If you enjoy the Beauty Brains blog, you’ll also enjoy sharing your thoughts with others in the Beauty Brains Forum. There are thousands of comments from nearly 400 members on all kinds of beauty issues.

As a special reward to the more prolific Forum members, we provide them with new beauty products to review. In today’s post, forum member “Judy” shares her thoughts on Neutrogena Triple Moisture Hair Conditioner.

Triple Moisture: Is it a “must have” or a “maybe?”

Judy says: The Neutrogena Triple Moisture Hair Care line is described by the company as the solution to the fact that “hair experimentation has evolved faster than the availability of effective hair treatments.” For a brief moment I thought dismissively that they couldn’t be talking about MY hair. Experimentation? I don’t dye my hair a different color every couple of weeks…and I don’t style my hair everyday with lots of goopy substances.

However, then reality hit and I realized that I do have my hair colored every month and do use quite a few products even before I blow hot air on it. Sooo…maybe I actually should consider something like Neutrogena’s Triple Moisture Deep Recovery Hair Mask. After all, who am I to pass up recovery…especially DEEP recovery.

This deep conditioning product is a heavy cream that is to be applied sparingly after shampooing and left on the hair for 3-5 minutes before rinsing out. It is meant to be used as a weekly treatment for dry or damaged hair.

According to the packaging the Triple Moisture comes from: Olive which penetrates the center of the hair shaft; Meadow Seed which helps moisturize the middle and Sweet Almond which seals the surface hair. I don’t know if these claims are scientifically true but each of these natural ingredients are known as emollients that have moisturizing properties.

I have naturally slightly coarse, naturally curly hair that is colored to cover the gray. I used this treatment twice within a week as directed and my results were that my hair felt softer to the touch but in both instances actually a bit over-conditioned and fly-away. And so it may be that my hair was not in such bad shape as to need a deep conditioning treatment as often as weekly.

Neutrogena Triple Moisture product line also includes shampoo, conditioner, leave-in cream, and a shine serum. All are priced between $7-$12 so they are reasonably priced. The Mask that I sampled currently comes in a generous 6-oz size for $6.99 which seems as if it would last forever, especially if you didn’t use it on a weekly basis.

For those with truly damaged and/or over-processed hair this conditioning mask might work well but for me the results wouldn’t make this a “must have” for my hair care regime.

What do YOU think about Neutrogena Triple Moisture Hair Conditioner? Leave a comment and let us know. Or, you can start a thread and talk to Judy directly in the Beauty Brains Forum. And if you’re interested in getting free goodies of your own, join the Forum now and show us you’ve got what it takes to be a Beauty Brainiac!

Sarah C’s saga: I emailed you earlier about a product called Biolustre, I would like to know what it really does. I found a list of the ingredients and directions for use (from the Long Hair Community forums).

The Left Brain’s side of the story:
In case everyone’s not familiar with Biolustre, it’s belongs to the Jhirmack division of the Playtex company. (Yes, they make more than just bras and panties.) Here’s the info that Sarah found:

Ingredients: Water, Tert-buryl Acrylate, Methacrylic Acid, Ethylacrylate Copolymer, Hydrolozed Wheat Protein, Aminomethyl Propanol, Dimethicone Copolyol, Propylene Glycol, Diazolidanyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Fragrance, Hydroxyethyl Cellulose Sodium Acetate

Directions: Apply liberally to clean dry hair from root to end. Dry with blow dryer until product feels hard on hair. (DO NOT COMB THROUGH). Wash out completely. Style as normal. Enjoy truly healthy, youthful hair.

To be honest, this product is a mystery to me. The first several ingredients are basically hair spray resins. If you put this product on your hair and dry it, I’d expect it to feel very much like a heavy hair spray. But if you wash your hair (like washing a hair spray out) there isn’t much left behind. So it appears to be more of a styling product than it does a conditioner. Weird.

Their claims don’t really make sense to me either. You can read them for yourself on the Biolustre website, but I’ll summarize a few here for your edification and entertainment.

1. Bioluster is the only proven hair repair product…which repairs damaged hair and does it instantly.

It works instantly: yet you have to put it on and then blow dry your hair completely dry. THEN you have to wash it out completely. Then you still have to dry and style your hair! I don’t know about you, but their version of “instantly” would take me about 20 extra minutes!

