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nakmom
December 25th, 2011, 04:20 PM
Hello! I've tried doing a few searches, but I'm not finding exactly what I'm looking for. :justy: I'm wanting to try doing CO washes to see if it helps my hair, but I'm a little confused on a few things.

1) Why use two different conditioners? I've seen people say they use "x" for the wash step and "y" for the condition.

2) How do you know if a conditioner is "light" or "heavy".

3) How can you tell if your hair likes/dislikes 'cones?

4) How can you tell if your hair likes/dislikes protein?

Sorry if these are stupid questions! I really appreciate any help I can get! :flower:

spidermom
December 25th, 2011, 04:46 PM
Just to kick this off, even though I decided that CO exclusively was not for me:
1) The best conditioner to use for CO is the most simple, low-ingredient formula that you can find. However, this may not be the best to use for the other benefits of conditioning - detangling, moisture, etc. Thus people use one conditioner to cleanse and the other to provide additional benefits.
2) Light conditioners contain very few ingredients - the shorter the list, the better. Heavy conditioners have more ingredients and usually contain oils and/or silcones.
3) Experience. Some people complain of cones drying their hair out, for example, or being too heavy and making their hair limp and greasy looking. For me, cones detangle my hair; they're awesome!
Plus I like for my hair to be weighed down a bit; it's way too fluffy in its natural state.
4) Again, experience. Some people complain of proteins making their hair hard or stiff or dried out. My hair has no issue with proteins.

CO worked best for me if I started with dry hair and worked the conditioner through the scalp area thoroughly, then left alone for at least half an hour. But I discovered that if I did CO more than twice in a row, my hair looked limp and greasy. I like the CWC method with diluted shampoo for the most consistent good results.

nakmom
December 25th, 2011, 05:00 PM
Thank you for the reply! That makes sense about how many ingredients in the conditioner make it light/heavy. I bought 5 bottles of Suave Naturals last night (I couldn't pick just one scent!) and their ingredients list is pretty short, so I'm assuming they're light conditioners then.

I found the 'cone-free/protein-free conditioner list after I posted this, too, and it looks like the Suave Naturals are in both lists (not every scent was listed under them though). I've never really paid attention to how my hair reacts to different shampoos/conditioners so this is going to be a whole new learning process for me!

Oh! I did think of one more question, too. Can I clarify with baking soda mixed in with my conditioner? Does anyone else do that?