How to choose and use conditioner for different hair types

Selecting the ideal conditioner for your hair can significantly impact its appearance and health. With so many choices at your disposal, it’s critical to know which ones are ideal for your particular hair type.

There is a conditioner out there that can suit your needs, regardless of whether your hair is dry, oily, curly, or color-treated. To achieve the best outcomes, it is important to know what to look for and how to use it effectively.

We’ll go over the various kinds of hair conditioners in this guide, along with usage advice to keep your hair looking its best every day.

Hair Type	Conditioner Tips
Dry Hair	Choose a hydrating conditioner with natural oils. Use after every wash to keep hair moisturized.
Oily Hair	Opt for a lightweight, oil-free conditioner. Apply only to the ends to avoid excess oiliness.
Curly Hair	Look for a conditioner with moisturizing ingredients. Apply generously to define curls and reduce frizz.
Fine Hair	Pick a volumizing conditioner. Use sparingly to avoid weighing down the hair.
Color-Treated Hair	Use a color-safe conditioner. Helps to maintain the vibrancy of your color.

What is conditioner

A cosmetic product for hair, conditioner is meant to protect, condition, and eliminate static.

The primary query pertaining to this product category is what makes conditioner different from balm. It so happened that producers, retailers, and consumers started to recognize these products, forgetting what each one was originally intended for:

• balm – a cosmetic product for nourishing and moisturizing hair. Some products contain conditioning additives that facilitate combing, add shine, perform a protective function, but the main task of the balm remains unchanged – working with the hair shaft and improving its visual quality;
• conditioner – a surface product. It does not work with the structure of the hair shaft and is used to facilitate combing and protect from external influences.

When discussing the issue’s practical aspects, using conditioners is advised:

• in the cold season. Due to low temperatures and constant wearing of hats, hair accumulates static electricity, and conditioning products are able to remove it. Balms have this function less often, and they implement it noticeably worse;
• for girls with normal hair type. If the hair is healthy along the length, does not require nutrition and hydration, then a conditioning product will be an excellent option – you will seal the scales after shampoo, without weighing down the strands and without depriving the curls of volume;
• after aggressive hairdressing procedures, including dyeing or perming. As a result of the effect of chemicals on the hair, their acidity changes and the conditioner helps to restore the normal pH balance.

In all other cases, begin with your current circumstances and your objectives:

• protection, combing relief, stress relief – conditioner;
• nutrition, moisturizing, external transformation – balm.

International brands also lead to confusion. For example, you won’t find "balm" in the catalogs of German, Polish, or American manufacturers; instead, these products are all referred to as "conditioners," but they have different functions, such as nourishing, moisturizing, or balancing. Despite this, the products belong to the same group. If you choose a conditioner from a foreign brand and read about its composition and purpose, keep this in mind. The majority of a balm’s composition goes toward nourishing and moisturizing caring additives.

Types of conditioners

Conditioning products can be categorized based on their features of use.

• rinsable – applied at the final stage of washing and after holding for 2-3 minutes, washed off with plenty of water;

• leave-in – used on clean dry or damp hair and do not require rinsing.

Conditioners for washing hair that are separate from shampoo: these are cleansing agents that either come before or in place of shampoo. These products are uncommon on the Russian market; you can find them more frequently in the assortment of international brands.

I function more like softer air conditioners than shampoos, making me ideal for dry, brittle, thin curls. However, they are inappropriate for oily hair because a gentle agent cannot effectively remove excess sebum and thoroughly clean the scalp. These detergents are actively used for washing the curly method because of their gentle formula.

Additionally, funds in this category are split according to the type and attributes of the hair for:

• dry;
• normal;
• fat;
• all types;
• painted.

The actions of foreign brands’ products can also be used to categorize them, taking on the roles of the balm:

• for volume;
• moisturizing;
• Nourishing.

Hair air conditioning composition

In addition, certain types of parts serve as the foundation for practically all conditioners:

• water. Always the basis and takes up the largest percentage of the composition. Sometimes it can be replaced with water infused with some plant – aloe, chamomile, but more often just pure water;
• surfactants. Surfactants in this case are responsible for the good miscibility of all components, as well as a light cleansing effect. The presence of surfactants in the composition is one of the reasons why you should not keep the product on your hair longer than the instructions require;
• silicones. Coat each rod with an invisible film, which provides shine, protection, smoothness. Recently, manufacturers are increasingly releasing products without silicones in the composition, citing their unsafety for hair. It is better for girls who use sulfate-free shampoo to choose products without silicones, since it is not able to dissolve silicones, which means the quality of washing the head drops significantly;
• conditioning additives. One of the main groups of substances that provide the protective and antistatic effect, and also make hair easier to comb;
• thickeners. They do not have a functional purpose and are added to give the product the desired consistency;
• acidity regulator. A component responsible for normalizing hair acidity;
• chelating components or, in simple terms,, water hardness regulators. These ingredients react with salts and make the water softer;
• dyes and preservatives;
• additional care components. Since the product"s task is to protect and condition the hair, the care components in the product are secondary, but some manufacturers add oils, vitamins, proteins, which visually improve the quality of the hair shafts.

