5 Signs That A Conditioner Isn’t Working For Your Hair

So let me ask y’all a question: Have you ever been online, seen a conditioner that everyone is raving about, bought it, and even after not really digging it on the first, second and third use kept using it anyway?

I have, as ashamed as I am* of admitting it, I have. Now I am not one of those type of people who follow the crowd, but when I heard of all of the major positive reviews on Silicon Mix Hair Treatment, I was like “This is the conditioner that is going to get me to waist length”!

This was a few years back when I first began my hair journey and I was desperate to find a truly moisturizing conditioner*.

The day that I bought it , I went home to try it immediately. I washed my hair and applied the conditioner. I was like “Okay, this is not too bad”, but wasn’t truly impressed.

After I rinsed it out , I was like “I’m not getting that feeling like the other girls, but it has to work because it works for everyone else”. So I kept using it.

Needless to say, I wasted a lot of time and hair with that conditioner. Ladies, when you are using a conditioner and this is happening it is simply NOT an effective conditioner for your hair.

Below we have listed the tell-tale signs of an non-effective conditioner and how to remedy things to make it more effective. Read on!

1. No slip so detangling is not easy

Whether you are natural, relaxed, or in between having a conditioner with plenty of slip is extremely important if not the main sign of a good conditioner. Why? Well before you say I know why, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist let me explain:

It is as simple as this, the main purpose of conditioner besides imparting the goodies that moisturizes and strengthens our hair is to make our strands smooth and slippery to aid in detangling.

This is especially important after cleansing our hair with the sometimes moisture zapping shampoos. If a conditioner cannot do this then its kinda like you’re just adding another product to your hair just for the heck of it and really when you are trying to achieve healthier hair who got time fo’ dat??

If this is the case then you can…

A. Go on and search for another conditioner or

B. Add slip to it. If you chose B we have listed a few add-ins that can greatly improve the slip in your conditioner.

Ingredients to add to your conditioner for increased slip:

► Oils – Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Clear Castor Oil* or Jamaican Black Castor Oil* (because of its thickness it even adds extra emollients), Sunflower Oil, etc

► “Slippery herbs” such as marshmallow root, slippery elm, and hibiscus has been known to add great slip to conditioners due to their sometimes “slimy” texture.

► Silicones (if you are silicone-free then you can skip this part). Silicones are a great way to add slip to conditioner. But how can I get my hands on some pure cones? Simple. If you have “ hair serums” such as the ones that are used for heat protectants available in your cabinet then just add a few spoonfuls to your conditioner. Those things are pure silicone and will probably increase the slip factor immensely.

2. Hair dries out too quickly after using it

Ladies please raise both hands if you have been through this! So you are about to try this conditioner that you have been dying to try for a while now. You scoop or pour out a bit on tour hands and apply it your hair. It goes on like butter.

Then, you rinse it out and it still feels okay but as your dries so does the moisture factor that you thought the conditioner provided. Can I just say that I HATE THIS.

What could this mean and how can I improve this?

One of the major issues in this situation is that moisture from the conditioner seeped out before it can stay in. This happens more often than not with us high porosity ladies. If you are someone with high porosity strands then you seem to lose moisture just as fast as you put it in.

This can be cause for us to bring out the big gun the “hot shot” if you will: STEAM. Yea, I said it! Steam is a great way to up the ante on moisture penetration into your strands.

Now, if you happen to have a Huetiful Hair Steamer or a Secura then you are set just about set. Just sit under that baby and let the conditioner seep on in. If you do not have a hair steamer, then doubling up on plastic caps can work as well or use this method to steam your hair without a steamer.

If moisture is leaving your hair too soon, it’s a sign that the conditioner was too light in the products that help to seal moisture in, mostly oils. Make sure to add some heavy oil to the conditioner or do some heavy duty sealing after using it.

Also as a side note, try to keep your conditioner on your head a bit longer than usual. So for example, if you usually leave your conditioner on for 3o minutes try an hour instead. If this does not do the trick, then you should definitely go on the hunt for another conditioner.

3. It doesn’t improve your hair’s elasticity

So before I get into the correlation between hair elasticity and what conditioner can do for it, let me explain what hair elasticity is.

Hair elasticity is in simple terms, how far your hair strands can stretch before it breaks, which is similar to the actions of a rubber band.

Having healthy hair elasticity is the key to having that bounce and body that we all love to have and of course ultimately long lengths.

So lets get to the conditioning part of all of this. A good conditioner is supposed to enhance and depending on the damage on your hair, restore the elasticity within those precious strands. Now when you have a conditioner that cannot do this then that’s when the issue arises.

How can I tell when my conditioner is not aiding in the elasticity of my hair and what conditioner should I use to improve this?

You can tell if a conditioner aids in the elasticity of your hair by how your hair reacts to the manipulation that you put upon it. So for example, if your hair snaps off like breaking a twix candy bar as much as it did before, then the conditioner that you used did not do its job. This can be due to one of two things:

► Your conditioner is a moisture based conditioner with little to no protein. So if your hair is mushy and breaking with strand manipulation this might be the issue.

► Your conditioner is protein based with little to no moisturizing properties. So if your hair is super dry and breaking with the slightest amount of stretching then this might be the issue.

The easy way to solve this is by comparing what your hair needs with what the conditioner provides. Now, this does not mean that you have to buy a new conditioner. You can simply just add one thing to it to balance it out. Check this out!

To add protein to your moisture based conditioner you can:

► Add an egg to a bit of your conditioner

► Add a few sprinkles of gelatin to your conditioner

► Add a few drops of liquid amino acids (Braggs is a good option that can be found in the health foods aisle at your grocery store)

► Add a teaspoon of pure hydrolyzed keratin or collagen to your conditioner

To add moisture to your protein based conditioner you can:

► Add a few drops of any humectants (glycerin, honey, honeyquat, etc.)

► Add food grade aloe vera juice* or aloe vera gel*

► Add a few spoonfuls of a thick oil like Jamaican black castor oil* or melted shea butter

4. You have to use too much for it to be effective

Now one thing that I cannot stand the most is when I pay a high price for a conditioner just for me to use up half the container in one wash session. When you have to do this (lets all say this together) IT IS NOT AN EFFECTIVE CONDITIONER!

Unfortunately ladies in this case there may be only one thing to do: Find a thicker conditioner. When you buy a thicker conditioner, you may only need a little bit for it to be effective. This is a good thing because you can save a lot of money while still having a conditioner that is actually doing something for your hair.

5. It doesn’t make your hair softer

Now, this one should be a no no for everybody (well at least for me). I don’t know about y’all but for me if a conditioner cannot make my hair softer in one use then it’s a no for me off the back. There a few reasons why your conditioner might not be giving you that baby bottom soft hair that you have been craving:

► It is a strong protein treatment, which can only strengthen your hair and not make it softer.

► The ingredients in the conditioner just do not agree with your hair.

How can I find a conditioner that can make my hair softer?

If your conditioner is protein based try to find a moisture only conditioner to restore that balance back to your hair. If you notice that the conditioner that you are using has ingredients that does not moisturize your hair, then you can find a conditioner that does or use the tips above to increase its softening properties.

In Conclusion…

In a ideal world all conditioners would work the same on everyone’s hair so you would know before purchasing if a product is worth it or not but with hair texture, curl pattern and porosity being unique to every individual, we find ourselves kissing a few frogs before finding our handsome prince!

So with that said, I hope that you guys found everything in this article helpful! Please let us know which conditioners you have used that didn’t work for you?