As for diet soda, turns out that neither diet soda nor regular soda is good for you. Diet sodas have been linked to increased waist sizes. It’s best just to take this craving out of your life. While it may be hard at first, the additional $300 a year it’ll save you is a good incentive.