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If you’re washing your conditioner out of your hair right immediately after applying, you may be jumping the gun! Take advantage of leave-in conditioner hair hacks but adding an additional few hours or even up to a few days before rinsing.
Natural leave-in conditioners are meant to detangle hair and lock in moisture. Natural leave-in conditioner leaves hair softer, shinier, hydrated and more manageable. A natural leave-in conditioner is an ideal way to replace hair foams, sprays, gels, and serums that contain carcinogens and neurotoxins.
Common ingredients found in standard hair care products include 1,4 dioxane, formaldehyde, phthalates, and dimethicone. Each of these ingredients has been tested and proved to be toxic for the human body and over time can cause immunotoxicity and respiratory and cardiovascular toxicity.
Here’s how you can achieve your most desired looks and results without the added health risks from toxic ingredients.
1. Repair Damaged Hair
The ultimate hair hack is repairing your dry scalp and split ends by using plenty of natural leave-in conditioner to lather your locks to create a hair mask.
Using a natural leave-in conditioner that has the best ingredients for healing hair, apply copious amounts of conditioner to clean, damp hair. Massage into scalp and use your fingers to comb the product from root to tip. Put hair up using a clamp instead of a hair tie or band. Then, put a shower cap or head wrap over pinned up hair. You may use a blow dryer or let your body’s natural heat intensify the hair treatment.
Heat is a great way to open up the hair follicle so that the healing and moisturizing properties of the leave-in conditioner can really go to work without drying up. Once the treatment has been left in for at least an hour, rinse hair and style accordingly. This treatment is recommended after your hair has been abused with a lot of flat ironing, curling, or color treatment.
2. Fight Off Split Ends
Want to treat only your most damaged areas? Split ends are inevitable but can be well-managed between haircuts. Put hair in a side-ponytail, dampen just the ends and apply a light amount of leave-in conditioner and let dry naturally. Hair strands will remain intact and leave even the worst split ends looking healthier.
3. Detangles All Hair Types
Curls can feel like a blessing and a curse. Those with curly hair often go through a series of experiments before figuring out what works best as no curls are created exactly the same. Even though curls may be harder to manage, straight hair has a way of tangling itself that leaves ladies on the brink of pulling a Britney Spears circa 2007.
Detangling hair is best to do damp otherwise you risk worsening knots or breaking the hair. If you’ve ever combed through dry hair and ended up with hairballs in your comb, using a natural leave-in conditioner can keep your hair from thinning.
Per your regular hair washing schedule, wash and condition hair then apply a lightweight (nickel size) amount of leave-in conditioner in hair and comb through with finger. Feel free to go in with a little more to dryer parts of your scalp or hair. After a few minutes use a wide-tooth comb to detangle effortlessly. Do not rinse, style per usual.
4. Doubles as a Styling Product
Do you simply you comb your hair and let it dry naturally throughout the day? This can leave hair looking frizzy and dull. Replace your anti-frizz serums with a dollop of leave-in conditioner. Apply and forget. You’ll notice hair dries but still retains moisture, looks healthier and is significantly less frizzy.
5. Style Dry Hair
Natural leave-in conditioner isn’t confined to post-shower hair. For in-between wash styling and frizz control add a leave-in conditioner to a spray bottle with water, shake, and spray liberally and let dry. Much like using it as a styling product, this leave-in conditioner spray boosts your hairdo on the go. Avoid spraying the scalp or roots of the hair to maintain volume.
6. Protect Against Heat
If your go-to look involves a heating tool or color treatment, leave-in conditioner is going to be your best friend. Ingredients often found in a natural leave-in conditioner include argan oil, shea butter, aloe vera, and essential oils. These powerful natural ingredients protect hair from environmental factors—like sun exposure—and heated styling appliances—like curling irons, blow dryers, and straighteners. They also provide a nutrient boost giving your locks some much-needed hair food!
7. Skip the Shampoo
Does your hair tend to be brittle? This could be from swimming in the ocean in the summer or due to the harsh winds of winter. Hair is vulnerable to dehydration year-round and shampoo may strip what little natural oils you have left.
With natural leave-in conditioner nourish and rebuild your hair’s strength without the need for shampoo. Eventually, you will need to remove oil and build up. However, too often shampoo is seen as a necessity as opposed to an option. Get to know your hair and what it needs. Heavy and oily will point you to your shampoo while dry, frizzy, and unmanageable hair is thirsty for a natural leave-in conditioner.
All-in-One Hair Care
If you’re tired of your hair feeling so high-maintenance it may be time to reconsider the ten products you think you need to achieve your desired look. Leave-in conditioner is versatile enough for every hair type, healing enough for the tightest knots and split ends, and nourishing enough to give your hair a healthy, bouncy look.
No need to weigh hair down with serums, sprays, and foams. Instead, treat yourself to an occasional hair mask or conditioner spray. Depending on which hair hack you use, natural leave-in conditioner may be all you need.
Looking for a great all-natural leave-in hair conditioner?
Have a look at our list of the best organic and natural leave-in hair conditioners.
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