Choosing the proper conditioner for your hair type is essential to keeping your hair in good condition and manageable. To meet the specific needs of each type of hair—dry, oily, curly, or straight—different conditioners are needed. Your hair’s overall appearance and feel can be greatly improved by being aware of these variations and using the conditioner correctly.

How to choose a conditioner

• study the composition. Especially for the presence of silicones. If you use a sulfate shampoo, the product may also contain silicones, but for those who prefer sulfate-free care, their absence is a must. Silicones usually end in "-con" – dimethicone, cyclomethicone, amodimethicone or "-ol" – dimethiconol;
• check for what hair type the selected product is intended. The components are adjusted depending on the hair type. If you choose a product that is not based on your hair type, the quality of your hair will deteriorate and the effect will be the opposite of what you expected;
• manufacturer. Try to choose a product from a well-known manufacturer. This applies to any cosmetic products. Reputable brands value their reputation, which means they worry about quality. At the same time, the price is not a determining factor – there are excellent budget products, just like expensive ones, but with mediocre effects;
• if possible, choose a conditioning product to go with your shampoo from the same series. Products of the same line and manufacturer complement each other"s action, giving the maximum result.

Our selection of the top 15 hair conditioners across three categories

How to use conditioner

We will briefly go over how to use each category because there are various product types and their application sequences vary.

Rinse-off

That same product, rinse-off conditioner, is frequently likened to a balm.

How to use a rinse-off conditioner in order:

1. Wash your hair with shampoo and rinse it thoroughly with water;
2. Apply a hair mask – it will nourish the hairs, make them softer and help fill the voids inside the hair shaft. This step is optional – it is optimal to use the mask 1-2 times a week. If the current wash does not include the use of a mask, proceed to the next step;
3. Apply conditioner to the length, stepping back from the roots 3-7 cm depending on the length. Leave for 2-3 minutes or for another time, if indicated in the instructions;
4. Rinse off the remaining product with plenty of water.

Leave-in

As the name implies, a leave-in conditioner is applied after washing and does not need to be rinsed with water.

How to apply a conditioner that stays in:

1. Wash your hair with shampoo as you usually do and rinse off the foam with plenty of water;
2. Apply a mask if it is needed for care now. If not, skip the step and move on to the next one;
3. Apply a balm – it will close the hair scales, make combing easier and help retain moisture inside the hair shaft. Rinse with plenty of water after 2-3 minutes or according to the instructions, if otherwise indicated;
4. Slightly dry your hair with a towel and apply conditioner to damp hair. Leave-in conditioners can be in different formats – spray, oil, serum, cream, so apply it in the amount and according to the scheme suggested by the manufacturer;
5. Wait for your hair to dry or proceed to styling. If the product does not contain components that protect against heat, additionally apply a heat protectant before hot styling.

For washing hair

Co-washing, which is an English acronym for conditioner washing or washing with conditioner, is the process of washing hair with conditioner. When co-washing, all of the cleaning properties of shampoo are transferred to the conditioner.

Naturally, not all products work well for this process, at least not all conditioners are meant to be cleansing. Here is the order of use for the appropriate products that were chosen and included in a separate article, so be sure to check it out:

How to use conditioner when co-washing your hair:

1. Wet your hair thoroughly – the more moisture, the better the product will be distributed;
2. Squeeze a large portion of the product onto your palm – about the size of a golf ball. Don"t think that this is too much – firstly, there will be no foam, which means that the cleansing process directly depends on the distribution and evenness of the scalp coverage with a layer of product, secondly – co-washing allows you to combine both cleansing and care, which means that the savings are obvious in any case;
3. Distribute the measured portion evenly over the entire surface of the scalp and the root part with massage movements, gradually moving along the length. The product is soft, the cleansing agents are gentle, and there is no foam, so you can clean the strands only by distributing the product, including along the length;
4. Hold the product for a couple of minutes and rinse with plenty of warm water.

After co-washing, extra hair care is not necessary.

Questions

Can I use balm and conditioner simultaneously if they are separate products?

Indeed, but why? First of all, remember that layering products will probably result in heavier strands and a loss of volume. Using two products won’t make your hair twice as good.

You can switch between using protective conditioners and nourishing balms by washing your hair with balm first and conditioner second.

The following is the order in which the products will be combined in a single washing:

1. Shampoo;
2. Conditioner;
3. Conditioner.

Can I completely forgo shampoo if I choose to wash my hair with conditioner instead of shampoo?

Cowashing does not mean that shampoos should be completely avoided. For accumulated dirt removal, it is advised to do a traditional shampoo wash once every two to four weeks, as cowashing may not always be sufficient. This gentlest kind of washing alternates between different types.

Regarding two-in-one products, like "conditioner-balm," what are your thoughts?

These products are perfectly acceptable because the formulas of the conditioners and balms can be mixed together without causing any issues. The nourishing and moisturizing properties of one product, along with the conditioning and protection properties of the other, will be effectively combined in such a complex product.

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Making the correct conditioner choice is essential to having gorgeous, healthy hair. There is a conditioner out there that can suit your hair type, whether it is oily, curly, dry, or straight.

Choosing the right conditioner is not as important as using it correctly. Your hair will receive the most benefits if you apply it from mid-length to ends, let it sit for a few minutes, and then thoroughly rinse.

Understanding your hair type and following these easy instructions will help you have manageable, shiny, and smooth hair every day.

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