Conditioners for Beautiful Hair

Great hair is shiny, soft, silky, manageable, free of static and tangles and has lots of body and bounce. Conditioners are designed to help produce these attributes in your hair, but the trick is to choose one that suits your hair’s individual characteristics and needs.

Lets talk about some of the different attributes of a conditioner.

PH

• The PH of anything deals with whether it is acidic or alkaline. A conditioner should lower (more acidic) the PH of your hair. Shampooing, perms, color and other such things cause your hair have a more alkaline quality, often resulting in a dull appearance and weakened condition. A lower PH (acidic) will increase your hair’s shine, reduce static and strengthen your hair.

Moisturizer

• Moisturizers soften, smooth and improve the feel of your hair. They are also designed to seal in your hair’s natural moisture. Moisturizers come in different forms or grades. Light- low softening that will not weight-down fine hair. Heavy-high softening that will soften coarse hair and make it more flexible.

Protein

• Any kind of abuse, such as permanent waves, hair color, sun, wind, blow-drying and heat curling can break down the natural protein in your hair. If you put a damaged strand of hair under a microscope, you can actually see little "pot-holes" in it. Protein in conditioners should be "hydrolyzed" in order to change it into a form that will penetrate the hair and fill in the "pot-holes" thus improving the texture, appearance and strength.

Lets talk about your hair
If you have fine, limp hair you may be afraid to use conditioner for fear of over-softening it. However, it does need a conditioner. Look for one that is designed specifically for fine hair. This will fulfill your hair’s conditioning requirements with very low softening. When you use it, be sure to rinse it out thoroughly. If you still feel that your hair becomes too soft, try applying conditioner to the ends only.

If your hair is coarse or wiry it will be most manageable when a moisturizing conditioner is used. The stronger moisturizing properties will improve the flexibility of your hair and give it a softer, more nourished look and feel.

Very curly hair often needs a moisturizing conditioner for control and to reduce frizz.

Medium textured hair (not fine or coarse) will always do well with a conditioner designed for fine hair but may sometimes be more manageable with moisturizing conditioner, especially if it is dry or damaged.