when lotions are better for hair than conditioner

[shampoostyler]

Some skin lotions can also be good for their hair. Some lotions are made without oil and some without any real organic moisture.

If a client is in the sun all day or without a hat or sunscreen on the hair, even a soft-oil lotion is better run through the hair before shampoo than nothing at all.

The trick is to not strip the hair with too many shampoos. Even brushing natural oils through to the ends before brushing is better than rinsing the scalp and drying the ends even more.

Color is richer when hair has more moisture too.

[Toni]

Shampoostyler has good points where lotion is concerned. Shampoos Do remove added and natural oils so if your hair is already stripped prior to shampooing, further damage is inevitable.

Rub a dime to nickel size amount of lotion in your palms and over your fingers as if to apply to your hands, then run your fingers and palms througout your hairstyle. Depending on your hair's density, you may need a little more. Comb or brush through. This does come in handy as an emergency hair sunscreen and anytime prior to washing your hair when it's overdry as Shampoostyler has already suggested.

Another great idea for applying this method is during cold weather months as a quick fix for static flyaways.

[brunette]

I have a cocoa butter lotion with hardly anything else in it I reach for sometimes. The hair needs a good slather and let the stuff sit in the hair for a while. Then successive shampoos strip away the stuff and not natural oils.

If you hold a chunk of hair then dip it in oil, you can see the color get richer.

[JoJo]

Should this method be used in place of conditioners in the shower? I mean, if I were to use the lotion before washing my hair, should I skip a conditioner? Would using both weigh my hair down or make it greasy?

[Toni]

Hi Jojo & brunette,

(I apologize for the length of this. This may be long yet I hope it will be worth it to better help anyone interested in understanding some things.)

You have good points and questions about lotions and conditioners. And I'm always interested in what people have to say about possible home remedies and what has worked for them.

Everyone's hair is different so not all advice will apply to everyone. However, I thought of an example I wanted to share to maybe help us to understand our hair and its needs better.

We all have different porosity to our hair and even that can fluctuate depending on the season, the elements and harshness of products used. We know our own hair and learn what products work best for it. Yet sometimes, when changes occur, our old 'standbys' may fail us so we have to continue to try new things to see what helps the most.

The example I want to use is with wood through an illustration of a fine piece of furniture like an end table. The crafted wood should be treated with linseed oil prior to applying varnish and polyurethane. This soaks the wood giving it its needed moisture before sealing it. One table may fare well with this while another may live its days too close to a fireplace or woodstove, finding itself looking cracked and becoming very dry.

Heat, summer sun, and too much blow drying will dry our hair out excessively and it doesn't take a trained eye to notice. We shampoo the dirt out and any natural oils close to the scalp. The rest of the hair shaft gets stripped of even more moisture when it is not protected. User, "brunette" is right to apply her cocoa butter cream to keep her shampoo from stripping her hair more when it is applied prior to shampooing. The soap cleans the oily residue from the hair shaft where the lotion has clung to the outside of each hair strand. Unless you apply a second dose of shampoo, the first breaks down quickly responding to the lotion and leaves the moisture alone where it needs to stay within the hair shaft.

Getting back to the table. If we were to apply furniture polish or oil to the stressed tabletop, it would look better temporarily. Yet the much needed oils would not penetrate the wood due to the sealant, keeping the wood and the oil separated.

Our hair can only be broken down by certain elements that allow things to actually "penetrate" each individual hair. Hair would permanently stay the same if it were not for said elements to go inside and actually change the physical structure. These would be:

HEAT (curling irons, straighteners) Water (only to a certain degree)
Shampoos (soaps) CHEMICALS (to a greater degree)

Chemicals would of course be anything such as products deemed safe to use under educated care. Perm solutions, Lye Relaxers, Ammonia in Hair Coloring, and Peroxide all to name a few. They would also include harsh destructive chemicals that would destroy not only our hair but everything in their path. We will always stick to the first kind!

Lotion applied to dry hair stays on the outside of the hair shaft and can therefore be shampooed back off. The conditioner, however, actually goes into the hair shaft as the water has broken down the physical properties of each hair strand, then the shampoo breaks it down a little more, thereby stripping OUT the oils and dirt. At this point when you reapply moisture back in through the conditioners, it stays in the hair until shampooed out again.

Like that table, the only way the oil (needed moisture) can actually get in to the dried wood would be to strip the sealant off. Meanwhile, our hair is easier cause all it takes is shampoo and water. Applying lotion at this stage in place of conditioner (while wet and just after shampooin) would then make your hair too weighed down and limp (no elasticity) to curl or hold a style. Conditioners are chemically a better choice as they are made specifically for the hair.

So, to finally answer your question. No, your hair will not be weighed down more if you protect it from the shampoo by applying lotion to the dry hair first. It's the same as protecting your hair from heat by using thermal products prior to blow drying and using curling irons.

I certainly hope that this helps you to understand more. If not, just let me know. I will be happy to help you with your hair in any way that I can.

[JoJo]

Toni, thank you so much for that explanation! It does make much more sense now. No need to apologize for the length of the post, it really did help me understand the purpose of the lotion much better.

[looneytoons]

I tried this, and it didn't seem to do anything. What kind of lotion should I use? I used my regular hand lotion... I can't quite remember what it is right now, but I know it's a sensitive skin lotion.

[curlyq]

Wow! You learn something new every day don't you? I have never heard of using lotion in place of conditioner for moisturizing your hair. Wouldn't the perfume in the lotions dry it out?

[shampoostyler]

I said some conditioners. Obviously the top of the line ones are NOT going to be functionally displaced by cheap lotions. I said that if you were lacking in conditioner or hair was exposed to the sun, then lotion would work or replace a cheap conditioner when better emmolients were in the lotions.

[Stefanie]

How do you know what kind of lotion to use? If the hair is dry, is it something you should do every time you shampoo? My hair tends to be frizzy and fly away...