If I were to try going coneless...... Help ?!?

[UltraBella]

So, I have been reading all about cones vs. no cones, and I have to admit - I AM LOST !!!!!!
I own two salons, I am used to using VERY expensive products, and I checked them all and there are cones in all of them. Sometimes three or more cones in one product.
I don't know if my hair likes cones or not, from checking my products I have obviously never gone without them.
So, how do I try the no-cone way of hair care ? I would prefer to purchase something locally instead of ordering online and waiting. I am not a patient person, lol ;)
I would like to encourage my wavy hair to be wavier, shinier and have less frizz.
We have all the major stores nearby, plus some shopping malls with lots of hair care brands. Anyone know of a product line I can try that can be purchased locally instead of online ???? I would be shocked if the professional beauty supply that I shop at for the salons would have anything that is cone free. But who knows.......
I want shampoo, conditioner, and I need some kind of leave-in or styling product.
I am worried my hair may tangle without the cones, but I will never know unless I try.

[UltraBella]

I stand corrected ! The professional supply has Biolage Conditioning Balm and a shampoo that is cone free. However, I am not finding any leave-ins or styling products without cones.......

[GoddesJourney]

Well, you just have to try it out. I find that cones are okay on really damaged hair, but my healthy hair hates it. Cones hide the damage and pretend that my hair is thicker by coating it. What I found was that it was part of what was making me shed so much. Heavily coned products also make my greasy hair greasier while somehow managing to dry it out. I don't believe in expensive products being better because my hair and skin hate them.

That said, the simpler the better. Trader Joe's Nourish Spa is the best in my experience. I also like the Garnier Fructise Triple Nutrition for CO. Alba Coconut something or other is pretty good (the shampoo) since it's a bit milder than SLS.

Things that cause frizz for me: SLS shampoo is the first thing. CO takes care of that. The occassional mild shampooing (once a week or less) on just the scalp is okay, but I've been trying to keep it off the top layer. Anything with heat, which I've rarely used, give me instant frizz including a flat iron. I know it sounds strange but frizz usually comes from dryness and damage for me. Even using it once gives me awful hair. Cones I would put in number three. They tend to dry out my hair. It saves face for hair that is already sufficiently damaged, but it's not good for any of my good hair.

About tangling. I let my conditioner untangle my hair in the shower. You may like the Triple Nutrition one because it's a bit thick/rich and it seems to work similarly to coney stuff. Mane and Tail is nice, too (the original). My hair mainly tangles when it's damaged. Some straw texture can get "grabby", but the actual splits are what cause mini dreads if I let them get out of control. S&D helps. Note on cones and wet hair... I find that cones make my hair more slippery when wet, but not so much after it dries. No cone may be a little sticker when wet, but a lot smoother when dry.

Anyway, this is all just my personal experience. I know a lot of people have the opposite reaction to cones. Just try it out and see what happens. Also, you may find that your hair changes over time. What works or doesn't work for you right now may change two years from now.

PS Check the reviews section before you waste money on any new products. You can usually tell if something is going to be a total bomb for you that way. People are pretty honest in their reviews.

[julliams]

Giovanni make a great Direct Leave In Conditioner that I have bought a repeat bottle of. I'm fairly sure there is a whole thread on coneless products but it kind of depends on where you are located as to what is available and even if it is cone-free as it can be different for different countries.

[Rivanariko]

I know that a lot of people on here who are cone-free actually have the best luck with cheap drug store products, like Suave Naturals or VO5. I can't add any personal experience, as my hair HATES cone-free products. My hair sheds like crazy after I use them (handfuls of hair falling out, and I don't have that much to lose!), it tangles with itself and anything within reach, it's dry, it's brittle, it's dull and lifeless... I had better luck going WO than I did going cone-free. Personally. Obviously, everyone's experience varies. Give cone-free a try! A lot of people love it, my hair just didn't.

[Teazel]

A couple of thoughts: Use a clarifying shampoo when you're ready to go 'cone-free, because you can't accurately evaluate the results if there's product residue in your hair. And be prepared for a bit of a shock - you might be lucky, but you're likely to see a lot of damage suddenly appear when the 'cones are stripped away.

I've been pretty much 'cone-free since I joined LHC 5 years ago. I use them occasionally if I know I'm going to be wearing my hair down a lot, and then I strip them out and go back to my V05. :)

[emmabovary]

I've used Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition with good results too, but had to switch now. It's kind of "heavy", I suppose... gave me lots of moisture and in the end it became a bit too much. I understand if you feel a bit weird switching from salon style expensive products to cheap brands like VO5, but as others have said you just have to try it. If you don't like it you can always go back, and then you won't have invested too much money ;) Of course there are fancier cone-free products, but you'd probably have to order them online. Oh and check the health stores! I just picked up an Urtekram shampoo in one of those, SLS and cone free :) Best of luck to you!

