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pinklemonade
July 2nd, 2010, 08:28 AM
Hello LHC! This might have been asked before but how long should a conditioner be left on (when using it AFTER shampoo). When I need to wash out coconut oil, I usually leave it on for an hour and wash out, but how about when using conditioner after a shampoo, on wet hair?
Some of my conditioners say 3 minutes, others say just wash out after applying it (?). I guess the longer you leave it on, the better it would work but I don't really feel like leaving it on wet hair for an hour.... TIA! :)

HairColoredHair
July 2nd, 2010, 08:35 AM
I usually leave it on as long as I can but I don't stress about timing. Generally I put it on and then do other things (shaving, etc) and then rinse it out.

Sissy
July 2nd, 2010, 08:36 AM
I think you can do whichever, but I like to try to leave my conditioner on while I do my other shower duties (shaving, soaping up, etc). I just put my hair under one of those plastic shower caps when it's full of conditioner that way the conditioner doesn't wash out. Oh, and I always reuse the plastic shower caps many multiple times before throwing them away because I'm all about not being wasteful when it comes to plastic.

Qadupae
July 2nd, 2010, 08:45 AM
I think this question might also have something to do with your hair type. For example, I have fine oily hair, so I wash it out right away, while some members might have dry or highly textured hair that doesn't allow condi to soak in real quickly, so they wait a lot longer. Try one method for a few days and another for a few more days so you can see which works best for your hair ^_^

brunetka
July 2nd, 2010, 08:49 AM
I'm a newbie here, but I also leave my conditioner in as long as I can. I do a quick shampoo of my roots, apply conditioner to the length, and then leave it in while I wash my body and face, shave my legs, etc. etc. and rinse it out right before turning off the shower.

Tresses
July 2nd, 2010, 09:03 AM
I'm a newbie here, but I also leave my conditioner in as long as I can. I do a quick shampoo of my roots, apply conditioner to the length, and then leave it in while I wash my body and face, shave my legs, etc. etc. and rinse it out right before turning off the shower.

Welcome to LHC brunetka! :grin: This is what I do, too, regardless of what the conditioner label instructs.

Capybara
July 2nd, 2010, 09:12 AM
When I CWC, I leave the first conditioner in until I rinse the shampoo out (at which point some of the conditioner invariably will wash out as well), but I do the last C right after the shampoo rinse. I then do the rest of my shower (washing, shaving, etc.) and rinse the conditioner out at the very end.

When I CO, the conditioner stays in for the entire duration of my shower. I rinse it out at the end (scalp massage/washing the scalp with conditioner is the first thing I do in the shower when I CO).

Try a few methods, and see what works best for you :)

Pixna
July 2nd, 2010, 09:14 AM
I'm a newbie here, but I also leave my conditioner in as long as I can. I do a quick shampoo of my roots, apply conditioner to the length, and then leave it in while I wash my body and face, shave my legs, etc. etc. and rinse it out right before turning off the shower.

Welcome to LHC, brunetka! Like you and Tresses, that's what I do too!

In2wishin
July 2nd, 2010, 10:37 AM
I also leave mine in while I do the other things in the shower. I usually pile it on top of my head with a bobby pin, turn the shower off, then wash my face, soap up, etc. After I am all soapy, I turn the shower on again and start rinsing off: face first then let the hair down and rinse everything else ending with a cold water rinse of the hair.

princessp
July 2nd, 2010, 10:46 AM
Yes, I do the same thing. Put it in, perform shower duties, then rinse out. Sometimes I condition twice since I am doing CO.

Welcome!

pinklemonade
July 2nd, 2010, 01:10 PM
Thank you for the replies ladies! I guess the longer you leave conditioner on, the better it works but an hour isn't necessary. I'll just leave it for 5/10 mins as usual....
thanks again everyone!:blossom:

Dragon
July 3rd, 2010, 06:07 AM
I also leave mine in as long as possible.

