Cones vs. cone-free

[biogirl87]

Seeing the 4 year anniversary thread by janeytillje has got me thinking whether going cone-free has really been better for my hair. For most of my life I've always used sulfates and started using cones when I went from 2in1 to separate shampoo/conditioner in my teenage years.

When using cones in my hair
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=523&d=1354499606
2 months after going cone-free
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=610&d=1354672043
This is how my hair looks when it's been washed with sulfate-free, cone-free shampoo/conditioner
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=521&d=1354499570

While visiting my parents in August, my mom commented on how my hair appeared thinner than it used to be and I wasn't sure if it was because of all the layers I had stylists cut into my hair or because of cones or something else. So I'd like to ask the wonderful ladies on this forum for opinions. Is my hair better off when I'm using a cone-free conditioner or is it better off when I'm using cones? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[white.chocolate]

What ingredients work best for one's hair really depends on that person's hair. I'm sure you've heard many people on this forum quote before, "try it out yourself first." For my hair, sulphates made my hair very dry, and 'cones made it full of static, especially during the cold, dry periods. Is this the case for you?

In your first picture, your hair looks drier, and as you go without sulphate then cones, your hair looks sleeker. I personally vote for pictures 2 and 3 equally. The reason why your mom thought your hair looked thinner is probably because (just my guess) the previous hair products you were using made your hair drier, hence a little bit more poofy.
I think your hair looks shinier and sleek without 'cones, but you also have to ask yourself how you like your hair. :)

[jacqueline101]

I use vo5 and my boy friend said my hair looks thicker. I still daily oil and monistat.

[Amapola]

I agree with white.chocolate - it's up to you and how you like your hair. I personally think it looks better in the second and third pictures, but it's not on my head.

I tried going sulfate and cone free. Now on the one hand going cone free was really awesome for my hair, I felt... but after trying sulfate-free shampoo for a while, I went back to the sulfates. I've used the same shampoo most of my life and I guess both my hair and I are really used to it. I like the way it works for *my* hair, so for *me*, it's sulfates, baby! :) But no cones please. It's individual.

And your hair is very beautiful BTW.

[biogirl87]

Thank you everyone for your replies. Since going cone-free I've noticed more tangles in my hair but that could be either from all the layers that have been cut into my hair over the past two years (trying to grow those out) or my medium, wavy hair being more prone to tangling. Outside of the tangling, while cone-free I've been happy that I'm not coating my hair in cones anymore and my hair does appear to be softer without the cones. Dryness with cones might be from the fact that since the shampoo I was using at the time (either Garnier or Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship) felt so moisturizing, I stayed away from conditioner for long periods of time.

[white.chocolate]

Thank you everyone for your replies. Since going cone-free I've noticed more tangles in my hair but that could be either from all the layers that have been cut into my hair over the past two years (trying to grow those out) or my medium, wavy hair being more prone to tangling. Outside of the tangling, while cone-free I've been happy that I'm not coating my hair in cones anymore and my hair does appear to be softer without the cones. Dryness with cones might be from the fact that since the shampoo I was using at the time (either Garnier or Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship) felt so moisturizing, I stayed away from conditioner for long periods of time.

Cones are supposed to coat your hair and make them silkier, so if you're happy with them, go for it.
They've also made my hair more tangled because of the static...

Have you tried light conditioning with oils? If you don't want to use 'cones, oiling after a shower could be helpful.

ETA: If you're worried about build up on your hair, you could always clarify every once in a while, when you think you need to.

[HintOfMint]

Like the others said, your hair looks poofier in the first picture which is probably due more to shampoo (sulfates) than whatever conditioner you used.

[janeytilllie]

It all depends on your hair and what you personally like. :)
My hair is very dry and poofy with cone free/sulfate free. My scalp was very gunky without sulfates.

If your hair and scalp are happy with doing a cone free/ sulfate free routine. Go for it! :thumbsup:

Your hair looks bigger/fuller with cones/sulfates but more silky with the cone free/sulfate free routine.

Your hair is very pretty. I love your waves :)

[biogirl87]

Thanks for your replies everyone.

janeytillie, I think this could be part of it. I liked how big/full my hair was with cones but it's definitely softer and silker now. I'm liking the softness/silkiness of my hair without cones but kinda missing the fullness my hair had when I was using cones.

