Monica Muses:
Is it better to apply deep conditioner while your hair is dry or will it absorb it better if you apply it while your hair is wet? Also is it true that the mayonnaise and the eggs are great deep conditioners for hair? My friends have tried it and swear it works…
And Grace Guesses:
Is it true that avocado makes a great conditioner for hair? How does it work? What would be the best way to condition my hair with avocado?
The Right Brain’s Replies:
As we previously discussed, deep conditioners aren’t really very different from regular conditioners (unless you’re talking about oil based treatments.) Therefore, you can apply them to wet hair right after shampooing. For best results you should work the conditioner into your ends first because that’s where most of the damage is. Don’t over-apply at the scalp because your roots don’t need it as much and you might weigh your hair down.
Regarding mayonnaise, eggs and avocado: they’ll make a fine salad but they won’t really do much for your hair. Modern conditioning ingredients are FAR more effective at smoothing the cuticle and protecting from heat damage than these ingestible ingredients. As we’ve noted before, some vegetable oils (like coconut oil) are good conditioners but even they work best when blended with other ingredients. By themselves, these foods won’t do much for your hair at all.
The Brains‘ Bottom Line:
If you’re hell-bent to rub avocado and eggs in your hair, go for it. Just let us know how you apply it and if you like it better than your regular conditioner.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
You say that deep conditioners can be applied to wet hair right after shampooing, but you didn’t answer the question of whether it will absorb better applied to wet or to dry hair, so I want to shed some light on this.
Water and heat both break the hydrogen bonds in the hair, whereas evaporation and cold reform these temporary bonds. Hydrogen bonds are relatively weak and non damaging. Hair that is wet is weak and malleable, more prone to being stretched and damaged, and also well able to absorb conditioner.
**However** if your hair is full of water it will have not be able to absorb much else. You will get the best results when applying conditioner after shampooing if you step out of the shower stream and gently squeeze out as much water as you can, without wringing or twisting(since it’s more fragile wet) If you can towel dry it, so it’s merely damp, it’s even better. Now apply your conditioner and give it at least several minutes to work before rinsing out. Your hair will be noticeably softer and less tangled than if you applied the product to dripping wet hair.
You can also put deep conditioner on your DRY hair, put a plastic bag or shower cap on it, wrap it up in a towel, and let your body heat work to help the conditioner penetrate.
What I find easiest, though, is to put deep conditioner on my hair when it’s dry(mid-shaft to ends only), put it up in a bun, and go do my workout at the gym or outside. I get hot and sweaty, and I need to hit the shower right after, anyway. Two birds with one stone.
I’ve not seen any data that shows people would notice a difference whether they applied conditioner to damp hair versus dry hair.
???
I didn’t say there was a difference. I explained how both may be done and I explained that heat affects the same bonds as water, allowing the conditioner to penetrate as well when applied to dry hair with heat, as when hair is damp.
I’ve put in mayonnaise and eggs+oil (not at the same time) in my hair. I don’t know about the conditioning, but I will say that eggs + oil + a little conditioner is the best detangling mix there is. I haven’t found any conditioner that has the kind of slipperiness that eggs have. Most mainstream conditioners, also, even if they are a bit slippery, they are also kind of waxy and act like a glue clumping my hair together, even after a rinse. Not so with the eggs.
The one problem with eggs? They scramble more easily in your hair, being hard to get out. That’s why I switched to mayo.