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View Full Version : Mixing and Heating up Commercial Products for a Deep Treatment - Thoughts?



Nemain
March 15th, 2015, 10:07 AM
Hi! :)

Recently, I've seen girls on a local (non-hair) forum do this method, inspired by a blog post by one of them.

The basic idea is to make a concoction of several different conditioning products (commercial - so no natural stuff), one being the strongest, and heating it up.


Here it is explained what to use:



The 'dominant' product, which is your base - this product is placed in highest quantity (an example - 3 tbsp of this product, and 1 tbsp of the rest, but you should experiment with different amounts). If your hair is normal, the base can be a less nourishing conditioner or mask. For dry hair, it's best to have the base be a stronger product which contains silicones and oils.



All of the additional products - masks, conditioners, leave-ins, etc. - should be hydrating. Silicone oils make it stronger. The stronger the mix, the better it is for helping moisturize dry and damaged hair.



If you want to avoid your hair becoming greasy and heavy, you should only put a little bit of these additional products.


There are also some tips:



Warm up the mixture in the microwave (or on steam) for a deep treatment.
If your top layer is dry, you can apply the mixture with a hair dyeing brush, 5 centimeters (2 inches) away from the roots. However, if you have greasy hair, apply it 10 centimeters (4 inches) from the roots.
You don't have to heat it up if you don't want a deep treatment.
Keep it on as long as you can, the longer - the better.
After washing it out, use a non-silicone leave in, or a few drops of silicone oil.



(By the way, not sure if it's called ''silicone oil'', those are basically any of those store-bought hair oils filled with... Well, silicones.)

I have seen girls use as little as 3, or as much as 8 products, and the results vary. Some report great results, saying their hair never looked better. Others say that it turned their hair into a straw-like bird's nest. I am unsure, mixing a bunch of products sounds like too much to me. It probably wouldn't work on my straight, fine-ish hair. They don't mention their hair types, but surely it should be taken into consideration.


What are your thoughts on this? Have you tried something like it? :)

endlessly
March 15th, 2015, 10:14 AM
I used to do something like this a few years ago since I always seemed to have an excess of tried and failed products on hand. This was typically my way of using them up versus just tossing them, so I'd mix conditioners, deep conditioners, masques, oils, etc. and I'd typically heat them by placing my bowl in a sink of hot water and letting them warm that way, then slather it all on my head for a good 30 - 60 minutes.

However, here's the downside. I never really noticed much of a difference as far as moisture was concerned. Sure, my hair would be tangle-free, but it would feel heavy and sticky, and the only way to remove that feeling was to scrub with a clarifying shampoo which basically defeated the purpose of trying that concoction in the first place. Plus, since I was also only using commercial beauty products at the time, nothing was really being absorbed into my hair, just coating it. I couldn't handle how disgusting my hair felt after trying this, so I never really attempted it again.

Personally, I have better luck with all natural masques and treatments since they're made to be absorbed into the hair and they're actually made with high quality, good-for-you ingredients.

lapushka
March 15th, 2015, 11:45 AM
I'll stick to double conditioning, seems hydrating enough to me. First one in, rinse *out*, second one in, and rinse *out*. I don't think mixing too too many products in one go can be beneficial. What if the ingredients don't mesh well and you're doing it with so many products?

meteor
March 15th, 2015, 11:55 AM
Yeah, I do this all the time. :D
Because I know my base products well and what they do for me (and hair conditioning products don't have real "actives" anyway), I'm confident mixing them. It's one of the many ways for alleviating boredom that can happen with long hair.

Also, it's the only way I can do things like:
- SMTs or
- Fox's Shea Conditioning Cream or
- oil + conditioner/mask or
- gelatin treatment or
- silk drops added to leave-in or
- oil mixed with leave-in.

My all-time favorite concoction is probably gelatin + a bit of hot water + conditioner + honey + oil(s).

Nemain
March 16th, 2015, 08:20 AM
Thank you for your replies :)

I think it could work for those who are knowledgeable of ingredients and don't mind the possibility of ending up with massive build up, but just like it has been said - you never know what might happen when you mix every product you own, and I assume it could end up being the way endlessly described it - you get some positives, and you get some negatives.

