I Stopped Using Conditioners on My Type 4 Natural Hair, Here’s Why

I have a few years experience in my natural hair journey but I keep changing up my regimen. I prefer doing what my hair likes and most especially, what my hair needs. So my regimen is dictated by my hair and so should yours. Therefore, take this post a food for thought rather than a new ‘natural hair rule’.

I have been skipping the conditioning step for about a year now. I wanted to be very confident in my word before putting it out there. Nowadays, I prepoo my hair, cleanse, deep condition/ deep treatment and style. I do not have a step in between my cleansing and my deep conditioning. Here’s the reasoning behind it:

1. One reason why people use conditioners is to provide slip to help detangle. In my regimen, I detangle my hair in the prepoo stage where I will use an oil. Any tangles that come about when shampooing my hair are pretty much dealt with when I deep condition my hair. A helpful tip would be to shampoo your hair in one direction or in twists. This greatly reduces tangles and eliminates the need to use conditioners.
2. Conditioners are also used to slightly moisturize your hair after cleansing it. In my regimen, I minimize the use of shampoos that are very stripping. Additionally, I always follow up my cleansing step with my deep conditioner which does a way better job at moisturizing than regular conditioners.
3. Conditioners soften the hair and revive curls. This is also done by my deep conditioner and therefore making conditioners not very necessary.
4. I prefer applying my deep conditioner on freshly cleaned hair. That way, it penetrates better. Putting a conditioner before a deep conditioner is a risk since ingredients such as silicones will block penetration of your treatment.

I find that most deep conditioners have the same ingredients if not better as compared to regular conditioners. Therefore, I find it a bit counter productive to use regular conditioners, rinse them off almost immediately and then put a deep conditioner and let it sit.

I personally decided to get rid of the step and I have enjoyed many benefits.

• Saves me money. I do not buy conditioners and instead use the money to invest in a really good deep conditioner.
• Reduced hours of wash day. I have cut down almost 30 minutes off my wash day time.
• My hair styles better. Being medium porosity, my hair doesn’t need to have many products layered in order to get excellent results.

Granted, if you intend to scrap off this step as well, consider the following:

1. Always deep condition your hair every time you wash it. Never skip!
2. Thoroughly detangle your hair with a good oil (preferably warm) in the prepoo stage
3. Make sure your products are working for you. Your deep conditioner has to be really good and moisturizing, provide a bit of slip and make your hair really soft and manageable.
4. Try skipping the conditioning step and after deep conditioning feel for any difference in your hair. If there is any, consider getting a better deep conditioner.

Any conditioner I have left, I use as prepoo or dilute it with lots of water and make it a leave in.

I hope you enjoyed today’s read and you will consider it.

Follow me on Instagram @Natural Hair Reviews Kenya (Here) for more interaction.