What Ingredients Go Into Making A Good Conditioner?

When you're making your own conditioner these are all the yummy ingredients you will want to include: 

• Cationic quaternary compounds (and polymers), these are positively charged ingredients that stick to hair to moisturise, condition it and make it easier to comb. e.g. BTMS, fatty alcohols like acetyl alcohol
• Emollients
• Extracts / Infusions / Hydrosols
• Film Formers
• Humectants
• Oil and butters
• Panthenol
• Preservatives
• Proteins
• Silicones

You can use some or all of the above. It depends on what you are trying to achieve.

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Technically, a product has to contain cationic ingredients to be called a conditioner. In the past I have made videos for you on how to make DIY conditioners using food ingredients:

• Nourishing DIY Banana Conditioner For Dry Or Damaged Hair
  
• Egg White & Coconut Protein Conditioner - DIY Homemade Hair Recipe

Whilst both of these recipes will help to soften and condition hair they are technically not "proper" conditioners because they do not contain these positively charged cationic ingredients that stick to your hair. This means that when you wash them out they wash out completely and there is nothing left on your hair to continue the conditioning process that makes subsequent combing easier.

When you are formulating a conditioner the first thing you should decide is which cationic quaternary compound you will use. The common options are:

• BTMS (go fore BTMS-50 because it contains double the amount of active ingredients as BTMS-25 and it also contains a humectant which is awesome especially for dry-haired girls like moi)
  
• Cetrimonium bromide
  
• Cetrimonium chloride 
  
• Incroquat CR
  

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You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free Conditioner Recipes
• Key Considerations In Making Your Own Conditioner. What Should A Good Conditioner Do?
• How Exactly Do Conditioners Work?

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