Deep Conditioner

[MonaLisa]

Hey all!
I have an extremely newbie question :o

What exactly is considered to be a deep conditioner?
what is difference between regular conditioner and deep conditioner..?
Could you please list some specific products, especially those available in Europe?

How do you aplly it?
On dry hair before wash, or as regular conditioner?

Also while we're at it...what exactly are leave ins?
Same questions apply for that.

I do my hair stuff by some sort of instinct, but I'd love to have these things cleared out.

[MonaLisa]

Seriously? No one? :(

[Alaia]

Deep conditioning is usually measured by how long you leave it on. You can take regular conditioner for example, and instead of just leaving it for a minute or two after you've shampooed, you can leave it for an hour before washing it out.

There's also things like the SMT (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128) (<--- clickable)which are recipes for a deep treatment.
A leave in conditioner can simply be, again, your regular conditioner, maybe mixed with a bit of water, or a specific one (if you browse the forums you'll find some recipes, or even if you browse the pharmacy you'll find ones to buy), and you just apply it to damp or dry hair and leave it there.

:)

[Rowan1980]

It typically depends on the conditioner in question. I've seen some that are used as a pre-wash conditioner--this includes some oil treatments. Others are slathered on after cleaning the hair with shampoo, conditioner, etc. The purpose of deep conditioners is often to add moisture to hair, especially in the case of very dry or damaged hair. I've found that deep conditioners tend to be much heavier, though this varies with whatever you're using. As such, it's important to rinse, rinse, and rinse some more to prevent unnecessary build-up.

Leave-ins are usually much lighter than rinse-out shampoos, and they're usually used after cleansing the hair. They can be used either alone or in addition to rinse-out conditioners. It usually depends on both personal preference and hair type. For example, someone with fine hair might prefer a leave-in conditioner to a regular conditioner because they're usually much lighter and are less likely to weigh hair down.

Some people will use a tiny amount of regular, rinse-out conditioner as a leave-in, especially is they have coarse, curly hair. Lighter conditioners seem to be better for this, but if I'm off, I hope someone will correct me on this. :)

As far as recommendations for brands in the European market, I'll have to leave that for members who live on that side of the pond, as I'm in the States.

HTH.

[MychelleC]

Deep conditioners are typically much thicker and creamier than a daily conditioner. They contain more cationic (positively charged) ingredients and are heavier on the oils and butters. You can just leave a daily conditioner on longer, but a deep conditioner is much more emollient and heavy. You can do a moisturizing treatment with oils or a variety of ingredients, but technically a "conditioner" is cationic - a positively charged ingredient that binds to the negatively charged (damaged) portions of hair. Some examples of good deep commercial deep conditioners are (so you know what yo look for): Wen deep conditioning treatment, ion Intense Hydrating Masque, Neutrogena Triple Moisture Deep Recovery Hair Mask. HTH!

[MonaLisa]

Thank you very much! :) I did figure you leave deep ones on longer, but didn't think it can be the same one, jsut used differently. Thanks for examples!