Got some news about deep conditioning for you that you're going to like! Why? Because we're in a better position to say why and how something works than ever before. putting bricks and leopards in your hair will not help
"Deep Condition" usually means we want an extra dose of flexibility, softness, bounce, shine, "life" and detangling ease. But search online for a minute and it can seem like this is going to be an elaborate process. It doesn't have to be, though if you get great results from longer treatments and it works for your lifestyle, and you enjoy it, I wouldn't dare suggest you stop doing that. putting bricks and leopards in your hair will not help
What's in this post:
What are the main components of conditioners that make deep conditioning more intense? (1)
Where do these work in your hair? (2)
How long does it take for each component to be maximally effective (and what if I want to adjust this for more or less conditioning)? (3)
How do I adjust to make a deep conditioning treatment more or less intense? (4)
Here we have our main components. They actually come in different shapes and sizes and can have different effects on different areas of the hair.
Oils and emollients: Detangling, softness, smoothing, shine, and increase the ability of conditioners to bind to the surface of hair. This includes the creamy fatty alcohols (Cetyl alcohol, Cetearyl alcohol, Stearyl alcohol) that thicken conditioners and leave a silky feel in hair. And also oils from plants or seeds or nuts. It also includes silicone emollients like Amodimethicone. These ingredients are active at the surface and can move into deeper sections o the hair, depending on the ingredient.
Humectants help moisture (literally talking about water here) stay in the hair longer. They attract moisture. Maybe they increase your dry-time, but they also keeps your hair better hydrated between washes. Many of these ingredients also do some bond-repair, stabilizing hair-proteins to reduce breakage and split ends. Humectants include Glycerin, Propanediol/Propylene glycol, Panthenol, Betaine, Amino acids, Proteins, Peptides, Sodium (or Zinc) PCA, Lactic acid, Aloe vera, Honey, Sorbitol.
Cationic conditioners have a few jobs. They help keep the product from separating (they're emulsifiers). They have a positive electrostatic charge (hence the plus-signs) and bond to the surface of hair - which has more negative electrostatic charges. That reduces static electricity that causes flyaway hair, friction (tangling) and frizz. These ingredients also help the Emollients and other active ingredients stay with hair after rinsing, in a nearly invisible, micro-thin layer for softness and smoothness.
Proteins and amino acids (and peptides) add support and strength. Many protein-type active ingredients can stabilize the bonds within hair to reduce breakage and split ends. Protein can act as a humectant and is especially helpful in dry climates, for damaged hair (sun, pool, highlights, heat-styling, hair dye), or add extra support/volume for Fine and Medium hair. putting bricks and leopards in your hair will not help
Bond Repair ingredients are a diverse category. Some are humectants, some are amino acid or protein-based. Some are more like Cationic conditioners. All of them work either inside the hair or at the surface (or both) to support damaged areas temporarily, or to smooth the hair's surface.
2. Here is a hair, and next to it are the individual components from before (but in real life they're all blended). Okay, apply your conditioner. We'll wait.
The next image will show you where those components go - on the surface of hair, inside the hair, or both.
On the left you're looking at a hair from the outside. On the right, you're looking at a cross-section, like you sliced through a hair.
Based on research with emollients, conditioners, proteins, humectants and bond-repair ingredients, this image represents where in your hair those ingredients can go relative to the outside and inside of your hair.
- Cationic conditioners stay (mostly) on the outside. Some can seep under cuticles, and some are small enough to get inside hair - but mostly these are on the outside where they do lots of great things.
- Emollients may stay on the outside, and some can move inside hair.
- Humectants may stay on the outside, but many can easily move inside hair to preserve hydration from within. Great for dry climates!
- Some bond-repair ingredients (if not most) are active inside hair, but they also can work on the outside (the cuticles) to help keep them feeling smooth. Less friction, more shine.
- Proteins may stay on the outside, or they may move inside hair, depending on the protein. Small to Medium proteins move inside hair. The larger proteins tend to form a water-hugging film.
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Adapted from Robbins et al., 1992, Ran et al., 2009 |
We can adjust intensity several different ways.
