Applied after the shampoo, this care product allows smoothing the scales of the hair, to detach them from each other and to untie the knots. The best conditioner is chosen according to its ingredients and your hair type. In this article, we help you to see more clearly.
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How To Choose the Best Conditioner?
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Published March 13, 2024,
by
Maylis, Chemical Engineer
—
7 min read
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Criterion N°1: Your Hair Type.
The first criterion for choosing the best conditioner is to adapt it to your hair type. Even if some conditioners are only meant to detangle the hair, others can contain active ingredients, like a hair mask. There are different types of conditioners for different hair types.
Smooth and flat hair
To take care of this type of hair, it is advisable to use a conditioner that strengthens and coats the hair fiber to bring structure and volume to the hair. In order to experience all the best conditioner benefits, we recommend you the use of natural ingredients to care for your hair without damaging it. Avoid rich fats such as certain vegetable oils (coconut, castor, avocado, etc.), which can weigh it down. Favor active ingredients such as plant proteins, plant keratin, moisturizing compounds (aloe vera gel, hyaluronic acid…), vitamins (B8, provitamin B5…).
Curly or frizzy hair
This type of hair has the particularity of being naturally dry. Conditioners designed for curly hair often come in the form of thick, rich creams. This type of conditioner will tone and shape your hair's curls. Choose products enriched with vegetable fats such as mango butter, shea butter, avocado oil or argan oil.
Greasy hair
Greasy hair is actually a misnomer; it is, in fact, an oily scalp that produces excess sebum, which runs down the hair shaft and gives the hair a shiny appearance that is sometimes unsightly. Conditioner for oily hair must be enriched with absorbent agents capable of absorbing impurities and grease. For example, mineral powders such as green clay (INCI: Montmorillonite) or white clay (INCI: Kaolin / Montmorillonite), whose “lamellar” sheet-like structure allows for the absorption of lipids. Some masks can also be enriched with Rhassoul from Morocco (or Ghassoul). This cleansing volcanic clay acts as an absorbent filter that will purify the hair.
Note: Whatever your hair type, also the best conditioner should be applied after the shampoo. It is spread on the ends and lengths. On the scalp, it may weigh down the hair and make it look greasy.
Criterion N°2: Conditioner Ingredients.
In order not to damage your hair, choose natural and organic conditioner ingredients. You can refer to the naturalness index sometimes written on the care in question or to an organic certification.
Please note that conditioner can come in 2 forms: liquid and solid. It is the liquid conditioners whose compounds should be checked. Solid conditioners are often of natural and ecological origin.
Some categories of ingredients should be avoided in a conditioner because they can damage the quality of your hair or be harmful to the planet.
Parabens
Used as preservatives, parabens are potential endocrine disruptors (= that disrupt hormonal balance). Since 2014, some parabens have been banned from use in cosmetics. Among the ingredients, they are easily recognized thanks to their INCI name which usually ends with paraben (Butylparaben, Propylparaben…). For information, organic hair care products do not contain parabens.
Silicones
Silicones are synthetic ingredients used since the 1970s. Originally, they were chosen to replace petroleum substitutes such as kerosene in cosmetic products. Their sensory qualities, difficult to match, made them widely used in the cosmetic market. Nevertheless, they have been criticized for several years because of their environmental impact, and some are suspected of being harmful to health.
Concerning their presence in some conditioners, silicones should be avoided because they are occlusive compounds. In the short term, they prevent the active ingredients in hair care products from penetrating the hair fiber. In the long term, they weigh down and grease the hair. To recognize them among the compounds, their INCI name ends with -icone, -iconol or -xane like phenyl trimethicone, polysiloxane, etc.
Sulfates
These are surfactants whose role is to remove oil from the hair. Sulfates are stripping and can attack the hair fiber. They also have a drying effect on the hair. Not all conditioners contain sulfates, as they are not cleansing products. Sulfates can be recognized in the list of ingredients as sodium lauryl sulfate or ammonium lauryl sulfate.
Not all sulfates are aggressive. It all depends on how they were obtained. While you should avoid sulfates from a chemical base, you can freely use those from a vegetable base such as coconut or sugar.
Sources
Draelos ZD. Essentials of hair care often neglected: Hair cleansing. Department of Dermatology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA, (2010).
D'Souza P, et al. Shampoo and conditioners: What a dermatologist should know? (2015).
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