It might be obvious how to use conditioner for your hair. However, there are some things that if you understand the importance of it and how to use it, you might see better results with your hair care routine.
For more healthy hair tips, check out this for scalp health!
The Purpose of a Hair Conditioner
The purpose of a hair conditioner is to lubricate your hair and add slip to it to help detangle, feel softer, add shine, help fight against frizz and static.
Since hair is most fragile when it’s wet, we want to ensure that when we are combing through it, it will glide to avoid as much damage and breakage as possible. Conditioner smooths the cuticle to avoid the hair strands to get tangled together.
Shampooing your hair cleanses your scalp and removes product build-up, but can stripe away your natural oils needed for a healthy scalp and hair growth.
Once you use shampoo, you want to add something to your hair to restore the natural oils, strengthen, and condition the hair. This is where the conditioner comes in.
How To Use Conditioner
Regular conditioner should be the second step in your shower hair washing routine.
Before applying conditioner, ring out excess water from your hair by gently squeezing down hair.
**AVOID twisting hair or running hands down hair fast to avoid friction and potentially breaking hair.
Depending on how thick your hair is, section your hair to cover all of it with conditioner. I usually do 4 sections to make sure I even get the ‘inside’ of my hair. By inside I mean like the inside of my hair if it were in a ponytail.
How Much Conditioner To Use
The question of how much conditioner to use depends on your hair type and length. You want to use a generous amount to really coat the hair to provide that slip and soak up the active ingredients.
You only want to apply it to the middle to the ends of your hair. We want to condition where there are the most ‘issues’. We don’t want to condition the scalp. This can leave hair looking greasy right after you just washed it.
You should leave your conditioner on your hair for around 3 minutes to get the most out of the ingredients. Since you rinse it out, you want to be getting as much out of the product as you can.
**DID YOU KNOW: Leaving on product longer than instructed doesn’t mean your hair will get more of the product/ingredients. Once it’s on the hair, it’s there, not soaking extra stuff.
When rinsing it out, turn down your water to a lukewarm temperature closes the cuticles to help lock in moisture.
Tips & Tricks
- Gently use a wide-tooth comb to detangle hair with conditioner in it for easier brushing out of the shower.
- When shampooing, gently massage shampoo on to scalp. The rougher you are, the more tangles you create making it harder to comb through during conditioning.
- Apply the conditioner in sections.
- Gently ring out excess water before applying the conditioner.
- For maximum absorption, you can apply a shower cap with the conditioner still on your hair to help the heat penetrate the product deeper to more effectively get into the cuticles.
- I use a mask as a conditioner about 2 times a month and use these same tips and steps.
- TREND ALERT: Reverse washing is applying conditioner to ends of hair before shampooing to help create a barrier from shampoo ingredients. This can help with dry and/or damaged ends.
How To Choose A Hair Conditioner For Your Hair
Depending on your hair type (thick, fine, coarse, etc) will determine the type of conditioner that would work best. Fine, thin hair should choose something lighter while thick hair should opt for a thicker option.
**Even if you have damaged fine hair, look for a lighter consistency conditioner for damaged hair
Silicones are needed in the conditioner. They help with that slip, maintain smooth, shiny hair. Some people might not want to have silicones for whatever reason, but they are actually good for your hair in the form of a conditioner.
I have listed some conditioners that I personally use (have used) and love. As well as some that are great options as well.
That was kind of a lot but I hope this helps! Let me know if you have questions 🙂
XO, Annie
