CLEANSING WITH REGULAR CONDITIONER

Another saying that bothered me whenever I read/heard it was “washing your hair with conditioner only is like showering with lotion”. I sincerely thought some people out there were really against people feeling empowered about caring for their own hair. How could this be if the conditioners have cleansing properties? In my own personal comparison, Tresemme Naturals conditioner I’m using has similar, if not the same components as the Wen cleansing conditioners.

I took the “cleansing with regular conditioner is like showering with lotion” saying with a grain of salt, and started cleansing with the Tresemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture conditioner. I regularly cleanse my hair once a week so I’d cleanse with it alone: no coffee/tea/apple cider vinegar rinse afterwards… just the conditioner. I raved about how soft my hair felt after each use. At the same time, one of my other products stopped working as they used to: my staple product, ORS Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner, wasn’t working at all, and it’s the only conditioner so far that really nourishes and strengthens my hair. I didn’t think anything of it except that my hair wasn’t responding to the conditioner anymore and I was in search of an alternative.

I’m still in search of an alternative, but in the meantime I purchased the Renpure Solutions Rosemary Mint Cleansing Conditioner. After using the cleansing conditioner the first time, I applied the ORS Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner. After one hour of deep conditioning, my hair was soft, moisturized and silky as when I’ve deep conditioned before. So the problem wasn’t the deep conditioner, it was the fact that I had buildup from cleansing with Tresemme Naturals conditioner alone. So the deep conditioner had nowhere to go but to sit on my hair strands.

In my opinion, cleansing your hair with a regular conditioner should be a mid-week moisture replenish-er, either you have chemically processed or natural hair. It’s like a mid-day shower or a dip in a lake or river on a hot summer day (if you’ve lived or are living in the Caribbean, you’ll know what I’m talking about). In a mid-day shower you don’t use any soap, just the water is used because you want to keep some moisture on your skin, not making it dry by using soap (“moisturizing” soaps are harsh on the skin too).

Although cleansing with a regular conditioner did work for a while, but it was detrimental in the long run as my hair wasn’t getting the moisture nor strength it needed. Especially if other styling products are being used during the week, cleansing with a regular condition alone is definitely not a good idea. It definitely worked like a lotion on my hair long term. But someone else may have a different experience with cleansing with a regular conditioner alone.

I had mentioned previously that I was going to use some type of rinse after cleansing with a regular conditioner. I have my eyes on several cleansing conditioners currently on the market that I would like to try before adopting any hair rinse. I am healthily growing my hair out, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have any fun with it :)

I will review the cleansing conditioner I’m currently using very soon. Until then, have a wonderful hair journey <3!!!