2. It will actually lay down additional layers of keratin and make the hair thicker.

If the ingredient list is correct, there is no keratin in the formula. There’s wheat protein, but no keratin. So I’d love to know how it lays down more keratin when there IS NONE in the product.

3. Bioluster strengthens hair and increases the tensile strength up to 300%. This allow a no breakage guarantee if used before a Japanese straightening treatment.

Besides the obvious redundancy in this claim, I’m baffled by the “no breakage guarantee.” If I buy a bottle of Biolustre and use it at home and then go to a salon for a Japanese straightening treatment they guarantee I won’t have any breakage? And if I do, what happens? Do they refund the $500 I spent on the Japanese treatment? Or do they just send me a coupon for another bottle of Biolustre? The whole thing doesn’t seem very well thought out to me.

Well, you get the idea. I’m not impressed by this product. Have any of our loyal Beauty Brainiacs tried it?

Kathy’s question:
I would like to know if spending more money on conditioners is worth it for increasing the strength of your hair. As a science teacher I would like to be able to explain why conditioners increase the strength of hair, and why the more expensive ones should work better!

The Right Brain’s headstrong reply:

Kathy, from one science professional to another, we can tell you that expensive does NOT always mean better when it comes to hair and skin care products. But to explain further, we’ll have to fill you in on how conditioners work.

How do conditioners strengthen hair?

The outer layer of the hair consists of overlapping scales called cuticles. These cuticle are like the shingles on the roof of your house – they protect what’s beneath it. As your hair is damaged from washing and drying and combing and brushing and perming and coloring, the cuticle starts to wear away. When this happens your hair is broken more easily.

Conditioners strengthen hair two ways. The most important thing they do is to smooth the cuticle and help keep it in place. The “strengthening” effect can be shown by measuring combing force.

The other effect is internal. Some material, like panthenol, penetrate into the cortex, the middle part of the hair. By interacting with the proteins in the cortex, these conditioners can improve the tensile strength of hair. This type of strength is measured with an instrument that pulls on individual hair fibers (after they’ve been removed from your head, of course!) and measures how much force it takes for the hair to break. If you want to learn more, you can read our post on measuring hair breakage.

Are expensive conditioners better?

So do expensive conditioners strengthen hair better than cheap ones? Not necessarily. The very, very cheap conditioners typically rely on one or two conditioning agents to do the job. And they usually can’t afford to use silicones, which are among the most effective smoothing agents. So, chances are, if you’re only spending a buck or two on your conditioner, you’re not getting the best product.

But once you get up to the $4 or $5 conditioners, the differences in strengthening are less significant. For example, Pantene and Tresemme are among the best conditioners we’ve ever tested and they’re certainly not that expensive. Most mid or high priced conditioners will do a pretty good job of lubricating your hair to prevent breakage.

Can a conditioner be TOO expensive?

What about the conditioners that are $30 per bottle? They use the same basic types of ingredients as products that are $10 or less. They may cost 3 times more but they certainly don’t strengthen your hair 3 times more! But as we always say, you should buy what you like and what you can afford. If you really like the way Frederic Fekkai’s Overnight Hair Repair makes your hair feel, and you can afford the $195 per bottle then go for it. (Yes that’s right – it’s a $200 conditioner! Click the link if you don’t believe us!) But don’t buy it just because you think that it will make your hair stronger than another less expensive brand.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

Picking the right conditioner is a very personal thing. There are literally thousands of combinations of ingredients out there and it’s tough to know which one is best for you. So talk to your friends who have similar hair types. Or just experiment until you find something that feels good. But DON’T be tricked into spending more money than you want to.

Tammy’s turmoil: Can you tell me what makes hair really shiny?

The Right Brain’s shimmering reply:
Naturally shiny hair has a cuticle that’s smooth and flat; it’s plumped up with water (about 10 to 15% by weight); and it’s rich in natural oils that keep the whole thing “glued” together.

