Ms. Sparkle's Best Conditioners For Your Hair

Back to regularly scheduled beauty blogging Shine and Sparkle Report readers!

Today, I wanted to let you know my top conditioners for different hair types.  My amazing friend Kethry asked about.  I've been meaning to do a conditioner post for a while but there is a surprising amount of work that goes into it.  I had to really think about the scope of this post to avoid writing a novel or not being an informed blogger. These conditioners are my favorite examples of conditioners that might work for your hair.  It also can serve as a bit of a guide when you go out looking for a new conditioner.  That being said, everyone's hair is different and you might have to experiment a little to find out what works best for your hair.

Scope Of This Sparkle Report:
I limited my suggestions to just what I consider to be "regular" conditioners (or products that perform like regular conditioners) rather than "deep" conditioners/masks to that are used 1-2 times a week.  I pretty much stuck with types of Healthy Hair and Dry/Damaged/Color Treated Hair as the two discussed hair types.  There is a little in there about hair texture, but lets face it, I have the most experience with my own hair texture which has been all of the textures discussed in this post at one time or another.  However, not having much experience with super curly or kinky textures, I think I'm best qualified to give advice within the stated boundaries.  I also know I only touched on the whole "moisture vs. protein" issue and I'm kind of high up there with the pricing.  That being said, in order to get anything written, I just had to go with it.  Since this is a full on report, I tried to keep this intro as short as possible.  Feel free to ask any questions or your suggestions in the comments!

Healthy Hair:
You are very lucky! You do not have damage or increased dryness.  Your hair is the same as it was when it first popped out of your scalp.  Congratulations.  The internet says that currently 75% of American women report having dyed their hair at some point.  So having completely healthy or "virgin" hair puts you  in a position of maintaining the health of your hair.  This also means that conditioners that are very heavy might weigh your hair down because your hair is not absorbing all the extra ingredients that are used to make unhealthy hair look healthy.  Thus, most conditioners will work well for you.  I'd pick either a volumizing, light moisturizing, or smoothing/sleek conditioner depending on how you like to style your hair.  If you like "big hair" pick a volumizing conditioner.  It will weigh your hair down the least.  If like it a bit more sleek, pick a light moisturizing conditioner.  If you have very frizzy hair naturally and you want it very smooth and need the extra weight, go with a smoothing conditioner which has heavier ingredients.  Below are my top picks:

• Volume = Tea-Tree Lemon Sage Thickening Conditioner by Paul Mitchell*.  This smells great and is a very light conditioner that will still leave your hair feeling nourished. If you have seen my shower make over post or my healthy hair post, you will know I've been in love with this line forever!

•  Light Moisture= En Root Moisturize My Hair Conditioner by The Balm.  This is my go-to conditioner no matter what your hair type, but I think it works outstandingly on healthy hair that needs a bit of moisture.  I suggest checking it out even if you have damaged hair that needs to be quenched with moisture.

•  Smoothing/Sleek= Sleek.Look Smoothing Conditioner by Matrix.  If you have frizzy or curly hair that you are dying to tame, this is my solution.  You can go full hog and get the 3 step system.  I think it's only really necessary to nab the conditioner.  You get the same results if you use any shampoo before it and a smoothing product/serum afterwards.
  

Dry/Damaged/Color Treated Hair:
Ah, anyone who has picked up a box of hair dye at the drugstore or watched their hair turn colors in a salon chair knows that your hair is never quite "healthy" afterwards.  Having thoroughly stressed out your hair, it tends to get dry, tangled, or frizzy really easily.  It might even be breaking off and you know the split ends are on a rampage.  Trying to tame these problems is an million approximately $49 billion dollar industry and I have written quite few posts about hair products and hair care methods to keep these hair destroying symptoms at bay. However, the battle is completely and utterly lost without a good conditioner.  The following are my favorites to address the top 3 ailments that conditioners need to address for dry/damaged/color treated hair: (1) Extreme Dryness; (2) Protein Loss; (3) Color Fade.  I personally do not count these as "deep" conditioning products based on how much more of a result I see from other deep conditioners. However, I recommend them as regular conditioners for those with very dry/damaged hair leave them on for a shorter amount of time if using regularly.  The times to leave it in your hair will vary depending on your hair.

• Extreme Dryness= K-PAK Intense Hydrator by Joico.  This does some serious hydrating to your damaged locks.  You can use it as part of their Keratin recovery line (after using their protein rich shampoos and conditioners.  However, I find that this works wonders at restoring moisture no matter what you use before hand.  Mini-Tip: You know your hair needs moisture when it's super frizzy and a strand of hair snaps very quickly when wet.  A drug store equivalent for me is the Aussie 3-Minute Miracle Moist, but but if you ask me what my favorite is, this is the one.
  
  

• Protein Loss= Intensive Two Minute Keratin Reconstructor by Aphogee.  This is cheap and very effective at restoring protein to the hair. Mini-Tip: You know your hair needs protein when it's super a strand of hair keeps stretching longer and longer when wet like a rubber band. I can leave this on for longer than 2 minutes without it making my hair too brittle (and needing to use the Joico Hydrator to restore balance), but I would start with a little less time to ensure your don't put too much protein in.
  
    
• Color Fade= Color Depositing Conditioners by John Frieda .  Here are a few quick things you need to know about color fade.  1) Harsh sulfates in shampoo are the main culprits of this phenomenon. 2) Your conditioner can help deposit a bit more color or help keep color in your hair by surrounding it in silicone (see my post of silicone in hair here), but it does not really "strip" color significantly from your hair.  John Frieda has the largest easily accessible color depositing conditioners.  They have ones for red hair, brunettes, and blondes.  They also have a violet shampoo to counteract yellowness in blondes. Are there better color depositing/toning conditioners depending on what color you need? Yes.  Is that a subject for another post? Yes. 

As you can tell this wasn't the easiest report to write but I did my best!  Hope this helped and that you enjoyed the first report-style post in quite a while.  Let me know via any of a gazillion social media outlets if you have any questions or would like more in-depth information on any of the products or concepts in this post. I love to hear from you!

As always,

Shine & Sparkle!

*I am not paid or contacted by any of the companies mentioned in this post.  These are my honest feelings and opinions. Also, like all my images, I'll gladly give someone credit for their image or take it down if someone throws a hissy fit.