Thicker products usually contain higher concentrations of fatty alcohols - which count as emollients here. They may also contain more Emollients in general. The chart below ↓ shows you that the higher the Emollient content (darker blue), the more Conditioner product is adsorbed to hair (light blue). This chart is an adaptation of ratios for visual representation of this concept. The greater emollient content facilitates conditioner adsorption to hair. Emollients add their own softness and smoothing as well.©Science-y Hair Blog do not copy
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Adapted from VanNugyen et al., 1992. Notes to follow. |
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Adapted from VanNugyen et al., 1992 |
Using gentle heat can potentially double the intensity of your conditioner. See the chart - 95°F (35°C) is all it took to do that. That is near your body-temperature. No need for a high-heat cap or hair dryer. Trap in that body heat.
Highest intensity options (do all) | Moderate intensity, option 1: | Moderate Intensity Option 2: | Moderate Intensity Option 3: | Busy, no extra time, low maintenance |
---|---|---|---|---|
Use heat | Use heat | Use heat | ||
Use a rich product with emollients | Use a rich product with emollients | Use a rich product with emollients | ||
Longer treatment time | Longer treatment time (10-15 minutes, up to 30) | Longer treatment time (10-15 minutes, up to 30) | Longer treatment time (but only 3-5 minutes) | |
Humectants or Bond-repair! | Humectants or Bond-repair! | Humectants or Bond-repair! | Humectants or Bond-repair! | Humectants/Proteins or Bond-repair! More than 1 in your product is ideal. |
Journal of Cosmetic Science Vol. 4 No. 3, 259-273 September/October 1992
Assessment of the substantivity of cationic quaternary compounds to hair by potentiometric titration using the surfactant electrode.
NGHI VAN NGUYEN, DAVID W. CANNELL, ROGER A. MATHEWS, and HANS H. Y. OEI, Redken Laboratories. 1992
Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Chemistry Vol. 4 No. 5, p. 85-94 1994
Adsorption to keratin surfaces A: continuum between a charge-driven and a hydrophobically driven process.
C. R. ROBBINS, C. REICH, and A. PATEL
Journal of Cosmetic Science, 60, 85–95 March/April 2009
The effects of lipid penetration and removal from subsurface microcavities and cracks at the human cuticle sheath
MANUEL GAMEZ-GARCIA
Chemical and Physical Behavior of Human Hair
Robbins, 1994. 3rd Ed. Springer-Verlag, New York
Structural investigation on damaged hair keratin treated with
É‘,êžµ-unsaturated Michael acceptors used as repairing agents
Michele Di Foggia, Carla Boga, Gabriele Micheletti, Benedetta Nocentini, Paola Taddei.
International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 167 (2021) 620–632
I love that there is research on this. Thanks for the info and clear summary! Do you have any idea how long it takes for glycerin to moisturize hair, esp. in a rinse off product? There is glycerin in my shampoo (and I have a bottle of glycerin, so I can always add it), I really don't want glycerin in a leave on product, as I find that it at least doubles drying time.
ReplyDeleteHi Kiki. Glycerin should (hypothetically) move into the hair shaft quickly, it's a tiny molecule. In a product, it's going to move with the product, so it's probably reasonable to think of it in the same way as a conditioner as a whole. More time or using heat allows more glycerin to move deeper into the hair. A short contact-time - like shampooing - Glycerin may reduce dehydration and make nice bubbles. If you leave a Glycerin-containing conditioner on for several minutes - some will seep into broken areas/under cuticles and provide extra hydration. With the rest of the product - it doesn't separate.
DeleteAwesome post! Packed with graphs, just the way a graph junkie like me loves it! 😄
ReplyDeleteRemember in the bond repair post how I mentioned that graph showing conditioner efficacy starts to plateau after 30 minutes? And that you had to remove it because the image usage permission changed?
I think that idea would be good to clarify here. You mention that 30 minutes is 2.6 times more intense than 5, but that might make people think there's still a big gain beyond 30 minutes—when actually, the effect just doesn't keep increasing much after that point.
Especially since the table even says "up to 30 min", it kind of makes it sound like using it for more than 30 minutes might be "bad", rather than just giving little to no extra benefit
I had a bit of fun making graphs. Excellent points all - thank you. I don't know that a longer (than 30 min.) treatment time has been tested in the same way! I'll do some more digging. Longer treatment times do work for some people. There's a trade-off, because leaving hair wet for that long can have a weakening effect. And it's kind rather inconvenient to do long treatments.
