Li longs to learn: Does it matter how long you leave in you conditioner/hair treatment/hair mask? From what I’ve read it only coats the hair anyway so is it better if you leave it on longer?
The Right Brain respectfully obliges:
You’ve nailed one of the minor myths of hair care, Li. Conditioners DO NOT need to be left on as long as the companies tell you they do.
How conditioners work
That’s because 90% of the benefit from standard conditioners come from coating the surface of the hair. That’s not a bad thing – in fact, the best thing you can do for hair is to smooth and protect the cuticle (that shingle-like layer that covers your hair.) Yes, you have to take the time to work the product through your hair to make sure it’s evenly distributed (especially if you have a lot of hair.) But once the conditioner has had a chance to spread through your hair, leaving it on longer doesn’t make it do anything better. This part is very important – YOU HAVE TO WORK THE CONDITIONER EVENLY THROUGH YOUR HAIR! That process may take you a few minutes. But once you’ve done that part well, you can rinse.
Marketing madness
Then why do companies tell you to leave it on? In part, to make their products seem more special (and so they can sell more of them) manufacturers started making different types of conditioners that had to be left on different lengths of time. It goes something like this:
Does your hair just need “regular” conditioning? Use this product and rinse it off right away.
Does your hair need deep conditioning your hair? Use a different product and leave it on for 10 minutes.
Does your hair need a complete restructurizing makeover? Use this other product, leave it on while you shave your legs, get out of the shower, eat breakfast, walk the dog, drive to work, go on vacation… Well, you get the picture.
Telling you to leave conditioner on longer is primarily driven by marketing claims and is not based on how well the product works. One possible exception, though, are the oil-type treatments we’ve discussed before. If you’re applying a coconut oil type product to your hair you may need to give it time to penetrate. But other than that, any rinse out conditioner can be rinsed out right away.
The Beauty Brains bottom line:
In reality, once you’ve got the conditioner worked through your hair it works almost instantly. Letting it “soak in” longer doesn’t improve the way it works. There’s nothing WRONG with leaving treatments in longer, but if you’re in a hurry you can save yourself some time in the shower by not waiting that extra 10 minutes for your conditioner to kick in.
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Thank you for another informative post. I have really long hair and I noticed when I rinse out the conditioner too early, my hair doesn’t seem to be moisturize enough. There’s a feeling of oiliness when I rinse it out. However, when I leave it until I’m done washing my body, the oily feeling is not there anymore and my hair seems to be a lot smoother. I wonder what happens in my case. Do you have an explanation?
How long DO you have to leave coconut oil on for, anyway? The one paper I found that investigated the penetration of coconut oil stipulated that the test was undertaken with the application of heat, and I couldn’t figure out how much oil they applied in the first place. It’s probably not an exact science when it comes to real world conditions, but it would be nice to know whether slapping it on an hour before showering is pointless.
Yea! I’m doing something right! I have a shower comb and comb the conditioner through, then rinse.
@Dao: the conditioner effect you may be experiencing could be this:
The conditioner is a 2nd stage shampoo wash for you. Conditioners can be used to clean the hair. With that said, maybe the extra agitation/conditioner left in your hair is giving you the squeeky clean you feel.
If we were talking about specifics…clean =/= conditioning. So while you leave conditioner in longer, you get cleaner hair, but not more conditioned hair.
I would like to know how long I have to leave the cocnut oil in for it to work? and do i need to apply heat? Ive just started applying coconut oil recently.
That’s an interesting information. It happens I spend my whole sunday with the conditioner left on my hair and one towel on to heat it up.
Gaelle
http://www.beinglovingdoing.com
So putting on a cap and applying heat doesn’t help it out at all?
I just leave it on long enough for me to shave my armpits, forearms, and legs, then rinse it out. Never bothered to time it.
Like Dao, I have very long hair, and working the conditioner on and rinsing quickly is not enough for me. Instead, I put my hair up in a bun, and leave it that way for 30 min to 1 hr, tucked away under a towel, or under a shower cap + towel, or I might even add a little heat (not excessively though).
I keep reading everywhere that “deep conditioning” has no benefits, but it does. At least for my length + type of hair.
I would love to save time, and I’m not into time consuming beauty rituals at all, so time and again I try and rinse earlier. Fact is, my hair doesn’t have the slip then. I am sure there is a logical and scientific explanation. For example, I could imagine that time + heat help distribute the product better. Those heavier conditioners for dry/curly/frizzy hair are usually of a much thicker consistency than the ones in squirt bottles.
Marketing needs to make claims based off of the truth and the actual ingredients that do make a difference. Hopefully consumers will smarten up and demand for better products. Not just the same regurgitated product with a new label/marketing scheme.
Well I’ve tried to use deep conditioners for five minutes compared to my usual 45 minutes and the results are not the same. My hair isn’t as silky, soft and detangled when I tried conditioning for the minimal time.
Perhaps a five minute condition works on type 1/2 hair, but it’s not really the case for a lot of type 3/4 hair
I believe the answers posted are in the article. Perhaps, for certain hair types, it takes longer for the conditioner to work evenly into the hair. Since conditioner is applied to wet hair, water + time allows the conditioner to spread. Heat also aids in mobility, just like a pat of butter spreads out when heat is applied to it.
That is awesome, I always leave it for as long I can!
So is the use of a steamer or a hood hot dryer is necessary with a conditioner or not? They always say the product will get better in the hair with steam because it will open the cutilcule
@Nanou: Conditioners really do their work on the outside of hair so you don’t need to use a penetration aid. The only case where that might help with with a coconut oil type treatment that does work from the inside.
I keep my conditioner in for 5 min. Is this enough?
@Jess: Yes 5 minutes is plenty of time to leave your conditioner in. You could probably even do less than that.
I also got info on a website saying that if your hair is dry you can just wash your hair with conditioner for a month or so. Can I continue doing thus or is thus bad for my hair?
@Jess: Washing your hair with conditioner won’t hurt it at all but if your hair is really dirty (e.g, if you use a lot styling products) you may find that it doesn’t get clean enough.
If the bottle of conditioner doesn’t have a time limit to keep your conditioner in your hair do I keep it in or wash it out straight away?
@Sarah: All you do have to is work the conditioner through your hair and rinse. You don’t have to leave it in any longer than that.
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