Whilst shampoos contain ingredients designed to lift dirt and build-up off your hair, conditioners contain ingredients designed to stick to it.
Once you have washed your hair and your hair is clean it will always need some "nutrition" to replace goodies that have been lost during the cleansing process. This is why I think a proper cleanse with a shampoo is important: you don't want the conditioner sticking "the good stuff" on top of dirt. The conditioner won't do its work properly unless it's actually in contact with your hair. So, How Do Conditioners Make The Ingredients Stick To Hair Hair is negatively charged. So, positively charged ingredients stick to it and that is what a conditioner contains - positively charge ingredients called "cationic polymers" and "cationic quaternary compounds". Remember that line from science that everyone seems to apply to everything including relationships, "opposites attract" - that's exactly waguan in this situation. The positively charged stuff in conditioner gets attracted to our negatively charged hair.
These positively charged ingredients are sooo attracted to hair that they stay stuck to it when you rinse out the conditioner. They are washed off the next time you shampoo your hair. This is why, as you know, I am anti co-wash only regimens.
Healthy natural hair has a pH of 4.0 to 5.5. Chemically treated and damaged hair has a high pH (i.e. it's less acidic, more alkaline) and it is even more negatively charged so positively charged conditioners are even more attracted to it. This is good because people with damaged and relaxed hair need the ingredients and protection of conditioners a lot more. The positively charged ingredients in conditioner:
In the past I wrote about the 5 types of conditioner that are found commercially:
As with most other natural-haired girls I only wash my hair once a week so all my conditioners are deep conditioners. They can, of course, be rinsed of immediately for a quick condition but maximum benefit will is derived by allowing them to sit in your hair for 15-20 minutes under a shower cap. I used to think that only black people have dry hair (unexposed much?!), however, when I became a hair fanatic I learnt from some of my white and Asian friends and relatives that they suffer from dry hair too and as a result, don't wash their hair daily. They wash their hair more often than me but my DIY Conditioner Recipes are perfect for them too. Conditioner Differences
The overall recipe is the same for all conditioners. The distinction is that different conditioners contain different extracts and herbs that have a different impact on the feel of hair.
Deep conditioners contain a higher concentration of these nourishing ingredients. A basic commercial conditioner does not contain any herbs and extracts just oils and ingredient that help your hair absorb the oils. For instance, in my "Love Me" Conditioner For Weak, Brittle & Damaged Hair I add extra proteins to fortify weak and brittle hair. If you have short hair or the type of hair that can tolerate a daily wash then I suggest suggestion for changing my conditioner recipes in my DIY Conditioners ebook. Basically:
When you are buying a commercial conditioner (rather than making one yourself), read the label to see what is in there and how it's expected to help your hair. Don't buy a general conditioner when you have dry hair, that type of conditioner is targeted towards the average head (i.e. in developed countries this will be straight and wavy hair types) so it won't cater towards people with dry hair issues. Note that leave-in conditioners are the same thing as a moisturiser, it's just a different name for them so they will be covered in the DIY Moisturizers Course. |
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By Heather Katsonga-Woodward
I was a natural hair blogger and mixtress living between London & Chicago from 2012 to 2017. I always thought I was 4C but some say 4B; images below - you decide! Heather xx Categories
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