DeleteSam, leaving DCs on longer than 30 minutes can in fact be "bad." Prolonged wetness can cause a type of damage called hygral fatigue. The more porous one's hair is, the sooner it can set in. It happened to me after I started wetting my hair & detangling with a conditioner pre-wash.
DeleteHi Galaria, you anticipated one of the topics I wanted to ask Wendy about. I hope she doesn't mind, I'll reply to your message to share my thoughts and hope she gives us more insight about the topic when she approves my comment.
DeleteI'm honestly not convinced hygral fatigue is a thing. The theory is that the constant swelling and unswelling of the hair weakens the bonds of the hair. An analogy that is commonly used is thinking of a rubber band that stretches too much and breaks.
When hair is wet, hydrogen bonds bond with water instead of each other. But hydrogen bonds are temporary, they break and reform all of the time. And that happens even if you don't consciously wet your hair (for example due to humidity in the air).
So that's why I don't think the reasoning behind hygral fatigue and broken bonds is convincing. You're not breaking permanent bonds that can't be formed again.
At any rate, a plausible damaged caused by hair swelling is due to the swelling of the layers beneath the cuticle. The cuticle doesn't swell, so you have something swelling inside something that doesn't swell, and that causes damage.
Water however puts hair in a weaker state. So any physical damage that hair gets while it's wet is worse in that weaker state. You mention that you noticed damage when detangling your hair while it's wet. Do you happen to have straight hair? Unlike curly hair, combing force is stronger when straight hair is wet, so if it's your case I suspect the combing of your hair in a weaker state has more to do with the damage than the swelling and unswelling of the hair.
Another thing to be careful of is blow drying at high temperatures that make the water inside to evaporate abruptly and cause bubbles in the hair.
Let's see what Wendy has to say about this!!
Hygral fatigue is mostly an online term when applied to hair. It was not meant for human hair fibers, but it has been adapted for the purposes of communication. There is a NASA reference to this in 1988 (https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19880011873/downloads/19880011873.pdf). Referring to cycles of exposures to moisture (there's your "hygral") and heat that reduce the load-bearing abilities of "fibrous composite materials" such as fiberglass or carbon fiber. -------- Because we had no words for, "What happens when your hair gets too soft from conditioners, or gets all wonky if you're caught out in the rain for 8 hours, or your hair stays wet all night," people adopted that engineering/chemistry terminology for hair.
DeleteAnd it is true that staying wet for extended amounts of time can weaken hair because it's left in a vulnerable state. Nature makes our hair a little bit water-repelling for this reason. "Weakened" refers to the swelling of hair and pressure that creates. --- If we say "Hygral fatigue" for too many things, it doesn't point to a clear solution. When clients tell me they're worried about hygral fatigue, I often have to ask more questions to be clear how they understand that term. People do not interpret it the same way.
Over-conditioned hair is over-conditioned. There are certain steps you take to correct that.
Hair that has been wet too long needs strengthening-care and products or treatments that reduce porosity to help it recover.
Hair that is very porous or very susceptible to breakage also needs strengthening-care and products or treatments that reduce porosity to help reduce breakage.
Maybe somebody's hair needs all of the above.
I like that people have found a term to use for something we didn't have words for. I'm not sure folks care whether it's scientifically accurate.
I might have to expand this into a post - when I have a minute. I have some photos of thermohygral fatigue in fiberglass.
I should add that "hygral expansion" is used to talk about wool fabrics. Wool being similar to human hairs in many ways. That is textile-science and referring to how wool fabrics will maintain their shape (and size!) when exposed to wetting and drying - will they shrink, expand or deform?
DeleteNo, I have curly hair (3A-B.) And I use strong hold gel so the only way I can dry-detangle w/out causing breakage is with oiled fingers (after spreading quite a bit of oil, like 8-10 drops, through my hair.) That's what I did pre-wash before I tried using conditioner & water instead, & what I went back to after realizing the latter method was damaging my hair. Either way, I still have to re-detangle with my fingers in the shower after washing & conditioning, but I've found that detangling pre-wash makes the in-shower detangling process quicker & easier.