If any of you use cones, how do you keep your hair soft and silky with them?

[erialc]

In my experience it's not the cones that are the problem, but the SLS. I mean, silicones really are used to make hair soft, smooth and tangle free (they coat the hair to hide the damage pretty much). SLS is probably what made your hair feel fuller (when in reality it probably was just drier, at least that's what it looks like on the picture).

I don't think SLS free shampoos wash away cones, do they? But maybe you could experiment with that and see how many washes you could go SLS free but WITH cones before you'd need to clarify with an SLS shampoo... Or something like that?

IMHO I think you're hair looks much healthier and happier on the bottom pictures :)

[spidermom]

It can be a hard decision. I like some things about being cone free, other things about using cones. I keep going back and forth. Right now I'm cone free but the tangling is driving me crazy. I will be using cones again next wash.

For what it's worth, I love picture #2 above.

[biogirl87]

erialc, I think you're right about my hair looking better on the bottom pictures, especially second picture, as it's not sticking out in a billion different directions. Maybe my hair really does like to be cone-free. If so, then it's time to forget about cones for now.

[blaketob]

I swear after reading the 4 year anniversary thread by janeytillje I was also going to make a thread of this. I was also wondering the same thing. Her thread gave me great motivation to actually think that I'm going to start using cones and sulfates again. I went cone and sulfate free starting September 1st. I love the fact that my hair is consumed with all natural products; however, I don't really think my hair likes them. My hair started to get extremely knotty throughout the day. I always thought it was because my hair started to grow more, but I don't think my hair has really grown much at all since the summer. Also, when I straightened my hair for Halloween, I thought it looked like a dead mess. I recently just straightened my hair again this past weekend and I also thought the same as the last time, maybe even a little worse. Going cone free and sulfate free are the only differences I have made in my hair care routine over the past year. As much as I never wanted to admit it, I don't think going "all natural" is best for my hair at the moment.

[NataschaB.]

I think your hair looks better and healthier without cones :)

[luxepiggy]

'CONES FTW!! \(^(oo)^)/

I don't think your before/after photos accurately represent the effects of going 'cone free, because it sounds like that is not the only major change you adopted during the time frame between the first and last photos.

If you originally gave up 'cones because you were concerned about build-up, piggy recommends trying a product that contains an aminosilicone (e.g. amodimethicone or bis-aminopropyl dimethicone). Aminosilicones give lots of 'coney slip & shine, while their unique chemical structure resists build-up, even if you never use shampoo.

Personally I could not imagine going back to life without aminosilicones - they keep my hair silky, shiny and tangle free (^(oo)^)v

[hypersensitive]

I swear after reading the 4 year anniversary thread by janeytillje I was also going to make a thread of this. I was also wondering the same thing. Her thread gave me great motivation to actually think that I'm going to start using cones and sulfates again. I went cone and sulfate free starting September 1st. I love the fact that my hair is consumed with all natural products; however, I don't really think my hair likes them. My hair started to get extremely knotty throughout the day. I always thought it was because my hair started to grow more, but I don't think my hair has really grown much at all since the summer. Also, when I straightened my hair for Halloween, I thought it looked like a dead mess. I recently just straightened my hair again this past weekend and I also thought the same as the last time, maybe even a little worse. Going cone free and sulfate free are the only differences I have made in my hair care routine over the past year. As much as I never wanted to admit it, I don't think going "all natural" is best for my hair at the moment.

THIS. I'm using silicone free, sulphate free shampoo and conditioner but it's really not working. My hair is just super tangley and just feels not . right.. It might actually be the protein in my conditioner though. Or the conditioner in general. I know my hair has never reacted well with protein. Man! and I had high hopes for Nature's Gate! I might have to go back to my good old trusty Pantene and clarify like I used to.

[biogirl87]

'CONES FTW!! \(^(oo)^)/

I don't think your before/after photos accurately represent the effects of going 'cone free, because it sounds like that is not the only major change you adopted during the time frame between the first and last photos.

If you originally gave up 'cones because you were concerned about build-up, piggy recommends trying a product that contains an aminosilicone (e.g. amodimethicone or bis-aminopropyl dimethicone). Aminosilicones give lots of 'coney slip & shine, while their unique chemical structure resists build-up, even if you never use shampoo.