Unfortunately, you’re stealing shine from your hair everyday and you probably don’t even realize it. If you want good gloss, you should avoid these 12 things that can rob hair of shine. Or as we like to call them, the Dulling Dozen:

1. Flood Damage

Even “harmless” water can be a shine stealer. That’s because too much moisture swells the hair shaft and causes the cuticle to buckle. The more frequently you wet your hair, the less shine you’re likely to have.

2. Shampoo Scrubbing

Scrubbing bubbles seem cute but all that rub a dub dub lifts the cuticle even more. Using a conditioning shampoo can help because the hair shafts won’t snag against each other when you’re lathering up.

3. Careless Under-conditioning

Ok, not everyone needs to condition EVERY time they wash their hair. BUT, if your hair is dry to begin with it’s much more likely to be damaged during and after styling if you skip conditioner. You’re just giving shine away!

4. Death by Towel Drying

So, now your hair is wet. What do you do? Blot, don’t rub! A rough towel can cause an amazing amount of damage on wet hair.

5. The Brush Off

Don’t fall for that old myth that you should brush you hair 100 strokes every night. While brushing does temporarily help by distributing natural oils, in the long run it strips off layers of cuticle and weakens hair.

6. Hot Styling Appliances

Heat is the natural enemy of shine. That’s because high temperatures damage the natural lipids (fancy word for oils) that help keep hair flexible and shiny. If you do decide to heat style, use protection!

7. Protective Product Residue

Yes, you do need to use heat protection but be careful what you wish for. Some leave in creams and gels leave behind a dulling residue.

8. Color My World

Chemical coloring is very damaging because it breaks down the inner structure of hair protein. Even if you use the special conditioner that comes with the coloring kit, your hair never fully recovers.

9. Wave Bye Bye

Permanent waving is another chemical process that’s highly damaging.

10. Twist and Shout

Twisting and playing with your hair is a dangerous habit as far as shine is concerned. That’s because the torsional forces (fancy word for twisting and bending) loosens the cuticles.

11. I Dig A Pony

Wearing your hair in a pony tail may seem like a hassle free style, but if you pull it back too tightly you may be creating micro-fractures in the hair that will reflect light unevenly and cause loss of shine.

12. Here Comes The Sun

And with the sun comes damaging UV radiation that can wreak havoc on natural hair lipids like 18-methyleicosinoic acid. Without these lipids hair dulls quickly. If you can’t stay out of the sun make sure you’re protecting your hair with a good conditioner.

Gilda’s Going Shopping: My hair is thick, coarse and dry. Which product should I buy, PANTENE or HERBAL ESSENCES? The Left Brain responds:

It’s interesting that you ask about those two products because, as you can tell if you look at the ingredient lists, they are actually the same basic formula. (They are even covered by the same patents).

Take a look at Pantene’s Ice Shine conditioner and Herbal Essences’ Hydration Conditioner. If you turn the bottles around you’ll see that the first five key ingredients are exactly the same:

Water, Stearyl Alcohol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Cetyl Alcohol, and Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine.

Are these similarities surprising? Not at all considering that P&G (the company that makes Pantene) bought Clairol (the company that makes Herbal Essences.) Shortly after the purchase, P&G converted the Herbal Essences formulas to their Pantene base.

This isn’t a bad thing since Pantene is an excellent conditioner. In fact, it’s probably a better deal for you because now you can get the performance of Pantene with the color and fragrance of Herbal Essences. So, either product will work fine, go with the one that smells the best to you or is least expensive.

Jackie’s question: About a year ago my stylist starting using Paul Mitchell products on me and I haven’t loved my hair since! Now it’s damaged and it breaks easily. My stylist blames me using the flat iron. I know that doesn’t help BUT I used the flat iron for years and have never had this happen. She tells me that’s because I had my hair colored so much. I have never had these problems until she switched to Paul Mitchell. Is it possible that his products make my hair start to break off and thin out?

The Left Brain’s snappy comment:

Jackie, thanks so much for the question. I see how you could think that Paul Mitchell made your hair go bad, but I doubt that’s really what happened. Paul Mitchell products are not different enough from other products you’ve been using (except for being overpriced), so there is likely a different reason you’re experiencing hair breakage. It is natural to leap to conclusions like this, but they are often incorrect.

