Hair much thinner after switching to new conditioner

[Fatemah]

Hey guys, I'm concerned... I used to use conditioners that weren't so nice to my hair, and they used to leave it looking a little puffy and frizzy at times. It used to take about 30 mins a day to untangle it, and I had to always keep it up in a braid or a bun, otherwise it would become a tangled mess.

Recently, however, I started using Trader Joes conditioner after seeing really positive reviews on this site! And I really love it! I don't even need to comb my hair anymore because it's gotten so damn soft and silky, I can just run my fingers through it and let it go.

However, my hair looks a lot thinner. My hair care routine has not changed. I wash my hair once a week, sometimes once every 1.5 weeks (I have a dry scalp, and being Muslim, I cover my hair when I'm outdoors.) I leave coconut oil in my hair for at least 6 hours before washing, and I've been using Garnier Length and Strength for Shampoo. I've been taking biotin supplements for about 8 months, and I feel my hair is stronger because of that.

So I don't know what to do guys. I mean, my hair is healthier, softer, I lose less, but it's not as thick and luxurious as it once was. It's poker straight now, and there's no air around the hairs, i think. It's still quite thick, but I'm just confused... Is this normal? Is there any way I can return my hair to its prior volume?

Thanks!

[turtlelover]

Maybe your scalp doesn't like infrequent washes. Can you use a sulfate free shampoo occasionally in between sulfate washes?

[Fatemah]

Oh no, this is how I've been washing for many years now :)

[HintOfMint]

Some conditioners suck the volume out of hair. From what you've said, you haven't been shedding more, so the conditioner is just flattening your hair. I also have to choose between silkiness and volume. It's a trade-off. As long as you're not shedding more, I don't think you have anything to worry about except aesthetics. I'd enjoy the silky hair, though. I can't find a conditioner that makes my hair like that now that I've moved to a place with hard water.

[Macaroni]

I wonder if the new conditioner combined with the coconut oil pre-treatment has
made your hair so moisturized that it has affected the volume?

Try eliminating the coconut oil and see what happens.

[swearnsue]

You could switch back and forth between the two conditioners. Use the poofy ones for a while then when your hair gets too poofy (volume), switch back to the Trader Joe's kind for a couple of weeks or until it makes your hair feel too flat, then switch back?

[Fatemah]

I don't think it's OVER moisturized, cuz if i don't oil it, it gets hard to comb. Maybe HintOfMint is right :) This might just be the compromise I have to make for manageable hair.

I want to know now... what does hardness do to hair silkiness?

[Allychan]

I read somewhere about some shampoos and conditioners (and hair dyes) messing with the cuticles on your hair shafts. Basically these products make the cuticles stand up and grip eachother so your hair feels thicker and fuller, but they are in actual fact just rougher andgripping eachother. Maybe your new routine is making the cuticles lay flat again so you have less texture and it feels thinner because it is smoother?
Does that make any sense?

[Five of Five]

This happened to me after adopting LHC methods - using more conditioner and putting away the blowdrier. My pony circumference hasn't changed, but I appear to have a lot less volume. It is a compromise, but I learnt to love it, and now I wouldn't go back.

By the way, your hair is absolutely stunning in your avatar :).

[oktobergoud]

I have the same problem when I use a heavy conditioner or deep conditioner! Does it contain cones? When I use one with tons of cones, my hair just gets really, really thin and supersoft. I can't really explain it, but for me, it just makes my hair so heavy that it looks a ten times thinner and more flat than it normally does!

[jasper]

I have the same experience with different conditioners seeming to change my volume of hair. A conditioner that gives me a lot of slip will decrease my perceived volume. I first noticed this when I switched from an Herbal Essence conditioner (called long term relationship or something like that) to Suave Naturals Coconut. My hair suddenly had volume like I had never seen, and it was like suddenly having someone else's hair.

I think cones/ no cones are what make that happen for me. I haven't been all that scientific about it, so that's mostly a hunch. I tried a different cone free product last summer and it did nothing for volume that i could tell.

[summergreen]

Yes sadly hair does lose volume as its condition improves. Maybe you could add more volume by drying it in big rollers, or damp bunning? Your hair looks beautiful in your avatar anyway!

[ktani]

It just sounds as if the new conditioner is too heavy for your hair and has overloaded the hair shafts. ETA: Each time you use it, the coatings build-up, making the problem worse. Shampooing only removes some conditioner coating, not all of it. Conditioners are designed to do that. That is why the marketing often says "improvement in x number of days".

My hair would go flatter and look thinner too, when I used certain conditioners in the past.

Over oiling can cause the same effect and make hair look stringy and thinner.

If you have been using it for a while, you may need to clarify it out of your hair. Otherwise, stopping using it should have it wash out over time.

As the condition of my hair improved with catnip, so did its fullness because there was nothing weighing it down.