Carolyn
July 3rd, 2010, 07:14 AM
I do the same as Tresses and Pixna. I leave it on as long as possible. I get in the tub and wash my hair first, rinse and apply the conditioner. I sometimes clip it up with a claw clip and sometimes I don't. Then I do all my scrubbing and shaving and sometimes take a few minutes to relax a bit. I've never timed it but I'm guessing that takes me at least 10 minutes. Then I rinse my hair and I'm done. The only times I leave it on longer is when I'm doing a long CO soak or a deep conditioning.

Fiferstone
July 3rd, 2010, 10:27 AM
I'm a bit of a wierdo I think. I have found that conditioner works best for me when applied to "dry" hair BEFORE I get in the shower. I then do everything else that I normally do in the shower, and wash the hair last. Since I have fine hair with a somewhat oily scalp I do not put conditioner on my scalp at all, just on the length from the ears on down. I also do a deep oiling with coconut oil (length from ears down again) the night before a full-wash day. That, plus a diluted ACV rinse as the final rinse has been my routine for the past year and my hair has never been better.

WilloTheWisp
July 10th, 2010, 10:00 AM
Hi, another newbie here :) I leave conditioner on as long as I can stand. Every time I wash my hair I do a mix of 2 or 3 conditioners/treatments and leave it on at least an hour. Then I wash it and put for a minute or so cone rich conditioner to get silky smoot hair for sure :D

YesitsReal
July 10th, 2010, 10:19 AM
This should answer your question:

http://thebeautybrains.com/2010/05/22/how-long-do-you-have-to-leave-conditioner-in-your-hair/

Love this website!
HTH!

Cimorene
July 10th, 2010, 09:46 PM
This should answer your question:

http://thebeautybrains.com/2010/05/22/how-long-do-you-have-to-leave-conditioner-in-your-hair/

Love this website!
HTH!

Ooh, I saw this thread's title and immediately thought of that post at The Beauty Brains! It's one of my favorite blogs!

So yeah, you don't really need to leave the conditioner in any longer than it takes you to work it through your hair evenly, but it won't hurt if you do. :shrug:

StrongWall
July 11th, 2010, 01:06 AM
This should answer your question:

http://thebeautybrains.com/2010/05/22/how-long-do-you-have-to-leave-conditioner-in-your-hair/

Love this website!
HTH!
woah
it's good to know

KittyLost
July 11th, 2010, 03:52 AM
I usually leave it on as long as I can but I don't stress about timing. Generally I put it on and then do other things (shaving, etc) and then rinse it out.

I am the same! When I'm in the shower I shampoo, stick the conditioner on and then wash, brush my teeth and shave then wash the conditioner out. I think it saves time although if you're supposed to wash the conditioner out after putting it on then I guess it saves no time at all! :P

Lunami
July 11th, 2010, 05:01 AM
This should answer your question:

http://thebeautybrains.com/2010/05/22/how-long-do-you-have-to-leave-conditioner-in-your-hair/

Love this website!
HTH!

Is this saying that there's no idea to do a deep treatment? :confused:

jackie75
July 11th, 2010, 06:30 AM
This should answer your question:

http://thebeautybrains.com/2010/05/22/how-long-do-you-have-to-leave-conditioner-in-your-hair/

Love this website!
HTH!

So, leaving a SMT in for a while, according to this, is a waste if time?

If the conditioner in it is not penetrating, is the honey and aloe? :confused:

I'm not sure if I totally believe this. I think it's more complex than that. Some conditioner ingredients take time to penetrate, others, like cones, only sit on the surface. That's what I'm thinking anyway.

Besides, the longer I leave a SMT in, the silkier my hair.

Cimorene
July 11th, 2010, 10:39 AM
So, leaving a SMT in for a while, according to this, is a waste if time?

If the conditioner in it is not penetrating, is the honey and aloe? :confused:

I'm not sure if I totally believe this. I think it's more complex than that. Some conditioner ingredients take time to penetrate, others, like cones, only sit on the surface. That's what I'm thinking anyway.