[Henrietta]

I know that Garnier Fructis Volume Restructure is 100% cone free, but I don't know if it's avaliable in US. For example we don't have "Triple Nutrition" in Poland. Or the name was translated non-literally. And I know that ingredients may be different abroad.

[RavennaNight]

For cone-free products I really like VO5 conditioners, especially Passionfruit smoothie. Inecto Coconut conditioner is also delicious and works well. A heavier cone-free conditioner is Nature's Gate Hemp conditioner. You can get that one in the natural foods store.

Keep in mind everyone's hair is different, and maybe your hair likes cones, and there is nothing wrong with that. Mine likes both, so I switch up my routine every now and again. If you go cone free, you may find your shampoo is drying and need to try SLS-free shampoo. I find these two go hand-in-hand for me.

[anna francesca]

"I just picked up an Urtekram shampoo" (Emmabovary). I used to use Urtekam as a child, it was definetley the secret to my moms hair, according to her its the best she ever used and she had Classic black shiny hair. Nowadays when she goes to the saloon she moans that her hair feels brittle. Ive just ordered the shampoo again and am totally looking forward to it! Id definetley recommend it :)

[UltraBella]

Thank you all so much ! I have a feeling that my biggest challenge will be finding a styling product, like a gel or cream, that is not loaded with cones. I found a large health food market nearby, so I am going there first :)

[breezefaerie]

You might have good luck using pure aloe vera gel as your ... well, your gel!

I'm also chiming in with the cone-lovers. My hair needs a little bit of cones to keep it from becoming a tangled mess. For the most part, my hair does better with no sulfates that no cones.
That said, I do love VO5, White Rain, and Suave for my CO washes. And the Garnier Triple Nutrition is wonderful!

[TrudieCat]

You might also want to check out some of the brands specifically designed for curly hair - a lot of them are cone-free. Many have very high-quality natural ingredients. You can find out a lot about those products on the "wurly & curly" thread at LHC, or at NC.com (they have a section where they sell a lot of products, but you can just take a look there, become familiar with ingredients, etc and then purchase elsewhere if you want). But I do second what a lot of people here say about drug store brands. They can be very good too, depending on what your hair likes.

My hair looks similar to yours (but a lot shorter :( & slightly wavier) and I use my regular conditioner as a leave-in. Then I top off with a gel. I started doing this after I read at LiveCurlyLiveFree.com that most leave-ins are just watered-down conditioners anyway. So that might be something to try.

I also just started using a teeny bit of coney leave-in over my regular condish, to help stop tangles & breakage.

Good luck! It's fun to conduct hair experiments, I say! :D

[BrightEyes]

UltraBella, I know exactly what you mean. I am also a hairstylist and have been using professional products for years. I also had no idea about cones vs. no cones. And like you I looked at all of my products and found that they all had cones.

When I was experimenting with going conefree I found a professional line that does not have cones in the shampoo and conditioner, called DermOrganic. I'm not sure where you live, but if you live in one of the western states, Maly's Five State sells it (beauty supply store). And I know that some salons do carry it. You'd have to look around. I really like this line. When I wash and condition with them my hair is wavier and softer. They also have a leave-in treatment, but that product does have cones.

But I did find that for me, my hair likes cones in moderation. After going completely coneless for a few weeks, my hair started to feel like straw and I actually had more breakage. Weird. But it's nice because I was wondering what in the world I was going to do with all my coney products if I went no cone:D.

On a side note, many people have found that using the CO method has really helped encourage waves and reduce frizz. And the nice thing about it is you can find conefree conditioners at the store for around a dollar. As a hairstylist, washing hair with conditioner was completely foreign to me. But for a lot of people it really works. My mom has hair that is very similar to yours, and she loves the CO method.

Good luck!!!:)

[teela1978]

One of the giovanni gels is cone free for sure... I remember liking it but that was a long time ago. I find the drug store brands to be decent suppliers of cone free. It sounds like you have shampoo and conditioner squared away, but there are quite a few options in the haircare aisle for those. I think some of the herbal essences gels are cone free too, I think the totally twisted is anyway... or at least used to be.

When my hair was still being dyed (which I believe yours is) it did amazingly well on CO washing. That and a bit of gel scrunched in got me waves like this:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e117/lchamber78/hair11-2-06.jpghttp://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e117/lchamber78/hair7-4-06smaller.jpg
depending on the day. I think my roots were a bit more porous then and soaked up more of the oil produced by my scalp. CO washing doesn't take away enough oil nowadays. And my hair is much less wavy when its not being dyed regularly. Crazy difference.