Silicones are not the only or most heavy ingredients in conditioners. Waxy ingredients and oils can be worse, in my opinion. Some oils are heavy and some conditioners contain multiple ingredients that are as well.

[jasper]

Silicones are not the only or most heavy ingredients in conditioners. Waxy ingredients and oils can be worse, in my opinion. Some oils are heavy and some conditioners contain multiple ingredients that are as well.
This is what I think too. That cone free conditioner I used last summer was supposed to be anti-frizz and it made my hair feel waxy.

[ktani]

This is what I think too. That cone free conditioner I used last summer was supposed to be anti-frizz and it made my hair feel waxy.

Silicones in shampoos and conditioners are usually the lighter ones. Silicone serums are usually heavier in my opinion and from research on that, I have read.

My shampoo of choice, Sunsilk Lively Blonde contains 1 silicone, and yet has never, ever, caused build-up for me in over 6 years - dimethiconol. Formulation is key and Unilever got that one perfect, in my opinion.

[HintOfMint]

I don't think it's OVER moisturized, cuz if i don't oil it, it gets hard to comb. Maybe HintOfMint is right :) This might just be the compromise I have to make for manageable hair.

I want to know now... what does hardness do to hair silkiness?

In my experience, it made my hair feel rougher. When I spent part of the summer at my parents' house, which doesn't have hard water, when I clarified and then did CWC, my hair felt like silk. Not built up at all, just very soft and smooth. With hard water where I live, nothing could replicate that silky feeling. It was rougher, and it was also more voluminous and curlier. That was just my experience.

I disagree in part with Ktani when she says it is excess buildup. Don't get me wrong, conditioners buildup, they all do. The coating effect is part of the conditioning. For some hairtypes, and some conditioners flat hair happens with excess buildup.

However, I have used certain conditioners post-clarifying and some of them had the immediate effect of flattening my hair simply by smoothing down a previously rough cuticle. My hair didn't feel built up or heavy or waxy. The opposite in fact.

With the conditioners that allow for volume, some conditioners either don't work well enough (they don't smooth the cuticle at all), or they deposit in a far too heavy and waxy manner (an extra thick layer is deposited on the hair, making each hair strand "bigger" in diameter). In the latter instance, the bigger deposit could lead to flatter hair in some hair types, or more voluminous hair in other hairtypes.

[ktani]

In my experience, it made my hair feel rougher. When I spent part of the summer at my parents' house, which doesn't have hard water, when I clarified and then did CWC, my hair felt like silk. Not built up at all, just very soft and smooth. With hard water where I live, nothing could replicate that silky feeling. It was rougher, and it was also more voluminous and curlier. That was just my experience.

I disagree in part with Ktani when she says it is excess buildup. Don't get me wrong, conditioners buildup, they all do. The coating effect is part of the conditioning. For some hairtypes, and some conditioners flat hair happens with excess buildup.

However, I have used certain conditioners post-clarifying and some of them had the immediate effect of flattening my hair simply by smoothing down a previously rough cuticle. My hair didn't feel built up or heavy or waxy. The opposite in fact.

With the conditioners that allow for volume, some conditioners either don't work well enough (they don't smooth the cuticle at all), or they deposit in a far too heavy and waxy manner (an extra thick layer is deposited on the hair, making each hair strand "bigger" in diameter). In the latter instance, the bigger deposit could lead to flatter hair in some hair types, or more voluminous hair in other hairtypes.

I think we are in agreement. I said I think the conditioner is too heavy for her hair, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=2051756&postcount=13

If she has been using it for a while, that makes it worse. My cutilces lay flat with catnip use and mineral oil/baby oil use, and yet my hair is still full ETA because it is moisturized and stays that way ETA:2 without the need of anything else or reapplication between washes of either. To me it is about weight, mostly.

ETA:3 The last test of mineral oil/baby oil was on dry, uncatnipped hair. My hair's moisture level with continuous catnip use has been perfect for me. The break I took to use mineral oil/baby oil maintained that level used on dry hair, without my needing to use it on damp hair, and my hair was still full.

[Hollyfire3]

Yes sadly hair does lose volume as its condition improves. Maybe you could add more volume by drying it in big rollers, or damp bunning? Your hair looks beautiful in your avatar anyway!


Is this true? As hair gets healthier, it looses volume?

[spidermom]

I'm sure your hair is all right. I've tried products that gave me very limp hair before. CO does it, also dry summer heat.

[bouclée]

I've experienced something similar recently, but the other way round. Let me explain. I had been using Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition conditioner for a few months and my hair were very soft and silky, but looked quiet thin. I also gradually lost my curls to only waves. I thought that last point was due to my pregnancy though, as I know it can affect hair.
I recently finished my last bottle of this conditioner (which is great news, because I want to go all natural and it was the last "chemical" product I was using) and have been washing with a very gentle all natural shampoo since then, without conditioner, only using oil or natural leave-in after and between shampoos. Well, my curls are back (and I am still pregnant, so it seems it is not related) and my hair look much thicker now!
I think the Garnier conditioner was just too heavy for my hair. Maybe it is the case with the one you are using too? As someone else suggested, you could try use it less often?

