Cleansing Conditioners?

[Hypothesis]

Hi all,

I shop pretty regularly on ebay for little things I can't get locally (or in Australia in general) and on my front page they've got "Wen Cleansing Conditioner (http://www.wen.com/)" front and center.

I'm tempted to buy it, but from my limited research my understanding is that it's basically one of those cheap 2-in-1 Shampoo/Conditioner things you can buy for kids at the grocery store.

Has anyone else used a "Cleansing conditioner" and is it worth it?

[akurah]

Any conditioner (literally, any conditioner) has mild surfactants in it that can clean hair. Don't spend money on fancy conditioner that claims its for the purpose of CO washing, or even in general, unless you like it (for example, I usually use Herbal Essences, but I sometimes splurge on something like Pureology)

Don't use WEN: http://www.glamour.com/story/wen-hair-care-lawsuit-update

This is the CO (conditioner only) washing thread: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=2898

[Hypothesis]

Oh wow, that lawsuit looks awful. Thanks for letting me know!

I know this sounds like a silly question but if I just use conditioner that I already own, do I use it like shampoo and use it to clean my scalp or just on the ends of my hair?

[Crystawni]

You use it like a shampoo, but don't expect it to feel or act frothy like shampoo (depending on your water), and be prepared to change things around, like diluting the conditioner, if needed. There's plenty of advice, trial and error in the CO thread akurah linked to--I'd recommend reading the first 10 and last 10 pages to get a feel for things before diving into the whole method.

[Nique1202]

Also, be aware that for some people any conditioner or oil touching the scalp can cause increased shedding. If you wash your hair with regular shampoo afterward, the shedding should calm down and eventually regrow, but continued use of conditioner on the scalp will continue to cause more shedding. Some folks have experienced levels of hair loss as described in the WEN lawsuit with other conditioners, it's not just a WEN thing, it just came to light mainly through them since not a lot of cleansing conditioners exist. The mechanism of this happening isn't clear, but it's a documented phenomenon around here. If you don't get extra shedding when you condition your scalp, then great, but if you do see a lot of extra shedding, especially after a few uses, be aware that you're not the only one and you should go back to your old routine.

[lapushka]

Oh wow, that lawsuit looks awful. Thanks for letting me know!

I know this sounds like a silly question but if I just use conditioner that I already own, do I use it like shampoo and use it to clean my scalp or just on the ends of my hair?

Please have a look in the CO-washing thread that akurah linked above. Questions you are asking have sure been dealt with there. :flower:

[Hypothesis]

Thanks for the help everyone! I have been scanning the co thread and it's a lot of content but I'll get through it. Thanks again for pointing me in that direction. :)