Leave in conditioner is a creamy product that is massaged into the hair and left in to protect and smooth the hair.
Generally, leave in conditioners work by coating the hair shafts with various chemicals that both provide a protective barrier and create a smoothing effect.
The most commonly used conditioning ingredient is vitamin B5, or ‘Pro Vitamin B5’, which is found in most conditioners.
What do leave in conditioners actually do to your hair?
Although leave in conditioners create the appearance of healthy hair, in reality they don’t particularly improve the health of hair. Since all the hair above your scalp surface is dead (has been keratinized) it cannot be ‘nourished’ or made healthier. This is why when you see conditioner commercials on TV they say things like, “leaves hair feeling nourished”. This is a trick advertisers use to make you think their conditioner products make your hair healthier when really most of them don’t.
They do prevent split ends though
Although most common leave in conditioners don’t really nourish your hair, they do protect it and as a result can prevent split ends, making your hair healthier, shinier and stronger.
Some leave in conditioners do nourish hair
While most common supermarket conditioners don’t contain any nutritious ingredients, some, like these organic leave-in conditioners, contain many vitamins and minerals that may benefit the hair if absorbed through the scalp.
Can be used as a nutritious styling product
A great use for leave in conditioner is as a styling, smoothing or detangling product. If you use a product that contains lots of natural, safe, nutritious ingredients it can be left in your hair all day where is will protect the hair from damage and it’s healthy ingredients may absorb into your scalp feeding your hair.
If you want a product with stronger hold but still like the idea of organic, nutritious ingredients, take a look at these organic gels and waxes.
Hair Products that Don’t Contain Parabens
It’s becoming more common for people to reject cosmetic products containing toxic chemicals. The truth is, even though many of the common shampoos, conditioners and other hair products on market themselves as natural; if you ate them you’d be very sick. Yet the chemicals in these products can absorb through the skin and go into the bloodstream. With many years of daily use the affects of this toxic absorption may become apparent for people who already have other existing health problems.
So what is the answer?
The answer is to use products that contain only natural ingredients that, if absorbed into the bloodstream, should actually benefit your health. Look for products that contain lots of healthy, natural ingredients like all of the products featured on nicehair.org in the World’s Best Hair Products category.