Personally I could not imagine going back to life without aminosilicones - they keep my hair silky, shiny and tangle free (^(oo)^)vPiggy, you may be right about this. When I went cone-free, I did change several things at once (starting to really use conditioner in my hair when washing and going cone-free, protein-free as hair seems to break almost immediately after trying to stretch it).

For now, I'm going to stick to cone-free and use VO5 Silky Experiences Champagne Kiss (since it has the hydrolyzed silk protein my hair didn't seem to mind too much when I was using cones). In a couple of weeks I'll visiting my parents in California anyways and will be able to try cones again. The only conditioners my mom uses have cones in them and my mom may also be able to tell what my hair seems to like better since she's known for years how my hair fairs with cones. On the other hand though I may get a trial sized version of one of the coney conditioners and use it until I visit my parents and then continue using cones while in California to give me and my mom a better idea of what it is that my hair likes.

[renia22]

biogirl87- I think your hair looks very pretty in all of the pictures, including #1. The way the light is coming in through the window & giving it that red glow looks very cool.

blaketob- my hair gets like that with sulfate free shampoos. They totally mess with my scalp & make my hair really tangled. But when I use sulfates (depending on the shampoo, of course), I seem to be okay, can use silicone free conditioners & my hair is okay. Weird

[Buddaphlyy]

As others have stated, whether or not you want to use cones is a personal choice. I think you should try both for the same amount of time and then decide. This is what I did and me and my hair came to a happy medium of using sulfate-free shampoos and a moderate amount of cones in my conditioners and leave-ins.

I think your hair looks best in the cone free pictures.

[biogirl87]

Thanks everyone for replying. Buddaphlyy, I'm keeping your suggestion in mind. Today when I was out shopping, I got a couple of trial sized bottles of Herbal Essences Hello Hydration conditioner to try. Even though I still have some of my cone-less shampoo left, I'm going to try using Hello Hydration as my conditioner until I go to see my parents. For some reason I feel that as my hair is used to having conditioner in it it shouldn't take more than a few weeks to see what my hair likes better (and I'll be using coney conditioners at my parents, so even if I can't tell what my hair prefers before heading for family time, I'll have a fresh set of eyes in my mom when I go to my parents'). So be on the lookout for updates in a couple of weeks everyone.

[thirstylocks]

Hi, I love your hair post-cones!! I just recently stopped using cones and I still haven't seen any difference than when I was using them!! Weird!

[teela1978]

I'm a fan of cones myself. I don't see a big difference visually in my hair, but the difference in tangles is huge! If I keep enough cones on my hair tangles slide out. If I forget for a bit and go cone free I'm detangling forever.

[biogirl87]

Teela, I think my hair may be feeling the same way. A few weeks after I went cone-free, I started having more tangles than before but it didn't occur to me that it was due to being cone-free.

At any rate, I'll be starting a coney experiment (using coney conditioner after shampoo) this weekend and seeing how my reacts to that. This will one of those two or three month long experiments as that's usually how long it takes me to go through a bottle of shampoo/conditioner and it would seem a waster of money if cones end up not working for me. However, l still have a bit of my Suave shampoo and as tonight will have to be wash day (the itches are becoming too much), I'm thinking of freaking my hair out completely and not using conditioner on it. To get the softness I'd normally get from combined S&C, this is going to take twice as much shampoo as I normally use and with rinsing my hairbrush and the brush I'm getting my mom for Christmas should use up the rest of Suave and last until next wash day this weekend.

[biogirl87]

biogirl87- I think your hair looks very pretty in all of the pictures, including #1. The way the light is coming in through the window & giving it that red glow looks very cool.

blaketob- my hair gets like that with sulfate free shampoos. They totally mess with my scalp & make my hair really tangled. But when I use sulfates (depending on the shampoo, of course), I seem to be okay, can use silicone free conditioners & my hair is okay. WeirdRenia, I think that's only because of the setting I had on my camera when I took that picture. Once I saw how it came out, I changed the setting for my hair pics as I personally didn't like the red glow all that much even though it looks cool as you say. It might be because I don't think I could pull off red hair and therefore try not have reddish hair in pics.