Who conditions their hair without heat & why?

[brownrelaxedhair]

I ask because all the time that I've had my hair relaxed which is only about 5 years ish...I always sat under a dryer with heat for conditioners. That's what I always understood was necessary for a good conditioning.

But for the first time this month I've not used heat. Just put on a plastic cap for a good while or maybe use the self heating foil caps (which gets barely lukewarm if not at all /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif). I've found that the hair is just as moisturized if not more so without the heat. And smooth too. Is it cuz the cuticles remained 'unopened' and the conditioner is sitting on top or is it working just as well?

I always thought heat is needed to 'open' the hair cuticles and let the conditioner penetrate, but I'm starting to wonder if some conditioners work just as good without that step now.

Its early days. Its only been a month of no heat conditioning compared to years WITH heat so it may backfire one day down the line /images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Allandra]

I do not use heat when I use a moisturizing conditioner. I just throw on a clear plastic cap for 30 minutes or longer (sometimes overnight). Why? Because my hair feels just as good as when I used to use heat, and my natural body heat works well. However, I do use heat when I use a protein conditioner (heat for 20 to 30 minutes). /images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[HoneyRockette]

I don't use heat with a condiitoner out of sheer laziness, and I never notice a difference either way. I refuse to get back in the shower after I've already dried off under a couple hundred watts of heat. /images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[BrightEyes]

Hi Brown

I have come to the conclusion that not everyone needs heat. When I first went natural I read "No Lye" by Tulani Kinard. In the first part of the book, she basically gives the reader and overview of Black hair in general and how is constructed. She mentioned that some heads of hair are porous. Maybe your hair is naturally porous and doesn't need heat to open the hair shaft.

 

[Jade21]

I don't use heat either. Moisturizing or protein conditioners. And, I can't say I always wrap my hair in plastic wrap either for regular conditioners.

When I used a relaxer, and did my own hair, I didn't use heat either. And not always at the salon.

Brownrelaxedhair : Do you get better results with your conditioner when your hair is dripping wet or when you have used a towel to absorb some of the water and then applied conditioner?

Frankly, I would experiment for a while /images/graemlins/grin.gif

<<<Is it cuz the cuticles remained 'unopened' and the conditioner is sitting on top or is it working just as well?>>>

I don't know /images/graemlins/cool.gif Where is our expert here?

~Jade~

 

[brownrelaxedhair]

Hey Jade,

The results feel somewhat the same whether I lightly blot towel dry or just squeeze the water out with my hands only. However, I think if I just squeeze the water out only and not use a towel at all and then put the conditioner in, my hair experience overall is much better for some reason....

That's why I've stopped using towels too to blot dry. I just squeeze out as much as I can with my hands.

 

[moni]

I'm not sure why this is BRH. But when I go to the salon to get rollersets she never sets me under the dryer either and my hair comes out just as shiny and conditioned. I think that from now on I'm going to cut out the heat when i use moisturizing conditioners. It is such a hassle to get from under the dryer to return to the shower. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Jade21]

Brownrelaxedhair,

I want you to try appling conditioner to dripping wet hair and let me know about your results.

I'd say with me, dripping wet, even with less conditioner, is utterly awesome, regardless of the conditioner used. I remember doing this one time when I was running low on a conditioner.

~Jade~

 

[pebbles]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I'd say with me, dripping wet, even with less conditioner, is utterly awesome, regardless of the conditioner used. I remember doing this one time when I was running low on a conditioner.


[/ QUOTE ] Hmm, thanks for that tip Jade. I'm definately going to try that. That's a great trick especially if I'm running out of a conditiner. /images/graemlins/look.gif

 

[sweetcocoa]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
HoneyRockette said:
I don't use heat with a condiitoner out of sheer laziness, and I never notice a different either way.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm lazy about this also. Once in a great while I will use heat(it's usually a protein like ORS Hair mayo with a little oilve oil). This one seems to work better when I use heat.

 

[MSCHICHI]

I love Jade's suggestion, as I found out myself that if I don't blot or towel dry my hair, the conditioner works much better.