DeleteAlso, I don't think the pre-wash wet detangling was the sole cause of my hair developing hygral fatigue, but rather the final straw. I'd also been styling with soaking wet hair, re-misting with water during the styling process, & deep conditioning quite frequently (sometimes leaving the DCs on for as long as 40 minutes.)
And to clarify: my symptoms were actual damage, not just "over-moisturized", too-soft, limp hair. My hair became very fragile & extremely prone to breakage & severe tangling. When dry it was dull, extremely frizzy & brittle & when wet it was gummy & stretchy, but still weak & breakage-prone.
After several Olaplex No3 treatments & frequent use of protein-containing products, as well as discontinuing the practices that water-logged my hair, my hair recovered to a degree. But it was still pretty bad, so I had to cut my hair from bra-strap length to above my shoulders. Post-chop, I still find that I really need a lot of protein in my routine. My hair suffers whenever I, for fear of protein-overload, ease up on it.
I myself was skeptical about hygral fatigue before I experienced it. But I can think of no other explanation for what happened to my hair; I don't dye, process ,or heat-style it, plus I handle it gently & sleep with a bonnet.
This is exactly what I hear from some clients. We run through the products they were using and try to learn whether one or more ingredients might also be contributing to brittleness or breakage. Or whether one section of their hair is different from the rest. Then we sort through whether hair needs strengthening (and from what sort of ingredients). Whether it needs less of something, more of something else. Glad you worked this out for your hair!
DeleteTo be clear, what I'm skeptical about is the hygral fatigue that "damages hydrogen bonds" and the rubberband analogy, that's why I said that at any rate the damage would be caused due to pressure rather than breaking bonds. I have never used that term, and I think Wendy nailed it when she says using the same term for many things cause confusion, especially for someone like me who takes things literally :(
DeleteBut Wendy, what exactly is damaged, and how, when hair is wet? I found this paper, called "Secondary ion mass spectrometric investigation of penetration of coconut and mineral oils into human hair fibers: Relevance to hair damage". It was published in 2001 and hygral fatigue is explicitly mentioned, and its prevention seems to be the main objective of studying the reduction of hair swelling using oils.
In that paper, they say "Hygral fatigue can lead to cuticular damage as well as damage to the cortex, which can, in turn, affect the mechanical properties".
And also, how damaging is it compared to things like getting hair colored?
P.S.: I find it amusing such term was used in a different context back in the 80s and there's mentions of it on the early 2000s, and if you take a look at Google Trends, you can see people was starting to search the term (in the conext of hair care, I presume) in 2011!
I first saw the term hygral fatigue used for hair on "The Natural Haven" blog, which was probably around 2010-ish, and I think it was in regarding hair-swelling behavior when wet also. If a client tells me they experience, or worry about developing hygral fatigue, I need to ask questions to understand how they arrived at that term, what "symptoms" they are experiencing - and why. So I know which set of problems to look into. I don't usually use that term myself because it can mean more than one thing. To imagine the damage from wetting-and-swelling, you can imagine the mechanical stress between microfibrils in the hair leading to bond-breakage, or micro-sized areas of protein denaturation. Why does our hair replace itself (grow?) And our skin and nails? Because they wear out with normal exposure to the elements. They're not made to last a lifetime because "the elements" can be pretty hard on our tissues.
DeleteI'll post about this next month...