Instead of worrying about Paul Mitchell, I’d blame 3 other factors for your hair problem:

3 Things likely causing hair problems

1. Flat iron usage is VERY bad for your hair. That’s probably the most immediate cause of daily breakage. If you want less damage consider ironing less frequently.

2. In the long run, the worst thing you can is chemically color your hair. Coloring breaks down the hair’s protein making it weaker. Frequent chemical processing literally pushes your hair to its “breaking point.”

3. The first two factors are worsened because you’re getting older and your hair is weaker. As we age our hair gets less dense and more prone to breakage. That’s probably why you’re seeing so much hair breakage more recently - Father Time is catching up with you!

So, what can you do?

Well, the shampoo doesn’t matter much as long as you’re using a conditioner. The Paul Mitchell conditioner is good, but so are many other cheaper, mass market brands like Fructis, Pantene, or Tresemme. You might consider using one of these every time you do your hair. The conditioner should provide enough lubrication so that pulling on it with a comb does not break the hair. It may even provide some protection against the heat of the flat iron. If you’re not using a conditioner, be sure to use a conditioning shampoo like Pantene 2-in-1. This should help slow your hair breaking problem.

The Brains’ bottom line

In truth, heat, coloring, and age are all conspiring against you to break your hair. You can’t do anything about the aging process but if you stopped coloring and reduced the heat exposure, your hair would break less. Of course, then you might not like how it looks. Such is the price we pay for beauty!

Francine`s frustrated: I`m a Black woman and sometimes I like my hair to be naturally coarse and kinky. Sometimes I like to iron it straight with Beyond the Zone Turn Up The Heat. Now I`d like to try the Alterna Hemp Styling Mud product for frizzy hair but I’m worried it won’t provide good heat protection. I`d ask a hairdresser, but it seems they know how to style hair but have no real understanding about what the products do. What do the Brains think? The Right Brain responds:

Francine, it`s true that hairdressers are experts when it comes to styling, but they receive very little training in the chemistry of beauty products. For the most part they only know the marketing hype that is told to them by the manufacturers of the products. And while it’s very hard for the average person to tell much about a product just from reading the ingredient list, chemists like The Beauty Brains can help you understand how key chemicals in the formula might behave on your hair. Let’s look at the two products you mentioned and we’ll explain how they appear to be fundamentally different.

Alterna is based on PVP/VA copolymer, which is a resin that will help hold your hair in place. It also contains Propylene glycol that could provide a little protection from the heat of a flat iron. We`d expect this formula to be good at fighting frizzies because it would hold your hair in place like a styling gel but we doubt it would be that great against high temperatures.

Beyond the Zone, on the other hand, is based on cyclopentasiloxane, a water thin silicone that provide good lubrication. It also contains esters such as hexanoates and sebacates which are also good at providing slip. This product doesn`t have any materials that will hold your hair in place, but it should be good at helping the flat iron glide across your hair without burning it.

The Brains Bottom Line:
Of course, unless you try a product yourself you really can`t tell you how you`ll like it. But based on our ingredient review, we`d predict that the Beyond the Zone product is better for heat protection.

Stephanie Seeks Clarification: Is there a scientific reason why shampoos are usually clear or close to clear and conditioners usually are not? The Right Brain Clears Things Up:

Great question! Shampoos are composed mainly of water and surfactants. (If surfactants sounds to technical, you can call them detergents. If detergents reminds you too much of laundry, you can call them foaming thingies. Whatever.)

Anyway, the foaming thingi¦uh, I mean the surfactants are soluble in water so the shampoo is clear. It`s like putting salt into water “ all the salt dissolves and you can still see through the water.

Conditioners on the other hand are composed mainly of water and conditioning agents. Most conditioning agents are not compatible with water (they won’t dissolve in it). So, to make a conditioner you have to create a special type of mixture called an emulsion. Emulsions are just small particles of oils suspended in water. (Think about the kind of 2-layer oil and vinegar salad dressing that you have to shake before using. That`s a simple emulsion.) In an emulsion, the light passing through the product is scattered when it hits all these tiny suspended oil particles. That light scattering makes the conditioner look opaque.

By the way, you can make a clear conditioner, but there`s never been a successful one on the market because people don`t believe they work! (Does anyone remember the original Clean and Clear from the late 80s? They had a clear hair conditioner. Ahh, sweet memories.)

