Conditioner after hair mask?

[moon_witch]

I've recently seen a lot of tiktok girlies saying you should be using conditioner after a hair mask. ( so shampoo, mask, conditioner) I don't think there's any harm in doing this but is there an actual benefit?
I feel like a mask should give you more moisture than conditioner so by using a good mask your hair should get all the moisture it needs, right? I tried it for myself yesterday and my hair is very soft but i feel like it's always soft after I use a good mask so idk. What do you guys think about this?

[LadyLongLocks]

I just do the mask. I can tell how my wet hair feels if the mask worked good.
I would skip the conditioner after. Plus, to judge how the mask worked for you, you don't want to alter it with a coat of conditioner.:)

[ETJ CURLS]

IIRC, this was a trend in the natural hair youtube community for a while, and a lot of people swore by it, but then they discovered it was pretty much unnecessary and stopped. (Along with the CGM, a lot of people got hygral fatigue.)

My guess is, the tiktok girlies stumbled across the method, and since it's been mostly forgotten, decided to resurrect it and brand it as a new technique for views.

[moon_witch]

LadyLongLocks That's what I was thinking. Your hair should already feel conditioned enough with a good mask. And that's a very good point! You would definitely still have to try new mask by themselves otherwise there's no way of knowing what they do for your hair ( or don't do)

[moon_witch]

ETJ CURLS That's good to know! I hate it when people give no credit to the black community and then profit off of it :/

[Ylva]

Back when I double-conditioned, I would usually use a mask first and then a conditioner. My hair was so demanding back then that there was no way one product would offer everything it needed. It worked well that way back then; I did this for years and years from perhaps 2010 to mid-2023.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

My feeling is that if you have a good hair mask it would do all the same things as a conditioner and then some. I use a conditioner or a mask, but not both. This is of course just my opinion and in reference to results on my hair - yours may differ.

[TatsuOni]

Back when I still went to a hairdresser, she told me that one should use a mask first and then a conditioner, if one were to use both. Because acording to her, the mask was meant to penetrate the hair with goodies, but not to close the hair scales. And the condtioner would both condition and close the hair.

I don't know if this is correct or if it's true for all products. But it could be a reason. I can imagine there being some truth to this, if the pH is higher in a mask and lower in a conditioner.

[spidermom]

Sometimes I do this. It seems that the mask gives moisture; the conditioner gives slip. Most of the time I don't though. My hair gets so slippy-slidey I can't do a thing with it.

[LongLocke]

I also wonder how much the type of mask used plays into this? My old garnier mask had plenty of slip and I could easily skip using conditioner and feel fine. But the new masks I’m trying for replacement are thicker and offer less slip almost necessitating using a conditioner to keep tangling down

[angel-baby]

I do it as part of a WCC routine (wash, condition, condition). 10 minute mask followed by conditioner. My hair needs a ton of moisture, and this helps pack it in.

[Für immer]

hmm, I too think it depends on the type/brand of the hairmask.
With mine, I'd never condition after, because it works for me pretty much the same as a conditioner would. It's either conditioner or hairmask. Never both at the same time.

[fairy_hair]

I've never used a hair mask, what is it and why is it better than just conditioner? I use olive oil, then wash with shampoo, and use lots of conditioner. Is olive oil technically a mask? I avoid masks and serums that are sold as "products" because they almost always add alcohol and other drying ingredients, so I just stick to the minimum.

[lapushka]

Double conditioning is nothing new. There is a thread on here called the WCC thread: wash, condition, condition, and it's dedicated to this very purpose. When my hair was longer I used to wash like this all of the time, and it's amazing, but if it's not that long (currently around bra strap) then it tends to weigh your hair down. So there is that! Let me see if I can find the link to the thread; it's been a while. :)

If you look for this title (titles only; advanced search), then you'll find it: "WCC, or conditioning twice post wash!"
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=119314

[Simone_Fatale]

I used to do this, then replaced the conditioner with a leave in conditioner when the hair is damp. Pretty much the same effect, but I get to place conditioner more precisely in the spots I want it more, avoiding the roots more easily.

[Für immer]

I've never used a hair mask, what is it and why is it better than just conditioner? I use olive oil, then wash with shampoo, and use lots of conditioner. Is olive oil technically a mask? I avoid masks and serums that are sold as "products" because they almost always add alcohol and other drying ingredients, so I just stick to the minimum.

Hair masks is supposed to hydrate your hair.
Here's the ingredient list of the one I use. (Avocado oil, shea butter, coconut fat)
https://i.ibb.co/BVppRmg/20240109-152326.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)

As you can see, it works pretty much like how a conditioner does.