If you’re an avid user of hair care products, chances are you’ve heard lots about the importance of conditioning. Conditioning is a critical step in any hair care routine because it can help to reduce the potential for dryness and breakage from other hair care products such as shampoo, and also protect your hair from potential damage caused by heat styling tools, UV rays, or general day-to-day activities. The benefits of conditioning are numerous because it helps to lock in moisture while also strengthening your hair to reduce the risk of breakage. If you use sulfate-free shampoo and follow up with a conditioning treatment or leave-in conditioner after every shampooing, does that mean you’ve effectively conditioned your hair? You might be surprised at what experts have to say on the matter!
How Often Should You Condition Your Hair
3 Times a Week
If you want to keep your hair in great condition, then it’s best to condition it once a week. Hair is designed to experience normal wear and tear, so more frequent conditioning is unnecessary, and may actually do more harm than good. If you wash your hair every other day, conditioning every other day is a good way to maintain the health of your hair between washes. If you wash your hair daily, conditioning once a week should be sufficient to keep your hair in good condition. If you condition your hair every day, you risk clogging your pores and making your hair look greasy. On the other hand, if you only condition your hair once a week, it may not have time to absorb the nutrients and may leave your hair feeling dry and brittle. If you have dry hair, experts recommend that you condition your hair twice a week. The extra moisture will leave your hair feeling soft and looking shiny. If your hair is on the oily side, however, you might want to condition it less frequently to prevent it from looking greasy.
2 Times a Week
If you have dry hair and you condition it twice a week, you risk overloading your hair with too much moisturizing ingredients. When you condition your hair twice a week, however, you won’t overdo it with the moisturizers, so your hair gets the extra protection it needs without feeling oily or weighed down. If you have oily hair, you might want to condition your hair only once a week. Oily hair tends to be drier than it seems, so a little extra moisture can go a long way. If you have normal hair, you can condition it every other day if you want. Normal hair tends to be in the middle when it comes to oiliness and dryness, so you can condition it every other day without risking over-loading your hair with too much moisture.
Once a Week
If you have normal hair, you may want to condition it once a week. Normal hair tends to be in the middle when it comes to oiliness and dryness, so conditioning it once a week should be enough to keep it in good shape without being overly oily or dry. If you have dry hair, you can condition it once a week, but you might want to skip the conditioner with lots of oils and heavy moisturizers. Dry hair can benefit from lighter conditioners that won’t weigh it down or leave it feeling greasy. If you have oily hair, you might want to condition it once a week. Oily hair tends to be drier than it seems, and nothing will help keep it looking and feeling clean longer than a good conditioner.
Why Is It Important?
- It Keeps Hair Healthy & Looking Great – Conditioning your hair doesn’t just keep it looking shinny and soft, but it also helps with the health of your hair. Oily hair looks unhealthy and can be split or break more easily than healthy hair. By conditioning your hair with a lightweight conditioner that won’t weigh it down, you’re showing your body that you care enough to take good care of the healthy hair you have.
- It Adds Moisturizing Protection – If you wash and condition your hair every day, it has plenty of time to absorb all the moisturizers in your shampoo and conditioner before it reaches the bottom of the sink. If you condition only once or twice a week, however, your hair may not have a chance to absorb all of the moisturizers from daily shampooing from sebum buildup on its surface – even if you wash no more than two times per week. So when you use a heavier moisturizer for deep conditioning once a week, sebum buildup won’t build up as fast on your scalp or dry out its surface. This means that each time you wash, it will have time to fully cleanse itself right down to its roots before getting all those extra chemicals added into its interior again.
- It Prevents Building Up – When left unshampooed for several days at a time (especially during winter months), normal hair can accumulate oily debris called trichydathia which makes it look dirty and unhealthy. Moisturizing your hair once a week with conditioner prevents this buildup from forming, which is why you may see a difference in the looks of your hair after one wash.
- It Stops Hair Breakage – Conditioners tend to weigh down the hair shaft, making it more difficult for damaged or broken hairs to heal and strengthen. Extra weight can also prevent healthy hairs from growing in properly, resulting in longer-lasting split-ends between shampoos. Luckily, conditioning once a week doesn’t have this effect. A light conditioner will not only cleanse but also moisturize the hair so that split ends can be repaired easily when they happen later on.
- It Helps Hair Smell Better – That pleasant odor you’ve noticed after washing normally or with dry shampoo only comes when you deep condition your hair once every other week or so. Deep conditioning helps make the natural oil produced by your scalp more gentle instead of harsher and hence easier for the skin to absorb into its surface safely without irritating it too much
- (OPTIONAL) It Protects Against Heat Damage – When moisture levels are low within your hair follicle because of repeated washing (even when using products designed to help protect it against heat damage), new strands get turned into dead ends rather than fresh growth strands, which can be dangerous as they’re not easily replaced either by new growth or by good genetics if there’s damage done on a genetic level.
Conclusion
Overall, the most important thing to remember when it comes to conditioning your hair is to not overdo it. Conditioning your hair is important, but over-conditioning it can leave it feeling greasy and weighed down, which is not a good look for anyone. If you have dry hair, you may want to condition it two or three times a week, but if you have oily hair, you may only want to do it once a week. The best thing you can do for your hair is to find a conditioner that works for you and your hair type.