[GRU]

I found Biolage Curl Defining Creme at Sally's this weekend, but I just looked on the Matrix website and found they've discontinued it. Their website suggested Hydra-Seal Leave-in Créme as an alternative to the Curl Defining Creme, but I don't have a list of its ingredients, so I'm not sure if it's cone-free. (Might be worth looking into their entire hydrathérapie product line, since the whole idea is dealing with hair hydration?)

And I'll chime in with more support for Suave Naturals. I am *in love* with the Tropical Coconut conditioner; I use it to CO-was and as my only regular leave-in. I'm not as happy with the VO5 conditioners -- they're really watery to me (and I dilute the Suave T.C., so I prefer thinner formulas in the first place, but VO5 still seems too watery to me). The Suave T.C. smells divine, too; I found the VO5 fragrances to be a bit cloying, but that's simply a personal preference.

Herbal Essences is another place to look. I know I have an ancient gel from them (not sure if it's still sold) that is cone-free.

[GRU]

I think some of the herbal essences gels are cone free too, I think the totally twisted is anyway... or at least used to be.

Yup, I just looked and the Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Curl Boosting Mousse and Totally Twisted Curl Scrunching Gel are both cone-free. (The Totally Twisted shampoo has SLS and the conditioner has cones, but not the styling products.)

[UltraBella]

I just bought a Giovanni leave in treatment and a gel that are both cone free. I have The Healing Seed Sweet Orange Conditioner, and some kind of all natural sulfate free shampoo. I am going to use my regular shampoo today because I think I have cone buildup, and then I will finish with the conditioner, leave in and gel. Off to wash my hair !
P.S. Thanks everyone for the recommendations , I really appreciate it :) I have made a list of recommended products in case the ones I currently have do not work out for me.

[GoddesJourney]

Oh, great! I forgot about the healing seed. It doesn't seem to be all that popular but I think that's because it's new. I bought it at Whole Foods for my mom awhile back and she absolutely loves it.

[UltraBella]

Hmmm, not so sure what I think about The Healing Seed conditioner. It was very thick but not very slippery, so my hair kind of feels weird. I think I like conditioner that is more slick, slippery, smooth ???
My hair is still wet, so we will see........

[teela1978]

Hmmm, not so sure what I think about The Healing Seed conditioner. It was very thick but not very slippery, so my hair kind of feels weird. I think I like conditioner that is more slick, slippery, smooth ???
My hair is still wet, so we will see........

One of the slippiest cone-free conditioners I've tried is tresemme naturals... the moisturizing one, not the volumizing one. The biolage in the tub that's cone free is supposedly also very slippy... I've never splurged for it though, I tend to go the cheap route on products. My $10 chi leave-in is probably the most expensive product I use (I'm not cone free, but I use cone free conditioners often :)).

[UltraBella]

Biolage in the tub... the conditioning balm ?!?! I love that stuff !!!!!!!!! Yay !! I had no idea it was cone free :)

[melikai]

I think DevaCurl and Jessicurl both have good products, designed for wavy and curly hair, and I think some are silicone-free.

If you want to encourage your waves and such, you might want to try CO (conditioner only) washing. Many wavies and curlies do CO washing with great success! Often frizz is thirsty curls. :)

[Fiferstone]

Hi UltraBella:

Yeah, it's hard finding cone-free conditioners in the usual places :). Currently I'm having pretty good luck with a combination of LUSH, and a brand that's at Target, ONE. They have a solid "conditioner" called hair boost, and I've found that if I swipe the bar of conditioner down the towel-dried length of my hair the tangles aren't too bad. The scent, however, is a pretty aggressive fake-banana smell that thankfully does not linger on your hair when it's dry.

I was a dedicated pantene user for more than 20 years (at waist length most of that time), I used to use L'Oreal Excellence color (former box-dye redhead, natural shade is unremarkable mousehide-brown), and it took 2 solid weeks to detox from 20+ solid years of cones. I'll never go back to cones. Ever.

Now I've got to work up the courage to try something without SLS or SCS...

[Jammy]

Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap is my current experiment, all natural oils but still get a nice lather.

I'll let you know how it's going!

[GRU]

I think I like conditioner that is more slick, slippery, smooth ???

With my curls, I *need* a slippery conditioner, b/c that's how I detangle in the shower. The Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut is cheap enough that I can use a whole bottle every week, and it's slippery enough to detangle the jungle on my head.

[GRU]

Gosh, I just realized that I sound like I own stock or get a commission from Suave b/c I've been pushing it so much!

But honestly, I really am just a satisfied customer!!!

