Everyone knows that luscious locks are a woman’s prized possession. However, what many of us aren’t aware of is that some ladies weren’t just born with it. Instead, they religiously use a deep conditioner every week or so to ensure their hair stays beautiful for many years to come.
To some, deep conditioning may sound like a huge hassle. In today’s society, we don’t have time to wait for products to work! Nevertheless, patience is a virtue we ought to nurture, and there’s no better place to start than in the shower. Fascinating but not surprising at all, here are the benefits a deep conditioner could bless us with.
#1 Keeps Our Hair Healthy
Even something as simple as tying our hair in a ponytail could damage it, so harsher processes such as bleaching could very well destroy it. As such, by avoiding deep conditioners or thinking that regular ones are the only level of care our hair needs, we’re actually risking a lot more than a good hairstyle.
It’s true that deep conditioners do require us to wait for them to “work their magic.” The process is somewhat tedious, and it could get us in hot water with others who may need to use the bathroom! However, all the effort pays off in the end, as it has a positive, long-term effect on our strands. With proper use, a deep conditioner can protect our hair from damage and ensure it’s always healthy, no matter what we do to it.
#2 Prevents Hair Breakage
Hair breakage is a telltale sign that we haven’t been paying attention to our hair care routine all that much. Once the strands cannot take any more heat or processing, they become brittle and snap away, leaving us with unmanageable hair that may need to be cut off entirely at some point.
Luckily, regular deep conditioning could easily prevent that. Deep conditioners are able to improve the elasticity of the strands by hydrating our locks. The goal is to have hair that bounces back into its shape when we pull it. That clearly shows it’s not only healthy but strong enough to withstand manipulation.
#3 Strengthens Processed Hair
When it comes to hair damage, there’s nothing worse than bleaching or color-treating our hair. Once we do that, our hair structure changes, making the strands brittle and prone to breakage.
There’s nothing that could repair the damage completely, so we’ll have to cut off the dead parts at some point. However, since a deep conditioner can penetrate the strands and “fill in” the damaged parts to support further hair growth, we may be able to save some of it.
Besides, adding a deep conditioner to our regular routine could help us transition from one shade to another with ease. Since our hair will be mostly healthy, the damage will be less obvious, even if we were to bleach it. In fact, some experts suggest that women should prepare for going blonde by deep conditioning their hair a couple of times (or for a few months) before dying it.
#4 Offers Extreme Hydration
Of course, most of the benefits of a deep conditioner come down to extreme hydration. Since even the weather can affect the quality of our locks, it’s important to ensure we lock in the moisture and never let our hair become too brittle.
Because of that, most experts recommend adding heat to the equation. By heating up the conditioner before or while it’s on our hair, we’ll allow it to penetrate the hair shaft better, thus injecting some vitality into it and making it healthier.
This tip is especially important if your hair isn’t able to absorb and retain hydration that well (low porosity hair). You should leave the conditioner in for a couple of hours and add heat with a blow dryer, for example.
#5 Helps Us Grow Out Our Hair
The healthier our hair is, the better the chance of it staying strong enough to grow out.
Sometimes, hair can be so weak that even when it grows out, it starts breaking off in strands because its weight is pulling it down. However, with a great deep conditioner, we can actually fortify the cuticles. The treatment will provide them with all the nutrients they need to stay strong enough for us to grow our tresses.
Furthermore, in many cases, lack of proper care leads to split ends. These can travel up the shaft and damage it further. Fortunately, regular deep conditioning treatments should prevent that, thus allowing for reasonably fast hair growth and overall health.
#6 Defines Curls and Restores Natural Shine
Finally, when it comes to naturally kinky hair, women can rejoice. It is not uncommon for natural hair to become unreasonably dry due to improper care. It could lack shine, curl definition, and smoothness. Luckily, with a quality deep conditioner, all those issues become a thing of the past!
The conditioner will penetrate the shaft and smoothe it, hiding some of the damage that may have been caused by improper care and excess use of heat, dyes, etc. At the same time, it will reduce frizz and make the strands silky and shiny.
Also, in the case of curly hair, a deep conditioning treatment can help us get more defined curls. The more moisture we lock in place, the better and bouncier the curls are.
Final Thoughts
Though many women believe a regular conditioner is enough to keep hair manageable, the truth is somewhere in between. Of course, we should all strive to shampoo and condition every time we wash our hair. However, without using a deep conditioner at least once a week, the results won’t be so mesmerizing.
Nevertheless, there are a few rules we ought to have in mind when deep conditioning our hair. We should strive to use heat to our advantage, as that helps the product penetrate the shaft better. What’s more, we must blot excess water before applying the treatment and rinse it out with cool water, as that may help close the cuticles.
More importantly, though proper hair care is crucial, we shouldn’t overdo it. Even in the case of using a high-quality deep conditioner, less is certainly more. Pampering our hair once a week is quite enough to keep split ends and breakage at bay!