Besides, the longer I leave a SMT in, the silkier my hair.

Well, the article was only talking about conditioner, so I would think other types of hair treatments (ones that don't just coat the hair surface) may need to stay on longer. They mention coconut oil as being one of the things that needs time to soak in. I don't know what "SMT" means, but maybe you should send a question in to the Beauty Brains blog! It would be interesting to see what they had to say.

HintOfMint
July 11th, 2010, 01:17 PM
So, leaving a SMT in for a while, according to this, is a waste if time?

If the conditioner in it is not penetrating, is the honey and aloe? :confused:

I'm not sure if I totally believe this. I think it's more complex than that. Some conditioner ingredients take time to penetrate, others, like cones, only sit on the surface. That's what I'm thinking anyway.

Besides, the longer I leave a SMT in, the silkier my hair.

An SMT is more of a deep treatment, i.e. it is more for improving the actual condition of your hair, not necessarily providing slip to detangle. Keeping an SMT on for longer allows the humectants to work and absorb moisture from the air and conditioner into your hair. If your conditioner is mostly emollients based, then I don't think leaving it on for longer periods is really necessary.

Tiina
July 11th, 2010, 01:27 PM
So far all storebought conditioners I have used have worked all the same no matter if I had them on for 2 minutes or 20. Homemade and natural concoctions and treatments are different but silicone conditioners only need a little time to get on hair.

Sammich
July 11th, 2010, 01:55 PM
It all depends on your hair type, I usually just do my little showering stuff for a while when it's on my head, at least a minute really.

Igor
July 11th, 2010, 02:00 PM
Hello LHC! This might have been asked before but how long should a conditioner be left on (when using it AFTER shampoo). When I need to wash out coconut oil, I usually leave it on for an hour and wash out, but how about when using conditioner after a shampoo, on wet hair?
Some of my conditioners say 3 minutes, others say just wash out after applying it (?). I guess the longer you leave it on, the better it would work but I don't really feel like leaving it on wet hair for an hour.... TIA! :)

That’s a good question. Honestly I think the “recommended leave in time” has a lot more to do with marketing and price than the actual effect. It seems to me like most conditioners makes the hair feel noticeably better after just a minute or so anyways. Regular conditioners usually recommend 1-3 minutes but those more “luxurious” recommend around 15. For a cheap drugstore conditioner you pretty much just want to rinse it out quick, but something you paid a lot of money for you will want to leave to work. For some of them you just want to quick coating of cones and can be rinsed out pretty instantly

I guess it depends on if you just want that quick coating or leave it to penetrate deeper

I think most people here leave their conditioners on for way longer than that though. However, I have always wondered if conditioner has a “maximum penetrability” on hair? Like, will leaving it in for 2 hours as opposed to 1 really have an effect? Some times on LHC you will find tales of super-long leave in times for products and it always makes me wonder if they’re getting an equally good effect from it

I guess my point is to leave it in for as long as you are comfortable with or have time for :shrug:

Dark40
July 11th, 2010, 02:20 PM
I leave my coniditioner on for the duration time until I'm finished with showering, soaping up, or realxing, and that is for 15 minutes. Then I rinse it all out.

jane53
July 11th, 2010, 02:22 PM
I don't use conditioner if it has to left on longer than it takes me to soap my face and body.

Then it's in for a while longer because it's a time-consuming task to rinse conditioner from my hair.

jera
July 11th, 2010, 02:38 PM
I only leave it on for the time it takes me to prepare and eat breakfast which is 20-25 min. :)

lynlora
July 11th, 2010, 04:35 PM
I have not noticed any difference by leaving it on longer than about 2 minutes.I use Nexxus moisturizing conditioner.

Henrietta
July 21st, 2010, 12:21 PM
I use Garnier Volume Restructure and Garnier Natural Care Avocado. I noticed that my hair is SO shiny and smooth after I left GVR for about 40 minutes. Much better effect than after 10 minutes! It's worth trying. Simple condish can be a miracle too:)