[gthlvrmx]

I've experienced something similar recently, but the other way round. Let me explain. I had been using Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition conditioner for a few months and my hair were very soft and silky, but looked quiet thin. I also gradually lost my curls to only waves. I thought that last point was due to my pregnancy though, as I know it can affect hair.
I recently finished my last bottle of this conditioner (which is great news, because I want to go all natural and it was the last "chemical" product I was using) and have been washing with a very gentle all natural shampoo since then, without conditioner, only using oil or natural leave-in after and between shampoos. Well, my curls are back (and I am still pregnant, so it seems it is not related) and my hair look much thicker now!
I think the Garnier conditioner was just too heavy for my hair. Maybe it is the case with the one you are using too? As someone else suggested, you could try use it less often?
Garnier did that to me too, i lost more hair with it.

[bouclée]

Garnier did that to me too, i lost more hair with it.

I actually don't think I was loosing more hair (I didn't apply conditioner on my scalp), my hair was just looking thinner.

[ratgirldjh]

Some conditioners suck the volume out of hair. From what you've said, you haven't been shedding more, so the conditioner is just flattening your hair. I also have to choose between silkiness and volume. It's a trade-off. As long as you're not shedding more, I don't think you have anything to worry about except aesthetics. I'd enjoy the silky hair, though. I can't find a conditioner that makes my hair like that now that I've moved to a place with hard water.

I agree with this! When I have used conditioner in the past I find my hair looks much thinner and just lays flatter! Maybe this is because it is more conditioned? I myself don't like conditioner anyway because it seems very hard to really get out of the hair. I prefer ACV rinses and a then when my hair is dry bit of oil on my hands and rubbed into my hair at night before bed.

[sycamoreboutiqu]

This is exactly why I use conditioner, CO wash with the thinner/cheaper stuff and condition again with the Garnier, to get my hair to smooth down and lose some volume. I love having less volume, but I guess it is all relative.

[sfgirl]

My hair gets super poofy when it's dry, and when it's healthier it's thinner, in my experience.

[summergreen]

Is this true? As hair gets healthier, it looses volume?

Ohh I put that badly, sorry! You don't lose volume in the sense of having less hair - but because the hair cuticles lie down smooth and silky, the overall effect tends to be less puffed out and more compact - which is not always the desired effect for straight hair like mine and the OP's! In the long run though, better condition might result in more actual hair, because of less breakage.

[ktani]

The cuticles being raised can and does result in more "volume". However, it does not then equate that compact cuticles always result in less volume, defined as fullness.

The conditioners that smooth hair are heavier than a vinegar or other acidic rinses that can close cuticles well and still leave hair full. The "volume" of raised cuticles is also hair that tangles more and is stressed more by friction causing tangling, which can cause breakage.

Volume is relative. However, one can get volume in terms of fullness with acidic rinses and herbal treatments, and mineral oil/baby oil, without added weight.

[Fatemah]

GUYS!!!!! I just figured it out!!!

If i flip my hair OVER and wash it, it gets soooo unbelievably thick, while still maintaining slip.
However, if I part it in the middle and wash it in two sections, letting the water run over my back, i don't think I can wash my scalp as thoroughly, so my hair stays flatter.

Plus, when drying it, if I do the up-twist towel thing, nice and thick! Even my braid looks sooo thick and shiny :D

[Hollyfire3]

Ohh I put that badly, sorry! You don't lose volume in the sense of having less hair - but because the hair cuticles lie down smooth and silky, the overall effect tends to be less puffed out and more compact - which is not always the desired effect for straight hair like mine and the OP's! In the long run though, better condition might result in more actual hair, because of less breakage.

Its alright, how about this, can damaged hair result in a bigger ponytail? ( i mean circumfrance wise) or is it about the same?

[summergreen]

Its alright, how about this, can damaged hair result in a bigger ponytail? ( i mean circumfrance wise) or is it about the same?

From my own experience I would say no, damaged hair results in less circumference, although the tail might poof out more below the elastic.I definitely wasn't recommending damage as a way to get more volume BTW!! :o

That was some great info from Ktani about getting fullness back. I can't use herbal stuff (scalp hates all) but have never done an acidic rinse, will have to try it !

[catamonica]

Try using minced onion in your shampoo. I tried it and it made my hair thicker. It works.

[jeanniet]

This is exactly why I use conditioner, CO wash with the thinner/cheaper stuff and condition again with the Garnier, to get my hair to smooth down and lose some volume. I love having less volume, but I guess it is all relative.
I want less volume, too. The more a conditioner smooths things down, the better!