I don't use heat on my hair with conditioner. Actually, you don't need heat to make the conditioner work, it is the ingredients in the conditioner and the time you leave it on that does the job. I don't use heat because my hair is natural, mostly 4a with some 3c around my entire hairline. The heat cause the curls to dry up a bit, and draw up a lot, making it tangle. This defeats the purpose for me, and causes extra problems. I would suggest that any natural heads not use heat for the same reason. Just leave the conditioner on a little longer if you need to.

For relaxed heads, using heat is an added benefit. When I was relaxed, I used heat and it turned out nicely. I think this is due to the chemically-changed structure of the hair, and the fact that you want conditioners to penetrate very deeply to prevent damage. Plus, you don't have to worry about tangling, because the hair is left with little to no curl. Just my observations and experience, so HTH /images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Integrity]

for me all my conditioners work better on my hair if i use heat either under a hood dryer or with a cap on and slept on overnight.

i believe once you wash out or rinse a shampoo with warm water the cuticles are open then and the conditioner will still penetrate, although to what extent i do not know.

 

[adrienne0914]

i never use heat or plastic caps to condition my hair. whatever it can get in the shower is pretty much it. the only thing i use the plastic and foil caps for is hot oil treatments. like honeyrockette, i'm not getting out of the shower and back in. i'm just too lazy...

adrienne

 

[brownrelaxedhair]

well that's it then, my hair idol has spoken /images/graemlins/notworthy.gif (winks to Adrienne).

I agree, I don't like the idea of going from heat for a good 30 mins to back in the shower again.

 

[Honi]

What I was doing before being serious about haircare was to always process my conditioners with a heat cap...I usta use nothing but creme of nature and queen helene's cholesterol! LOL But I use heat for all conditioners even though it doesn't say on the bottle. I dunno, my hair just feels a little different plus i love the soothing warm effect of the cap on my scalp.

 

[hairfanatic]

I never use heat for my conditioners anymore and haven't noticed a difference then when I did. I figured that pressing my hair was enough heat and on most of the the conditioner bottles they don't require you use heat. Most of them don't even require you to leave on your hair longer than five minutes. Hey...who thought up the heat rule anyway? /images/graemlins/grin.gif

The self heating foil caps are excellent and works for me! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[free2bme]

I rarely use heat when I condition anymore. However if I'm pressed for time, to speed up the deep conditioning process I might sit under the dryer for about 10 min.

 

[NayNay]

I posted a question similiar to this a while ago because I found out when I use heat my hair was tangly and etc with the deep conditioner (Nexxus Humetress) and my hair wasn't all that soft and didn't have "slip". Tracy &amp; LondonDiva said that too much heat may counteract the positive effects of some conditioners and using a cap or very light heat under a dryer may be all you need!
Right now I don't use heat with my moisturizing conditioner only. When I finish the bottle and buy KeraCare I will try it with heat.

 

[Imogin3]

I usually follow the directions for the conditioners. Whatever it says, I was told that you do not get MORE benefits from a conditioner if you leave it on longer than the recommended time...this was a consultant for Nioxion line. Also he mentioned that you can cause more damage with some conditioners if you add heat (when it was not suggested)sometimes there are ingredients that will "cook" with heat...so be careful.

 

[LondonDiva]

I don't use heat with mine anymore. I did a bit of experimenting and it ALWAYS came out better without heat. Plus I can do housework or something around the house. A good way to generate more heat in the the head under the cap is to try a workout with your shower cap on. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif It works a treat just don't bend down cause all the water droplets underneath will drip.

 

[ms_kenesha]

I don't use heat for two reasons, 1. I don't like to be stationary and 2. Because I leave the conditioner in much longer than the directions indicate thereby still letting the conditioner penetrate. I believe that hairdressers only use heat to speed up the conditioning process (even though sometimes they still leave you under the dryer forever /images/graemlins/mad.gif ). I also think they do it to open up the hair's cuticles, but if you put the conditioner on freshly washed hair the cuticles are usually still open. I also have porous hair so it doesn't take heat for my cuticles to be open.