Hiii, i have a problem a really big one 😠Three years ago my hair started to feel super weird, when I washed it it felt hard and heavy as soon as the water touched my hair, no sulfate free shampoo or with mild sulfates worked for me, I remember that when I used sulfate free it didn't foam at all 🥹. I live in Peru and the water is quite hard, I was using a Garnier fructis aloe Vera shampoo for a year because it was the only one that relieved that strange sensation, however it left my hair horrible, the ingredients of that shampoo are :AQUA / WATER / EAU,SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE,COCO-GLUCOSIDE,COCO-BETAINE,PARFUM / FRAGRANCE,CITRIC ACID,GLYCERYL OLEATE,SODIUM BENZOATE,TRIETHYL CITRATE,SODIUM HYDROXIDE,HYDROXYPROPYL GUAR HYDROXYPROPYLTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE,SODIUM CHLORIDE,SALICYLIC ACID,ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF JUICE,LINALOOL,CITRONELLOL,GERANIOL,HYDROGENATED PALM GLYCERIDES. Three months ago I stopped using that shampoo, and now I use this one from the Savital Hyaluronic Acid brand : Aqua, sodium laureth sulfate, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium chloride. Dimethiconol glycerin, parfum, sodium benzoate, citric acid, glycol distearate, guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, peg-45m, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, acrylates copolymer, disodium edta cocamide mea, amodimethicone, sodium hydroxide, mica, titanium dioxide. Ci 19140, hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid, ci 17200. Aloe barbadensis leaf extract, amyl cinnamal, benzyl alcohol, benzyl salicylate y linalool. I know it contains silicones but that shampoo makes my hair super nice, and it relieved the feeling of hardness of my hair, however I'm starting to feel my hair without volume, I think I should use a clarifying shampoo? In my country there is not much variety of shampoo in reality the most used brands are Pantene, Savital and Dove, and most have silicones including clarifying shampoos. And I have also tried using a shower filter but I didn't like it at all, when I dried my hair I could feel that the shampoo was still there :(. I have dyed hair, I noticed that it is a little damaged because it is easily tangled when it is wet and also when it is dry.
ReplyDeleteHello Alexandra in Peru! Dove makes some silicone-free shampoos, but I don't know if you have them where you live. Garnier Whole Blends has a coconut water shampoo without silicones, and Garnier Pure Clean shampoo does not contain silicones. ~~~~~~ But I wonder if the bigger problem for your hair is hard water. If that is true, then a hard water (mineral) removing rinse might help. You can scroll down this page to find "DIY Rinses" made with vinegar or Citric acid or vitamin C. (Copy the address and paste into your browser). https://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2016/03/hard-water-and-your-hair.html
ReplyDeleteYou don't need to use distilled water, I know it is hard to find.
That might help keep your hair manageable and feeling more soft.
You can also add a little sugar or honey to your conditioner to help it detangle and keep your hair soft. You can see more about that here: https://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2025/01/sugars-and-bond-repair-and-diy-bond.html
I hope one of these things helps you! -W
Thank you for answering me 🙂. I don’t know how to explain but my hair feels sticky When I try to run my fingers over my hair it just doesn't happen, It gets stuck. I’ve been like this for threes years 😠I don’t know if is the water I mean I’ve been in Peru all my life. And I’m the only one in my family who has this problem. Even before using shampoo with silicones my hair was like that. Silicones are not the problem, rather they relieve, but i notice that it weights down my hair ( my hair is oily and density is medium) and looks flat. It’s been three months since I start using shampoo and conditioner with silicones like dimethiconol and dimethicone.
DeleteThat is very frustrating! If you had all the crazy options we have here in the 'States, I would choose a shampoo with some silicones for your hair. I think you might look for a clear shampoo - one you can see through. The Garnier Aloe shampoo is clear and green-colored? But the Satival shampoo is creamy-white? The ingredients that add the creamy, pearl-like color add weight and conditioning also (Glycol distearate). That could be causing a problem, if it makes the product a little heavy for your hair. It's a great ingredient! Just a little heavy for some of us.
DeleteThe Garnier one probably leaves your hair feeling awful because one of its detergents tends to leave a sticky, tangly feeling. It is a good formula for hard water, and that may be why it helped the hard feeling, but also left your hair feeling unpleasant.
Another guess is to try a medicated shampoo. I've had clients with sensitive skin and lots of trouble with their hair who benefitted from an anti-dandruff shampoo because it was calming to their skin. Have you used any before? Satival makes one that has silicones to detangle and *might* not be too heavy.
What other shampoos are you interested in trying?