[teela1978]

Biolage in the tub... the conditioning balm ?!?! I love that stuff !!!!!!!!! Yay !! I had no idea it was cone free :)
That would be it :)

[UltraBella]

Okay, I think I may have gone a bit overboard, because I bought everything I could find conditioner wise ! I got Yes To Carrots Pampering Hair Mud Conditioner, TRESemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture Conditioner and Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition. Since I have so much conditioner I may try CO washing. I use a lot anyway, the bottle of The Healing Seed was over half empty after one use. 8oz bottles are not my friend !
I really like the Giovanna leave in and gel I tried today, and when my daughter got home from school she said my hair was softer and shinier than yesterday :)

[melikai]

I think it's good that you got a few to try, rather than trying just one and saying "cone-free didn't work for me". ;)

I found that thinner, very cheap conditioners work best for CO, Suave and VO5 and such.

[IcarusBride]

Cones make my hair veeery silky. In traditional/mainstream beauty sense, this is probably a good thing, but it means it slides right out of a ponytail! Although I like the shine and softness, my hair does quite well without 'cones, so I don't use them just because of my 'less is more' mentality-- If I don't NEED it, why use it?

[red sonja]

"I was a dedicated pantene user for more than 20 years (at waist length most of that time), I used to use L'Oreal Excellence color (former box-dye redhead, natural shade is unremarkable mousehide-brown), and it took 2 solid weeks to detox from 20+ solid years of cones. I'll never go back to cones. Ever."

Fiferstone,
I'm a Pantene/L'Oreal girl myself and am considering going cone-free, but really don't understand the difference. How was your hair different after you did your 2 week detox? I have 2B m ii red hip length hair and can't figure out if I've overconed with these products which I thought were imparting moisture to my hair. Please advise.

[christine1989]

Stores like Whole Foods has a wide variety of no cone conditioner. My personal favorite is the Giovanni Nutrafix deep conditioner because it gives my hair the shiny, "coney" look and feel without the damage.

[sweet*things]

I like the Kiehl's Sunflower "Color Preserving" line, which is sulfate, paraben and cone-free. Actually I like the shampoo, don't really care for the conditioner (too light, imo), and LOVE the tub of deep recovery pak. I'm starting to think the Deep Recovery Pak is my HG conditioner. :love: Be aware this line has a very aggressive apricot scent, which took me a while to get used to.

[Cholera]

I've been cone-free for probably more than 6 months now, but I'm not opposed to products with water soluble cones (PEG dimethicone, amodimethicone are ones that I know off the top of my head). Infusium 23 leave in conditioner has amodimethicone, I believe. Also Herbal Essences Curl Scrunching Gel has PEG-dimethicone if I remember right! If you don't want to deal with clarifying after going cone free, those are some nice alternatives while getting some good slip.

[MicheleClaire]

I can back up the Tressemme Naturals volumizing shampoo and condtioner. I love it! Lots of slip =)

[my2cats1]

UltraBella,
what did you think of the Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition? I have my eye on that as my next experiment. (I sound like a mad hair scientist!)

[UltraBella]

UltraBella,
what did you think of the Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition? I have my eye on that as my next experiment. (I sound like a mad hair scientist!)

I have tried four conditioners now, I use them up pretty fast. The Garnier Triple Nutrition is by far my favorite " non-salon" conditioner !! It's really really nice. I never thought I would enjoy a cheap conditioner I bought at Walmart so much :) fantastic !!
I also really like Biolage Conditioning Balm, but it pricey in comparison.
The others I tried aren't worth mentioning really. No wow factor........

[SimplyViki]

I also really like Biolage Conditioning Balm, but it pricey in comparison.

Have you tried the GVP version of Biolage Conditioning Balm from Sally Beauty Supply? It's a good imitation, and it's cheaper.

[UltraBella]

I haven't tried it because I get everything wholesale since I own two salons, but I have heard it's pretty nice. We don't have a Sally's here, but there is one about 90 minutes away. If I remember next time I am that direction I may get some to test drive along side my Biolage for a comparison.
Or I may just buy another bottle of the Garnier Triple Nutrition :) In fact, I know I will ! It's super !

[DiablitaNoir]

Although I'm not coneless or averse to using cones, the shampoo and conditioner I use just happen to be cone-free. I bought them because they are cruelty-free, contain no animal by-products and are sulfate-free. I use the Giovanni "Smooth as Silk" line and let me tell you, it makes even my dyed hair smooth and silky!

[30isthenewblack]

I love Tressemme but I also use 5 Stars conditioner at Aldi for the premium price of $2! I love this forum. I have saved so much money on useless products :smile:

[Pink Pearls]

Yes to Cucumbers is a great cone-free conditioner...it's moisturizing and has great slip. It's available at target and at Ross.

[LongCurlyTress]

Yup, I just looked and the Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Curl Boosting Mousse and Totally Twisted Curl Scrunching Gel are both cone-free. (The Totally Twisted shampoo has SLS and the conditioner has cones, but not the styling products.)

Has anyone tried this Herbal Essences Curl Boosting Mousse? Did it dry out your hair? Thanks! ;)