Conditioning: Tips and Tricks!

      I get a lot of questions asking about dry or damaged hair and what to do to help repair and or prevent it. I always give the same answer, buy a good weekly conditioner. If you wanted to take it to the next level, I would suggest going to get an in salon treatment. That's where they have the good stuff.

     Let me go further into detail about dry versus damaged hair. What to use for each and why one conditioner might be better than another for your particular situation.

Damaged Hair
     Usual causes are bleaching or highlighting the hair, or repetitive coloring. On this type of hair you need to use a combination of protein and moisturizer in your conditioner. Why protein? The molecules of protein go into your hairs structure and fill in any holes that may be there. There are different ranges of protein to moisture ratios in different products so you should pick one that is balanced to your needs. The more damage to your hair the more protein you need.
     Why not just use a protein rich shampoo to prevent damage? Well, although protein is good, it can also build up in the hair and cause the hair to become more dry. Think of it this way, for every molecule of protein that is in your hair, that is one molecule of moisture that can't be there. So you really only want to use protein if you need it.
     I have a couple of products that I will recommend, each of which I have used personally. The first, and my absolute favorite is Aveda's Damage Remedy. The reason for the favoritism is because Aveda discovered a new type of protein that does NOT build up in your hair. Once your hair is full of the protein the rest will just drop out. So that is a HUGE plus to not have to worry about using too much. Another one I really like is the Redken Real Control line. In a previous post, I reviewed the deep conditioner and I liked it so much that I am now using the shampoo and conditioner from the line as well. I will review the shampoo and conditioner from this line later seeing as I just started using it a couple of days ago and don't really have a good grasp of whether I like it or not yet. The good thing about the Real Control line is that it doesn't contain too much protein and it is still a good moisturizer. If your hair is very damaged, and you want to try Redken, the Extreme line is what they have. This one I have never actually used.

Dry Hair
     Most of the time when people think they have damaged hair, their hair is really just in need of some extra moisture. A couple of split ends don't need a protein conditioner, they need a haircut.
     Curly hair is one type of hair that is usually dry. So if you're a curly cue you will want a moisturizing conditioner.
     Dry hair is a little more simple, you don't have to worry about protein build up. Just get a good moisturizer like Aveda's Dry Remedy or Redken All Soft.

How to Apply
     Now I know everyone knows how to put conditioner in their hair, but to get your hair to really soak it up there is a trick.

1. Shampoo like normal and skip the regular conditioner.
2. Towel dry your hair as best as you can in the shower.
3. Now apply a generous amount of your weekly deep conditioner
4. Leave it on as long as you want/can.

Your hair is like a sponge, so if it is already full of water it doesn't soak up much more moisture. If you ring the sponge out before using it, it will soak up much much more. So just make sure you get as much water out of your hair as you can before applying the conditioner.  Most times I do the steps above first and then wash my body and shave, etc. and then I wash out the conditioner. Every once in a while though I will leave the conditioner on to sleep in or for a longer period of time. If I sleep in the conditioner I take a dry towel and wrap it around my pillow before laying my wet hair on it.


I hope this helped answer any questions you may have had. If you have another question I will be happy to answer!

Healthy hair is beautiful hair!
<3 Andi

P.S. I am sorry if there are typos in this post. I started it much earlier but had to leave half way through. I have now been up for 20 hours and am too tired to go back and correct my mistakes. I hope I wasn't so tired that you can't understand. We'll see when I read it again in the morning! Goodnight!