Are Cleansing conditioners just a hype?
Recently, I decided to take a closer look at my Hair One Cleansing Conditioner: it contains Amodimethicone which is a water-insoluble silicone. This means that it can only be removed by surfactants like Sulfates and Cocoamidopropyl betaine.
Hair One Cleansing Conditioner doesn’t contain any of these surfactants listed above. On its ingredient list, the only surfactant I could find was Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine which is a cationic surfactant. It is not strong enough to remove silicones. This is why continual usage of Hair One can eventually lead to product build up.What this means is that you will eventually have to use a Sulfate shampoo to cleanse your hair.
Ingredient list for Hair One Cleansing Conditioner (Dry Scalp formula)
Water (Aqua), Cetyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Amodimethicone, CID 157846, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, PEG-60 Almond Glycerides, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Coffea Arabica (Coffee) Seed Extract, Vaccinium Myrtillus Fruit Extract, Rosa Roxburghii Fruit Extract, Panthenol, Butylene Glycol, Propylene Glycol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Menthol, Polysorbate 60, Citric Acid, BHT, Disodium EDTA, Potassium Sorbate, 1, 2-Hexanediol, Hexylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sorbic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance (Parfum)
- Science behind co-washing part 1
- Science behind co-washing part 2
- What is product buildup and how can it affect your hair?
Next, I decided to also take a look at Wen Cleansing conditioner which is THE original cleansing conditioner. It also contains Amodimethicone which is way down on the ingredient list. The Amodimethicone in HAIR ONE CONDITIONER is fifth on the ingredient list. This means that the amount of Amodimethicone in Wen is much less than that in Hair One. This also means that Wen is LESS likely to cause buildup than Hair One. Wen also contains chamomile which has mild cleansing properties but I don’t believe this can effectively remove silicones.
Ingredient list of Wen Cleansing Conditioner (Sweet Almond Mint)
Water (Aqua), Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Prunus Serotina (Wild Cherry) Bark Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Hydrolyzed Wheat, Protein, Panthenol, Butylene Glycol, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Polysorbate 60, PEG-60 Almond Glycerides, Amodimethicone, Citric Acid, Menthol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Fragrance (Parfum, Limonene.
I decided to do further research and I found 2 more cleansing conditioners L’Oreal Evercreme Cleansing Conditioner and Curl Junkie Daily Fix Cleansing Hair Conditioner
Ingredient list of L’Oreal Evercreme Cleansing Conditioner
Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Cocoamphopropionate, Hydroxpropyl Startch Phosphate, Behentrimonium Chloride, Fragrance, Isopropyl Alcohol, Capryl Glycol, Glycerin, Tocopherol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool, Camelina Sativa Oil/Camelina Sativa Seed Oil, Prunus Armeniaca Kernal Oil/Apricot Kernal Oil, Vitis Vinefera Seed Oil/Grape Seed Oil, Caramel, CI 19140/Yellow 5.
It doesn’t contain silicones and it contains a mild surfactant, Sodium Cocoamphopropionate ( I didn’t find any material that stated that this can remove silicones from hair). However, I do believe that this would make for a more effective cleansing conditioner especially for individuals who practise the no-poo regimen or for curly haired girls or people who don’t use any silcione containing poducts . In addition, it does have good reviews on amazon.com
Ingredient list for Curl Junkie Daily Fix Cleansing Hair Conditioner
Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetrimonium Chloride, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, PEG -7 Olivate, Guar Hydroxypropytrimonium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Hydrolyzed Oat Flour, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Leaf Extract, Matricaria Recuitita (Chamomile) Flower Extract, Yucca Leaf Extract, Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Leaf Extract, Melissa Officinalis (Melissa) Leaf Extract, Polysorbate 60, Equisetum Arvense (Horsetail) Leaf Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Fragrance.
It also has a mild surfactant in its ingredient list, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, which can remove silicones. I believe that this will be good for someone who uses products that contain silicones. Using this cleanser CAN help to prevent silicone buildup. However, I would advise that you still clarify your hair when you feel that you need to.
Summary
Among the cleansing conditioners I’ve listed, the only one I’ve actually used is Hair One and I stopped using it because it was nice in the beginning but led to product buildup after a while.
If I were to rank these conditioners in terms of their ability to cleanse the hair (theoretically), it would be:
- Curl Junkie Daily Fix Cleansing Hair Conditioner
- L’oreal Evercreme cleansing conditioner
- Wen Cleansing Conditioner
- Hair One Cleansing Conditioner
Conclusion
I personally think that Hair One and Wen cleansing conditioners are just hyped up cleansing conditioners as far as I’m concerned. Their ingredients are just the same as any basic deep conditioner. I’ve talked in a previous post, WHY I LIKE HAIR ONE CLEANSING CONDITIONER, and although I still like it but only as a co-wash conditioner on days I need to do a co-wash.
Will I be repurchasing it? No. I’ll rather use a regular conditioner for my co-wash and I MIGHT purchase Daily Fix one day just to try it.
*The highlighted products are Amazon affiliate links*
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[…] Are cleansing conditioners just a hype? […]
This is a really great article. I bought Hair One first and after using it for a couple of weeks my hair felt coated. I started using it as a conditioner only. I bought WEN later on and I really like it, but I still clarify every so often.
I also liked Hair One in the beginning but it also gave me buildup later on. I might try Wen one of these days. Thanks for your compliments on the article. Do take care. :}