Yes, the Garnier shampoo is clear transparent and the Savital shampo is creamy white. I've never really tried an anti-dandruff shampoo because despite having oily hair I never had dandruff. In Peru most clarifying shampoos contain a strong sulfate and dimethicone, I really don't know why they do that 😠They shouldn’t put silicones on a clarifying shampoo it’s very contradictory. I’ve been looking and I have these options:
Delete1. Shampoo Savital Mint( with silicone)::: Aqua, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Dimethiconol, Zinc Pyrithione, Sodium Chloride, Dimethicone, Parfum, Phenoxyethanol, Carbomer, Sodium Salicylate, Sodium Hydroxide, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Citric Acid, Glycerin, Zinc Sulfate, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Glycine, Niacinamide, Ci 42090, Phospholipids, Polyquaternium-16, Ci 19140, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Hydrolyzed Silk, Tocopheryl Acetate, Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool
2. Head and shoulders anti comezón:::: Aqua, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Xylenesulfonate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Citrate, Parfum, Menthol, Piroctone Olamine, Citric Acid, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Dimethiconol, Sodium Chloride, Dimethicone, Sodium Salicylate, Sodium Benzoate, Tetrasodium Edta, Tea Dodecylbenzenesulfonate, Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool, Mentha Piperita Flower, Leaf, Stem Oil, Mentha Arvensis Leaf, Stem Oil, Trideceth 10, Benzyl Alcohol, Ci 42090, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone
3. Pantene bamboo:::: Agua, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Chloride, Ppg-2 Hydroxyethyl Coco/Isostearamide, Sodium Xylenesulfonate, Dimethiconol, Parfum, Sodium Benzoate, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Tetrasodium Edta, Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool, Hydroxycitronellal, Geraniol, Panthenol, Panthenyl Ethyl Ether, Histidine, Citronellol, Bambusa Vulgaris Shoot Extract, Peg-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Vitis Vinifera Seed Extract
4. Elvive Hyaluronic Acid:::: AQUA / WATER, SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE, SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE, COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, GLYCOL DISTEARATE, PARFUM / FRAGRANCE, HEXYLENE GLYCOL, GUAR HYDROXYPROPYLTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE, COCAMIDE MEA, COCO-BETAINE, LACTIC ACID, SODIUM BENZOATE, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, HYDROXYCITRONELLAL, HYDROLYZED HYALURONIC ACID, SODIUM HYALURONATE, PHENOXYETHANOL, STEARETH-6, ACETIC ACID, PEG-100 STEARATE, TRIDECETH-10, TRIDECETH-3, SALICYLIC ACID, DIMETHICONE, LIMONENE, FUMARIC ACID, LINALOOL, AMODIMETHICONE, CARBOMER, CITRIC ACID, HEXYL CINNAMAL.
5. Shampoo Pert Detox:::: Aqua (Water, Eau) • Sodium Laureth Sulfate • Sodium Chloride • Cocamidopopyl Betaine • PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate • Dimethyl Lauramide/Myristamide • Sodium Benzoate •Citric Acid •Polyquaternium-10 • Parfum (Fragrance) • Glycol Distearate • Sodium Sulfate • Laureth-4 •Panthenol • Hexyl Cinnamal• Limonene • Formaldehyde • Phenoxyethanol • Butylphenyl Methylpropional • Benzyl Alcohol • Benzyl Salicylate • Citronellol • Persea Gratissima^(Avocado) Oil • Punica Granatum Fruit Extract.
Which of these shampoos do you think would be better to use? Or should I look for others without any silicones and with strong sulfates?
The nice thing about dandruff shampoos is that sometimes they help calm an oily scalp.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking at the shampoos you mentioned for A) Perhaps not adding too much weight. B) Working well in hard water.
#1: Satival: This looks like a good one to try, it has some extra detangling from silicones.
#2: Head and Shoulders: This formula should *work well in hard water* and will clean well. The mint can help with scalp health, it should have a cool feeling. Very sensitive skin may not like that. If your hair is dried out easily, the Satival may be the better option for a medicated shampoo.
#3 Pantene: This is an excellent option. *Good in hard water,* it contains moisturizers, a little Silicone to detangle. Bamboo extract tends to be volumizing. Silicone content is lover than Satival - but enough to work well.
#4 Elvive may have the same problem of being a little heavy as the product you have been using.
#5 Pert Detox: This shampoo may be a little heavy and it isn't as well made for hard water as the others.
If silicones prevent that hard, tangly feeling in your hair - then it seems like a good idea to use them. Sulfates are fine, the ingredients in these products help reduce dryness from shampoo.
Use as little shampoo as you need - that also reduces dryness. You can "activate" shampoo before using it for a better result with less shampoo. Pour a little in your palm - then rub your palms together about 5-10 times, quickly. The shampoo should change texture. Maybe you'll see some bubbles. Then apply to your scalp.
I hope this helps!
Thank u so much. 🥹 I'll see how it goes.
Delete