After a full-on dissection of hair conditioners, it is only natural to move on to the important topic that is… “Hair overconditioning”
Too much of everything is bad y’all! Things should always be done in moderation please!
Do you know that applying too much conditioner to your hair could make it dry and prone to breakage? Furthermore, It could cause hair strands to become unnecessarily greasy and super difficult to manage.
if you previously had no idea, I am making it a point of duty to inform you that hair over conditioning causes more harm than good.
In case you are confused about what exactly qualifies as over conditioning, kindly stick with me while I explain.
Overconditioning
Definition
Simply put, over conditioning is the heavy coating of each hair cuticle such that the hair is prevented from absorbing other important hair products such as hair oils and serum. It also over softens the hair and impacts much more moisture than required.
So, as much as 4c hair requires conditioning to make it sleekier, shinier and moisturized, it should never be done in excess. Moderation is key in all that we do.
Signs/symptoms that your hair is over conditioned
Early discernment/ observation could save you from the massive hair damage that comes with overconditioning. It is of utmost importance to pick out signs that your hair is being over conditioned to avert hair breakage/damage. What are these signs?
- Hair Manageability becomes difficult : When you notice your hair has suddenly become limp, flat or soft with profound management difficulties, then you need to look into your conditioning practices baby gurl! Over conditioning might just be the culprit. You need to rectify this mishap and key into conditioning the right way. Delay might be dangerous.
- Extreme dryness: Conditioners are known to impact moisture yeah? But do you know that overconditioning your hair could also cause a reverse? Hair that has been over conditioned has the tendency to become more porous and extremely dry. This is bad for the hair and can inadvertently cause hair breakage.
- Bring on the grease: Overconditioned hair most times would feel very oily, roots and tips especially. This grease would make the hair glossy, sticky and dirty. There is a certain kind of unease and discomfort that comes with overconditioned hair. When this happens it is best to skip using your conditioners as often as you do.
- Hair thinning and loss of hair volume: When dealing with overconditioning, the hair starts to loose it’s bounce and volume owing to the extra weight on it. It gradually becomes thin and unpleasant to the eyes.
- Hair stiffness and styling difficulties : An over conditioned hair would be extra soft but very stiff and difficult to style guys. Hair styles such as a simple up dos would tend to become an impossible mission as the hair refuses to conform.
How to prevent and combat hair overconditioning
With that being said, it is an absolute pleasure to take you through tips that would come in handy for preventing and combating 4c overconditioning.
Let’s take these tips in strides
- Know your conditioners, their different types and applications, to avoid doing too much! Just in case the whole concept of conditioners are still strange to you, kindly check out my previous post on conditioners, this post would keep you informed and also give more information about conditioner application and frequency.
- When using a rinse out or deep conditioner, always rinse thoroughly to ensure that all the products have been properly removed. Else you might be unknowingly over processing your hair
- Pay close attention to the signs of over conditioning and if noticed, you might want to skip frequent hair conditioning for a while
- Avoid using leave in conditioners after just using a rinse out conditioner that corresponds to a conditioner overload. This is however different from wash days when you are expected to apply a leave in conditioner after going through the process of shampooing and deep conditioning the hair
- Do not using hair styling products too frequently, they do more harm than good.
In conclusion, recognizing the pointers to over conditioning and understanding the appropriate conditioner applications would help to create a healthy conditioning balance for your gorgeous coils
