Hair has a tough job on hand! It has to protect the scalp from
harsh sunrays and pollution, and look beautiful and healthy at the
same time. The vagaries
of an urban lifestyle can leave it looking dull and feeling rough.
Fortunately, in most cases the damage can be repaired, thanks to the
wonderful range of conditioners available today.
What do conditioners do?
Hair is generally conditioned after a cleansing treatment. Normally,
a shampoo is slightly alkaline in nature, which helps it clean the
dirt or build up from hair products that settle on the hair. A conditioner
is used to restore the hair back to its natural ph balance, which
ranges between 4.5 to 5.5. The cuticle scales of the hair strands
open up on application of a shampoo. The conditioner smoothens the
hair shaft and helps close the cuticles so that the hair surface
appears smooth and shiny.
Conditioners that help attract water or moisture are called 'moisturizers'.
The ones that retain water or moisture in the cortex are 'emollients'.
Some have anti-oxidants that are specifically used for chemically
treated hair.
The Perfect Conditioner for you…
Conditioning varies according to the following categories:
Normal hair
Naturally dry hair
Chemically treated hair
Normal hair-
Normal, healthy hair also needs conditioning to maintain its quality.
Products that have moisturizing agents like aloe vera and synthetic
ingredients that help retain moisture and elasticity of the hair
are recommended. You also need to be careful about getting a conditioner
that's specially formulated for normal hair. Basic conditioners
for normal hair coat the hair - smoothing down the cuticle making
the hair glossy and easier to manage.
Naturally dry hair-
This type of hair is brittle most of the time due to lack of moisture.
Using conditioning treatments for dry, brittle hair helps prevent
breakage while combing, brushing, shampooing or even towel drying.
They need conditioning products with emollients that retain moisture
in the hair.
Chemically treated hair-
Perming, colouring and bad maintenance lifts the hair cuticles and
allows the moisture to escape from the cortex, which ends up drying
the hair and making it brittle. Hair like this needs conditioning
products called restructurants, which rebuild the broken bonds of
the internal structure of the hair and try to make them stronger.
The application of these products also helps restore the quality
of the hair.
Apart from these conditioners, 'mehendi' or 'henna' can
also be used as a conditioner. If you have dry hair, first
remember to massage a little warm oil into the scalp before applying
henna into the hair strands, as henna usually makes hair dry. A
person with normal hair can directly apply henna into the
hair strands. With hair that has been chemically treated one
has to be extra careful. Henna once applied should be allowed to
stay for not more than one and half hours for conditioning
and if you want that natural deep rust color, then allow
the henna to stay on the hair for at least three hours. This should
be done once in two months for both conditioning and colouring.
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