Hair Care Reader Q & A #1

Today's question comes from Clarisa of Pittsburgh, PA: 

"For conditioners what products do you find to be most moisturizing? And what makes them hold moisture? Have you tried a method called the greenhouse method? If so may you tell me what you think about using that method and how it benefitted your hair growth." 

Q: For conditioners what products do you find to be most moisturizing? And what makes them hold moisture?  

Short answer: Products that contain water, emollients, and slippery ingredients. Products with humectants are optional.

Long answer:

      Moisture comes from water, so products with water on the ingredients list will provide moisture. It is incorrect when people think that oil moisturizes hair. There is no water in oil. It cannot moisturize hair and using it in that way with the absence of any liquids will keep hair dry. First look at the ingredients list of your hair products and check for some form of liquid such as purified water--found in Trader Joe's hair products, aloe barbadensis leaf juice--found in Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner, water (aqua, eau)--found in most hair conditioners, Aqueous Botanical Infusion of Phyllanthus embilica (Amla) Extract--found in Qhemet Biologics Moringa Tree Conditioning Ghee or even Bay Leaf Infusion (Laurus Nobilis) and Fresh Watercress Infusion (Nasturium officinale) found in LUSH's H'Suan Wen Hua.  

   As you can see, most conditioners will have water listed as the first ingredient because conditioners are supposed to provide moisture and slip to the hair. The first five ingredients in a hair product are the ingredients that take up the most percentages of the hair product, so in order for a conditioner to be moisturizing, it has to have a good amount of water in it. However, just having water does not mean that a conditioner will be moisturizing. Certain ingredients beside water will provide hair with moisture such as marshmallow root, honey, glycerin, slippery elm, fenugreek, and flaxseeds.

In my opinion, moisturizing ingredients should have these properties: emollient, slip, humectant, and softening to hair.

   Ingredients that provide slip is important because it helps you to detangle your hair. Slippery conditioners are usually moisturizing conditioners as well. In my opinion, to be a moisturizing conditioner, it must have emollients, be slippery, and hydrate your hair. According to Naturally Curly.com,   "Slip is the slipperiness of a product and of course the more slip the better as it will help remove tangles, knots and your hair from coiling around itself.  When discussing slip we are normally discussing conditioner and detangling products."   

Another thing to look for are ingredients that have mucilage, which is "a thick gluey substance formed by large polysaccharides (sugars)" and it "plays a role in the storage of water and food, seed germination, and thickening membranes" in plants. (http://mynaturalhairgrowth.net/detanglingherbs/)

"For hair, mucilage provides the much needed slip for manageable detangling. Water enables the transport of mucilage in between the hair fibers where the slimy consistency makes the strands slippery. By getting in between the strands, mucilage temporary weakens strand cohesion. Without strand cohesion the strands glide past each other easily; allowing for easier separation and removal of shed hair. Aside from mucilage, herbs also come with a plethora of water-soluble minerals and vitamins all of which nourish the hair and sooth the scalp while detangling."

"Any herb containing at least 15% in mucilaginous compounds is classified as a mucilage herb but by their very nature most plants have mucilage. This is the ideal percentage if the goal is to create a detangling mix. " 

Another important thing to consider are ingredients that are emollients, which are " non-cosmetic moisturizers that improve hydration, which keeps the skin soft and flexible" (http://mynaturalhairgrowth.net/detanglingherbs/).   "Emollients...work by forming an oily layer on the top of the skin that traps water in the skin" (http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-20275/glycerin-topical/details).

Lastly, humectants are ingredients that are great to bring moisture into your hair because they literally suck moisture from the environment and infuse it into your hair strands. Be cautious, however: during the winter and really dry temperatures where there isn't any moisture in the air, humectants have the opposite affect. They instead take moisture from your hair and pull it into the environment. 

Ingredients with Mucliage: 

Marshmallow Root 

Properties: emollient, slippery

When you look for a moisturizing hair conditioner, if you see marshmallow root in the top ingredients, then that product is certain to be very moisturizing. Conditioners that contain marshmallow root are Kinky Curly Knot Today, Camille Rose Naturals Curl Maker Marshmallow and Agave Leaf Extract, and Milk + Honey Tangle Free Pudding. The part of the root that is moisturizing is the mucilage polysaccharides, which not only binds to the hair to make it appear thicker (great for fine-haired individuals), but it is a slippery substance in itself. Because marshmallow root is similar to glycerin, which is a highly popular and well-known emollient, this further shows how it is a great addition to a hair product.  

Slippery Elm  

Properties: slippery, hydrating, softening

Similar to marshmallow root and fenugreek, slippery elm has a lot of mucilage and provides slip. According to Lavishly Natural, slippery elm has nutrients that heal the hair at a cellular level which is pretty hardcore. Besides providing hair products with slip, it softens hair and soothes the scalp by soothing all inflammation (remember: hair health begins at the scalp). 

Flaxseeds 

Properties: slippery, hydrating

Irish Moss  

Properties: slippery, hydrating

Fenugreek  

Properties: hydrating, emollient

According to Botanical Spirits,  it "Has medicinal effect to reduce balding, hair fall, and hair thinning.  The seeds contain hormone precursors that replenish hair growth. It is a natural emollient lecithin, known to strengthen, moisturize and promotes hair growth. Additionally, fenugreek seeds are a good source of proteins that are highly important in rebuilding and strengthening the hair shaft making it effective in restoring damaged and falling hair."