I'm not sure why they are against adding anything natural to the mix, I feel like it could do some good, although natural isn't always the best.

meteor, your favorite concoction sounds like it would smell heavenly :D

meteor
March 16th, 2015, 08:56 AM
I'm not sure why they are against adding anything natural to the mix, I feel like it could do some good, although natural isn't always the best.

I'm curious about that too! :) Did they explain why?
The only thing that comes to my mind is maybe they are worried about preservatives not working well enough with natural products thrown in? :hmm:
I mix just enough for one application anyway, and I don't recommend mixing natural aqueous stuff into your products (unless you are using it up within a couple days), because the water would dilute preservatives and bacteria grow in water fast (unlike oils, for example).

Rosetta
March 16th, 2015, 09:20 AM
I'm not sure why they are against adding anything natural to the mix, I feel like it could do some good, although natural isn't always the best.

So true; interestingly, I've had quite the opposite experience to this:


Personally, I have better luck with all natural masques and treatments since they're made to be absorbed into the hair and they're actually made with high quality, good-for-you ingredients.
I've always had better luck with commercial products for some reason, even though it would of course be lovely to have hair that prefers natural... Oh well. (Although I'm not sure how the good-for-you ingredients make much difference, when hair is essentially dead matter...?)

MINAKO
March 16th, 2015, 09:30 AM
I really prefer layering my products and don't really believe in heating up being any more beneficial than the temperature my body warms up the product anyways. Theres not even 15*C of a difference, so i might as well wear a shower cap topped with a scarf and leave it at that. I have a steam iron that i sometimes use to make products penetrate better, that sure speeds up the process, but in th end i think a good overnight conditioning is sometimes we all have time for anyways.
As for mixing the products to make them "stronger", i would much prefer to use thise that work best just by themselves. I will add plenty of leave ins throughout the week after my deep conditioning, so i dont really see a point in ruining my favorite mask by dilluting it.

meteor
March 16th, 2015, 09:32 AM
^ Rosetta, I agree wholeheartedly. :agree:
Just because something is natural certainly doesn't mean it's automatically more fit for being rubbed all over our hair. It just doesn't follow.
In fact, something coming from a bunch of chemists in a lab who are given a specific mandate to develop the best stuff possible for hair that would sell all over the world and work for millions of people's hair is kind of a good bet for me. :shrug:
I just can't assume that nature's gift chamomile (or, to give a less appealing example: poison ivy) evolved specifically to be good for hair. So yeah, if natural happens to be also great for hair, I love it! :applause But I'm not giving up results of human work either. ;)

MINAKO
March 16th, 2015, 09:41 AM
^ Rosetta, I agree wholeheartedly. :agree:
Just because something is natural certainly doesn't mean it's automatically more fit for being rubbed all over our hair. It just doesn't follow.
In fact, something coming from a bunch of chemists in a lab who are given a specific mandate to develop the best stuff possible for hair that would sell all over the world and work for millions of people's hair is kind of a good bet for me. :shrug:
I just can't assume that nature's gift chamomile (or, to give a less appealing example: poison ivy) evolved specifically to be good for hair. So yeah, if natural happens to be also great for hair, I love it! :applause But I'm not giving up results of human work either. ;)

I couldn't agree more on this. Natural does not mean it absorbs any better, neither does it mean it cant be harmful (lemon juice im looking at you) or cause allergies (hello nut oils).
"Chemicals" is a word i often read and it makes me smile how its percieved. In the end EVERYTHING is a chemical, the entire human body is composed of them. So it really just depends on molecular structure, wether its altered or not, both can be a hit or miss.

meteor
March 16th, 2015, 09:43 AM
I really prefer layering my products and don't really believe in heating up being any more beneficial than the temperature my body warms up the product anyways. Theres not even 15*C of a difference, so i might as well wear a shower cap topped with a scarf and leave it at that. I have a steam iron that i sometimes use to make products penetrate better, that sure speeds up the process, but in th end i think a good overnight conditioning is sometimes we all have time for anyways.

