Hair conditioners serve a lot of different functions but all-in-all they tend to be one of the best things you can do for your hair. Most long-haired people know how to use a conditioner, especially the standard rinse-out hair conditioners – just put a little on your freshly washed and still slightly wet hair, spread it well, leave it on for a couple of minutes, and then rinse it away. It’s that simple.
Still, even with such a simple procedure, there are quite a few tips, tricks, and recommendations that a lot of people have missed out on so below we’ll address some of the more frequently asked questions and misconceptions about hair conditioners.
How often should you use conditioner?
This depends on your hair, your needs, and the conditioner itself, but as a rule of thumb, you should do it after shampooing your hair, i.e. – 2 or 3 times a week.
Can you put conditioner on dry hair?
Technically, yes, you can, but rinse-out hair conditioners are really designed to be applied on wet hair. On dry hair a conditioner simply won’t have nearly as much penetration and won’t do you much good – essentially, you’d be wasting it.
Is using conditioner first then shampoo a good idea?
Do you condition or shampoo first? Most of us are taught to first shampoo, then rinse, then condition, and then rinse again. The reverse can be done as well, however, and this method even has a name – “reverse hair washing”. This method can be beneficial for people with fine hair that sometimes feel their hair being greasy and weighted down after conditioning. Shampooing after conditioning can fix this problem while still maintaining a lot of the conditioner’s benefits, especially if you are extra careful in applying the shampoo strictly to the scalp and roots of the hair.
Still, if you don’t have this problem, we’d recommend the standard shampoo-rinse-conditioner-rinse order of doing things.
Can you leave conditioner in your hair without rinsing?
There’s actually a special type of conditioner for this – leave-in conditioners. They are designed to be used after using a standard rinse-out conditioner and towel-drying your hair and are meant to be left on until your next wash.
Can you use a standard rinse-out conditioner this way, however? Technically, yes, however, it will be less effective than a leave-in conditioner as the two are not the same, and you’ll also want to make sure that you use less than you would if you were going to rinse it out.
In short – it’s best to just get a good leave-in conditioner.
What happens if you rinse out immediately by mistake?
It’s not uncommon to get distracted and forget to wait a couple of minutes before rinsing. It’s not the end of the world, you just won’t get the full benefits of your conditioner. Still, for consistently better results, make sure to not make this mistake too often. A good habit is to simply do something else while waiting for the conditioner.
How important is it to spread the conditioner evenly?
Pretty important, otherwise portions of your hair won’t get a good enough treatment. You must make sure that your hair’s tips are well-conditioned above all as they tend to suffer the most. But all in all, make sure to spread the conditioner as well as possible. You can use a wide-tooth comb too, for even better results.