The bottom line is, shampoos are as clear like shoes. Ok, I know that doesn’t make sense, but I found this cool picture of a clear shoe and I needed an excuse to use it. Still want to know more? Go read about the 4 different kinds of shampoos.

Lina says: I was very happy to read your post about coconut oil penetrating hair. I have been using it for a while and feel my hair is stronger than it used to be. I`d like to keep using coconut oil and I want to add olive oil to make my hair shiny but I`m worried that mixing the two oils will stop the coconut oil from penetrating. Is it ok to mix two oils on my hair? Thanks for all of your helpful information - you’ve kept me from wasting money on over-hyped products.

The Left Brain provides an oily update:

Thanks for your kind words, Lina. Yes, studies have shown that coconut oil actually penetrates the hair to help make it stronger. And as it turns out, olive oil also has penetrating properties. Scientists at the Textile Research (J. Cosmet.Sci 52, 169-184, 2001) tested Olive oil, Avocado oil, Meadowfoam seed oil, Sunflower oil, and Jojoba oil. Their results showed that straight chain glycerides like olive oil easily penetrate into the hair. Polyunsaturated oils , like Jojoba oil, are more open in their structure so they don’t pass through the layers of cuticles very well.

What does that mean in plain English? Olive and Avocado oils penetrate all the way into the hair shaft. Meadowfoam seed oil partially penetrates, and jojoba and sunflower oils don’t penetrate at all. They’re very superficial and don’t really provide any practical benefit. Kind of like Ryan Seacrest.

And to answer your question: mixing coconut and olive oils shouldn’t be a problem. In fact, it’s possible that the olive/coconut oil combination might even penetrate hair better. I won’t bore you with the details, but it has to do with mixed micelles. I’d start with a 50/50 mixture and see how that works for your hair.

Doppleganger says: Ive been told that hair needs protein and moisturization to stay healthy. So, for protein I use Mane ˜n Tail and for moisturization I use hair cholesterol products (like Le Kair, Queen Helene) and coconut oil. Is this good for my hair or can I be causing any kind of long term damage?

The Left Brain Replies:

Relax, Dop. These conditioners won`t damage your hair. You might find that your hair is weighed down if you`re using them all at once, but other than that they won`t do anything bad to your hair. So if you like the way these conditioners make your hair feel, then keep using them anyway you like. The real question here is, does hair really need protein and moisturization? The answer is yes and no.

YES, hair needs moisturization

That just means you need to keep your hair from drying out. That`s the whole idea behind conditioners. You can moisturize by adding water (which doesn`t really stay in your hair very long) or you can moisturize by fighting the effects of dryness. That`s what any good conditioner does. Conditioners, like Le Kair and Queen Helene, work by smoothing the outer layers of your hair, the part called the cuticle. Cuticles are like shingles on top of a roof. If you don’t keep them “glued down” they tend to come loose and fall off. When ever you’re doing anything to your hair (including washing, drying, styling, or coloring), your causing some degree of damage to those cuticles. What a good conditioner does is smooth the cuticles, forming a protective layer over them so they don’t become as damaged.

NO, hair doesn`t need protein

Although, hair is made of protein, it’s dead. So putting protein on top of the protein in your hair doesn’t really make it “healthy.” But the right kind of proteins used at the right levels can act as a conditioning agent that can form a protective film on the hair. So it’s not that your hair needs protein, it’s that it needs SOMETHING to form that protective layer. Proteins will do it to some extent, but there are other ingredients (like fatty quaternium compounds or silicones, that will work even better. So protein conditoiners like Mane ‘n Tail are good for your hair, but not necessarily BECAUSE they contain protein. We’ve written other posts about protein if you’d like to read more.

The Beauty Brains Bottom line:

There are many, many great hair conditioners on the market that will moisturize your hair. Mane n’ Tail, Le Kair, and Queen Helene won’t do anything bad to you. The important thing is to find the ones that feel right for your hair and that you can afford. But don`t worry too much about special ingredients like proteins. Oh, and by the way, the coconut oil you’re using has an added benefit. It penetrates through the cuticle to strengthen the inside side part of the hair called the cortex. But that’s a topic for another post.