Deep Conditioning – What You Should Know

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Do you know everything you should about deep conditioning your hair?

As a new naturalista or as someone newly embarking on her hair journey, you have many questions about caring for your hair. Unfortunately, you don’t necessarily get answers to these questions right away. Or sometimes you find the answers through trial and error. One of the many questions I had was bout deep conditioning. I will shed some light for you below.

Deep conditioning is such an easy process, but sometimes we forget one important aspect: how long is too long for a deep conditioning treatment?

This can be a silly question to someone who’s always known how to take care of her hair, but important to one who’s always relied on her hairdresser to do so.

If you’ve been researching, you probably know by now the importance of deep conditioning. Deep conditioning helps prevent damage from heat and helps replace moisture and protein into the hair shaft.

Deep conditioning should be an integral part of your hair care regimen as the deep conditioner reaches deep down in the roots of your hair to give it the necessary strength. The deep conditioner replenishes moisture into your hair and leaves it silky and strong.

There are two types of deep conditioners: Protein deep conditioner and moisturizing deep conditioner. Each type plays a different role in the health of your hair, but we will discuss that in another post.

When I first embarked on my natural hair journey, I was confused about what to do with my hair. I thought it was only a matter of shampooing, conditioning, rinsing and styling. I really didn’t know that I had to use a deep conditioner and allow it to penetrate my hair for a certain amount of time.

Once I learned that fact, I started deep conditioning my hair. And after each treatment, I would sit under the dryer for 45 mins to an hour, sometimes longer. I’ve also spent a whole day deep conditioning and even slept with my deep conditioner. I thought the longer I deep conditioned my hair, the better the results. Little did I know, I was damaging my hair furthermore.

Believe it or not, a lot of you may be damaging your hair without even knowing by deep conditioning for too long.

I researched some more. I then came across an article on one of my favorite websites about the do’s and dont’s of deep conditioning. It peeped my interest. One of the things I learned from that article is that you don’t need to overdo your deep conditioning treatment. It was a total eye opener! The light bulb came on. I was damaging my hair by leaving my deep conditioner on for so long.

If you think that the longer you deep condition your hair, the better the results, you’re wrong. Contrary to belief, deep conditioning longer than the recommended time is harmful to your hair. Let’s find out why.

Whether you’re using a protein deep conditioner or a moisturizing deep conditioner, you should never over do it.

Take a look at your deep conditioner’s instructions. The recommended time for a deep conditioning treatment is 15-30 minutes. Once you go past the 30 minutes mark, your hair is most likely getting over moisturized. The deep conditioner should not take you more than 30 minutes to do the job.

Over moisturized hair is unhealthy hair. Over moisturizing will cause your hair to weaken and become prone to breakage. It is easy to recognize over moisturized hair. Your hair will look limp, and feel mushy. It also becomes elastic and stretchable which easily snaps when wet.

So do yourself a favor and relax on the deep conditioner. Remember you should get the results that you need within 15-30 minutes of application. If not, it is time you invest in a new deep conditioner.

If you feel like your hair is over moisturized, it’s time to do a protein treatment to restore the protein/moisture balance.

My favorite deep conditioners to date are ORS hair mayonnaise for when I need protein in my hair and Hydration Elation from As I am when I need that moisturizing feel.

Update as of 4/13/17

Since writing this post, I have made some changes to my deep conditioning routine. I found out that I had low porosity hair (Read about hair porosity here) and that my hair did not agree with some of the products I was using.

So as of now, I have considerably slowed down on protein usage on my hair. My deep conditioner of choice has since been the TGIN Honey Hair Mask. This deep conditioner is very gentle on low porosity hair and worth every dollar. Read more about hair porosity in this post.

Well, there you have it ladies!

Make sure you are not damaging your hair by deep conditioning too long. And if your hair is over moisturized, try a protein treatment for balance.

I hope you found this article helpful. If so, don’t forget to hit the share buttons to make this post go viral.

What about you, how long do you deep condition your hair? What are your favorite deep conditioners to use? Why? Share below⇓. I’d love to hear from you!