Yes, definitely, body heat is enough for proper conditioning. Here is a graph that shows the mild increase of adsorption of conditioner to hair with increased temperature (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x30LqUgLU6c/UH_-JFgWdeI/AAAAAAAABFQ/eW7R9W4oop0/s400/heat_deep_conditioning.png).
You don't need more than 35 C and you generally don't need longer than 30 minutes either (unless it's pre-poo oiling): http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2012/10/deep-conditioning-effect-of-time-and.html
Conditioning products are usually formulated to work at room temperatures and within minutes - if not, they'll clearly state otherwise.

meteor
March 16th, 2015, 09:48 AM
"Chemicals" is a word i often read and it makes me smile how its percieved. In the end EVERYTHING is a chemical, the entire human body is composed of them. So it really just depends on molecular structure, wether its altered or not, both can be a hit or miss.

Oh absolutely! :agree: Whenever somebody says "chemicals-free", I always automatically imagine a vacuum in a lab. :lol:

Rosetta
March 16th, 2015, 09:58 AM
Whenever somebody says "chemicals-free", I always automatically imagine a vacuum in a lab. :lol:
I surely will from now on, too ;) It's funny how often that word pops up, equated to "all-natural"...

And glad you agree!

MINAKO
March 16th, 2015, 10:47 AM
Yes, definitely, body heat is enough for proper conditioning. Here is a graph that shows the mild increase of adsorption of conditioner to hair with increased temperature (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x30LqUgLU6c/UH_-JFgWdeI/AAAAAAAABFQ/eW7R9W4oop0/s400/heat_deep_conditioning.png).
You don't need more than 35 C and you generally don't need longer than 30 minutes either (unless it's pre-poo oiling): http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2012/10/deep-conditioning-effect-of-time-and.html
Conditioning products are usually formulated to work at room temperatures and within minutes - if not, they'll clearly state otherwise.

Interesting to know that the penetration is already at its maximum after about 30mins. I actually wonder all the time if deposit dyes really do work better overnight. I dont think so, but most of the time im too lazy to rinse my hair again and have it sopping wet before going to bed. Same with treatments. This iron i mentioned works with infrared and ultrasonic technology, much like a jewelry cleaner, so i can imagine how that helps to move the molecules around. It h lps to get as much out of my treatments as possible, but the entire process takes me a good 20mins, so i dont always reach for it.

Nemain
March 17th, 2015, 05:40 AM
I'm curious about that too! :) Did they explain why?


Honestly, I think it is more than anything because some of them have hair blogs, and having your haircare based on honey treatments and vinegar rinses won't get the companies to send you sweet, expensive products. However, even if that is not the case, they just seem to be against homemade treatment from what I've seen, saying that they are practically useless because only sit on top of the hair, nothing gets absorbed, you waste your eggs/honey/ingredients, etc.


Yes, definitely, body heat is enough for proper conditioning. Here is a graph that shows the mild increase of adsorption of conditioner to hair with increased temperature (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x30LqUgLU6c/UH_-JFgWdeI/AAAAAAAABFQ/eW7R9W4oop0/s400/heat_deep_conditioning.png).
You don't need more than 35 C and you generally don't need longer than 30 minutes either (unless it's pre-poo oiling): http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2012/10/deep-conditioning-effect-of-time-and.html
Conditioning products are usually formulated to work at room temperatures and within minutes - if not, they'll clearly state otherwise.

That's interesting, thanks for sharing!

I think the way you do it, MINAKO, would be a much better solution. It seems like each product would work to its fullest potential that way, adding them throughout the week, plus you're constantly keeping your hair protected from dryness.


Chemicals (well, things most people associate them with - commercial products) are definitely not evil, you just need to find things that work for you. Sure, that one product may have broken you out, but so can some (many) plants. I'm sure a lot of people hear ''chemicals'' and automatically think ''harsh'', while ''natural'' sounds much more attractive and gentle, even though one does not exclude the other.

Rosetta
March 17th, 2015, 09:15 AM
^ True :)

I just wanted to clarify that even though I do think natural isn't always best, and man-made products can be better in many cases, that doesn't apply to the (so-called) chemical hair dyes, which contain actual toxins; the case of hair dyes is one where natural (i.e. herbal) is actually better! But it's one of the few. (And there are also man-made dyes that are not bad, deposit-only or "vegetable" dyes as they're also called.)

Nemain
March 19th, 2015, 08:50 AM
^ Definitely agree with you on that! :)