Water as a moisturizer @ night?

[GoldberryHair]

I was watching a video on youtube and the girl, who had very long and beautiful hair, said as part of her night routine she puts water on her ends and then a leave in conditioner and says the water helps moisturize her hair and the conditioner seals it in.

Thoughts?

[meteor]

I think it works just like that popular DIY leave-in / detangler / mist that many of us use: conditioner + water.
It makes the product more watery, and wet hair helps conditioner get distributed better.

Personally, I don't think that water itself moisturizes all that well, it just evaporates. You need a bunch of humectants and occlusives, emollient agents to really moisturize hair properly, so it's the conditioner that she puts on top of that water that really makes a difference. Personally, I prefer results from simply oiling my ends (damp or dry) and wrapping them in plastic wrap.

That said, baggy method (putting a plastic bag on top of head overnight to create greenhouse effect) does help with moisture, because it prevents water from evaporating.

I'd be curious to see that video, as I am always curious about successful routines. :) Could you please post the link to the Youtube video?

[GoldberryHair]

Its giving me a hard time linking but her user name is Jadetriquetra

[meteor]

Thank you! I think I found the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vQsULIko88). Her approach makes sense to me, she says she wants to seal in the water a bit, and conditioners and oils can certainly help with that. I think she's pretty smart to use demineralized water instead of tap water, because it's a lot better to avoid unnecessary mineral build-up.

[PiXiEmandy]

i would think its like misting your hair with water then oiling it ,most conditioners have oil.

[Pseudoavatar]

I was watching a video on youtube and the girl, who had very long and beautiful hair, said as part of her night routine she puts water on her ends and then a leave in conditioner and says the water helps moisturize her hair and the conditioner seals it in.

Thoughts?

I wet my ends every night and then put oil (olive or jojoba) on top of the damp hair to seal. I sometimes braid my hair after, or just leave it down. I have found that this technique makes my hair look more defined the next day, and it has also softened my hair a lot after a month of continuous use. My hair tends to need a lot of moisturizing, and it's amazing what a difference sealing can do to thirsty hair!

[LadyCelestina]

Do her ends not get damaged from constant re-wetting? Is it like I think - that hair gets any 'significant' (ok so as significant as water damage might be)damage only when it gets fully wet?

[spidermom]

I believe that water is only moisturizing when you drink it. It can actually dry out your hair and skin from evaporation, especially hair since it causes the cuticle to rise. I think hair needs emollients like lips do. You can rub water on chapped lips all day long and it would never heal them.

[Thinthondiel]

I completely agree with Spidermom. I don't think the water is doing anything to help her hair - the conditioner is.

[EbonyCurls]

This is an old the topic, but I wanted to chime in to say that I do this. I even sleep in the same way she does with Dutch braids right behind the ears. It isn't so much that the water is moisturizing, but I don't add conditioner when I lightly dampen my hair. I use just enough just to reactivate the leave-in I used when I washed my hair. I kind of do what she does and I put water on my brush or on my hands, and it is usually enough to get it nice and sleek, but not quite wet.

I haven't noticed dryness or weakness from dampening it every day. Damp is even too wet to describe what it looks like; it's just enough water to smooth and plump the hair a bit, but not to actually drip or soak in. It seems like water damages the hair when the cuticle is stretched beyond capacity from over soaking. I don't think I, or the lady in the video, gets the hair damp enough for it to be stretched by absorption.

Lately I have been using olive oil combed through well in my hair. And then I move the water on after.

[Flipgirl24]

Technically, to moisturize is to put moisture (I. E. Water) back so th I s makes sense. The conditioner holds the water onto the hair. It's like lotion for your skin. It isn't necessarily moisturizing your skin; it just smooths the dry scaliness of the skin. If you apply lotion while your skin is still damp, it will help moisturize the skin because the lotion will hold the water in the skin.

[pandabarrier]

I put distilled water on my hands and spread it on my hair at night just enough to dampen the hair, after removing hair toys, pins, and finger detangling. I don't add conditioner, leave-in neither oil, the distilled water seems enough to make hair softer after being in a bun all day. It's been working for me for months and I'll keep doing this, I didn't see any damage, my hair doesn't get stretchy.

[Hairkay]

Water is a moisturiser. Yes we all drink water which helps but using water on hair as well is also beneficial especially for those of us with dry skin problems and hair types that gets easily dry. If I'm in a really dry environment and I check that my hair ends feel too dry sometimes I'll dampen the ends then put a tiny bit of oil to seal in that moisture. Mostly my daily baths/shower with hair rinses provide enough added moisture and help with detangling and styling.