Love hate relationship with silicones

[longhairvixen]

Before I joined this site I used to used to use silicones in everything. Shampoos, conditioners, and leave in hair products like mousse, hairspray,gel, creams etc.

I became more aware in the longhair community and stopped using cones in everything. I immediately noticed my hair being more healthy. It had more volume, it was more moisturized, I didn't have to wash it as often, etc.

The only problem is that without cones it's hard to detangle my hair.

I recently slept over a friends house and used a silicone Pantene conditioner in her shower stall.

I have 3b/3c hair and it usually takes me 1 hour to detangle my hair. But when I used a silicone conditioner I detangle do my hair in quarter of that time!


I want to have the best of both world. I want easy detangled hair which means less breakage but I don't want my hair to feel dry and weighed down which cones do to my hair.


I think I will find some middle ground. Instead of completely avoiding cones or banishing them in every product I use, I will only use them when I detangle.

I won't use it in my shampoos or hair products.

I'll just use a cone conditioner as a pre- poo so I can detangle with ease., and just wash the cones out with a sulfafe shampoo after. Then I can deep condition with my cone free conditioner.

[pailin]

I think it's reasonable to not ban the cones entirely, but to pick and choose a little. There's no reason it has to be all or nothing.
I'm back on the cones lately after a couple years of mostly avoiding them. As my hair gets longer, it really is making it easier to detangle. I'm no curly, but I do have fine, grabby hair that tangles badly, and used to destroy combs and brushes. But since it's fine, it also goes flat at the roots. And greasy. My working compromise is to use them in conditioner but not shampoo (basically, keep them away from my roots), and I've just started experimenting with a leave in serum- that really helps with the tangles.

[AutobotsAttack]

Id say wash with cones then shampoo, and then deep condition with something very moisturizing..just balance everything out

[longhairvixen]

Id say wash with cones then shampoo, and then deep condition with something very moisturizing..just balance everything out

That is exactly my plan.

[lapushka]

The thing I notice with cones is, they have their place. I don't use them in my shampoo, but I do use them in my conditioners and styling products. I like my shampoo to be clarifying and can't get silicones near my scalp as it is quite fickle due to the seborrheic dermatitis (SD).

You need to figure out where in your routine they have their place, as conditioners IMMHO: most certainly!

[reilly0167]

My hair responds well to silicone base shampoos and conditioners...and clarify once a week...I tried for a bit using products with no silicones... And I and my hair hated it....now I'm back using it been happy ever since

[meteor]

Longhairvixen, in that situation rotating products is a good bet. :) It's pretty normal for products that provide intense moisture and great detangling to build up over time and therefore not to give the same results as they did at first. I often rotate heavy, cone-y conditioners with lighter ones, because otherwise the hair starts feeling coated and weighed down. And clarifying definitely helps a lot. ;)

[MsPharaohMoan]

You also might find mileage varying based on the types of cones used in your products. Here is an excellent website with more info on how different cones behave: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca/2014/04/silicone-ingredient-solubility-list.html