Ingredients that Attract Moisture/Water to Hair (humectants): 

Honey  

Properties: emollient, humectants

Glycerin   

 Properties: emollient, humectants

"an emollient that softens skin and moisturizes hair" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-is-marshmallow-root-skin-hair_us_55cb731ae4b0f1cbf1e6fcaa) 

Calendula Flower  

Attracts moisture to hair (http://botanicalspirits.com/Natural_ingredients).  

"Good" Alcohols that Condition Hair: 

Cetyl Alcohol 

Properties: Emollient 

A fatty alcohol produced from vegetable oils such as palm oil and coconut oil.  It is use a surfactant and emollient to add lubrication to hair. 

Cetearyl alcohol  

Stearyl alcohol 

Other Ingredients to Look for:  

Glyceryl stearate 

Propylene glycol (humectant) 

Sodium lactate 

Sodium PCA 

AVOID Products with these ingredients: 

Fragrances 

Isopropyl alcohol
Propanol
Propyl alcohol
SD alcohol 40

*-Cone products get a bad rep because many people find them drying. They act as a barrier and when they are put on the hair, they lock out any moisture from getting into your hair. This means that if you use a product with a -cone and then put on a moisturizing leave-in, the leave-in will not be able to penetrate the barrier the -cone creates. This can cause hair to become dry and subsequently, it can cause it to break. However, I've found -cones to be great in fighting humidity because it keeps moisture from the outside from coming into the hair.  

     What I do is I do not use shampoos, conditioners, or deep conditioners or protein treatments with -cones. If I use a shampoo with a cone then if I use a conditioner, the moisture cannot get into the hair strand, which causes dry hair and breakage. However, I do use a -cone filled product after I apply my LOC because it assures me that the moisture is locked into the hair strand. The LOC method is to seal moisture in the hair by having the oil and cream act as a barrier, keeping moisture into the hair. Adding a cone-filled product after I LOC ensures that the moisture is kept into the hair and it prevents excessive moisture from getting to the hair, which can cause frizz and ruin hairstyles. The heavy duty -cone product I use is the Lok & Blok. I noticed my hair more moisturized than usual after using the Lok & Blok because my moisture is being kept into my hair and not escaping into the atmosphere. Therefore, despite popular belief, -cones are not necessarily drying to your hair. It depends on how you use it. With that said, I would not use a humectant product before I put in a cone-filled product since they are trying to do two different things. The humectant will try to pull moisture from the environment while the -cone filled product is trying to prevent this from happening. Another reason why -cones should not have as bad as a rep as it does is because it is just an emollient. In fact mineral oil, which is another ingredient with a bad rep, is an emollient as well. What mineral oil and -cones try to do is just prevent moisture from escaping the hair.  

Personally, the products I've been finding to be very moisturizing to my hair are: 

Deva Curl No Poo 

Deva Curl One Condition 

Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner (LOVE this! Very moisturizing)  

Qhemet Biologics Moringa Tree Conditioning Ghee 

LUSH  H'Suan Wen Hua 

*The last two are very slippery, so much so that I can use it to detangle my dry hair. Usually I am only able to detangle under running water. 

Q: Have you tried a method called the greenhouse method? If so may you tell me what you think about using that method and how it benefited your hair growth. 

Short answer: Yes. It helped me to retain moisture.

Long answer: I had incorporated the greenhouse method (GHE) off and on from 2012-2014. I was most serious about it in 2014, where I practiced it at least 3 times a week. I found that simply placing a shower cap or plastic bag (and optionally a beanie or satin cap) on my hair and leaving it on overnight helped me to keep my dry hair moisturized.  I did not have to repeat the LOC nightly after the first night. Every night, the LOC is "reset" because the body heat warms up the hair, making it damp, and the dampness causes the leave-in, oil, and cream to work again if that makes sense.  

I think that if you are having problems with keeping your hair moisturized, then the GHE method is an easy way to do that. I had a problem keeping my hair moisturized from 2012-2014. Now I only need to apply the LOC once a week on wash days and then my hair is fine until the next wash day. I do not re-moisturize nightly or daily or in between wash days. Now I do not have  a reason to use the GHE method.  However, this accomplishment took time. Until you reach that point, I feel like the GHE method is highly beneficial. The reason why I do not apply the LOC every night when I GHE is so that I do not get product build up. Too much product can weight down curls, making it look limp or frizzy. Just the fact that the GHE method kept my hair moisturized benefited my hair growth because I did not get breakage from dry hair (no breakage=greater length retention) and plus, moisturized hair = less breakage = healthy hair. 

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/ingredients/benefits-of-marshmallow-root/ 

https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/marshmallow-root/profile 

http://lavishlynatural.com/slipperyelm/ 

http://mynaturalhairgrowth.net/detanglingherbs/ 

http://botanicalspirits.com/Natural_ingredients 

http://www.webmd.com/beauty/hair-repair/ingredients-dry-hair