over conditioning hair?

People say you can over condition your hair. But then they also say if you wash your hair everyday then you should condition everyday also. Anyone know anything about this?

You certainly can overcondition your hair. I have seen one survey that shows 8 of 10 women do over-condition their hair.

Conditioning too often can cause the cuticle layer of hair to lift making hair brittle and leading to breakage. It can cause undesirable build-up on your hair and your hair will either become static, or go limp and unmanageable. It will also render the hair shaft incapable of holding color, perms, and most of all the ability of the hair to hold style and retain shine.

You can take a strand test on clean wet hair. Gently pull one hair shaft from the scalp and place between thumb and forefinger. Next slowly stretch the hair until it breaks in half. Examine the texture of the single strand. If the 2 opposite ends are undulated or look like an uneven (stretched out curl) pattern this is not good. A healthy strand of hair should only stretch approx. 1/5 of it`s length. (for a 5" strand, the strand of hair if healthy, should snap at about 1" into the stretch of the hair). This is referred to as "Trichoanalaysis".

The main reason for the over conditioning effects on hair health is the lack of proper protein (needed for harder, stronger hair) and too much elasticity (stretch and pliablity). When the hair is constantly over conditioned the cuticle layer (outermost layer of the hairshaft) becomes too full and soft. The cuticles shingle like scales and begin to remain slightly open instead of returning to a tight fit against the medulla ( second layer of the hairshaft).

Product overload is bad and can take 10 to 14 days to eliminate from your hair. Average conditioning should be 2 to 3 times a week unless certain environments and conditions require more attention. Conditioning is good, just don`t over do it.

In summary:

1. Deep condition your hair 1 - 2 times per week.

2. Use a good daily conditioner, rinse or detangler on the other days.

3. Follow the instructions on the product. DO NOT OVER CONDITION! Over conditioning your hair isn`t good either.

4. Once every week or two use a clarifier on your hair to rid it of hair product build-up and environmental pollutants.

5. If you have colored, permed, or relaxed hair, make sure that the product you use is safe for chemically treated hair or it will damage the chemical service that you had performed.

Hope this answers your question.

One important question about the deep conditioning treatments you are using, what kind are they? There are treatments designed for different things. Just be sure not to over-do it on protein treatments. If any of your deep conditioning treatments say they are protein treatments, you may want to reduce using them to only about once every two weeks. Applying too much protein to the hair can cause it to become brittle and break. (This is only about the protein put directly on the hair, not what you eat.)

Best wishes on figuring out what routine works best for your hair.

Teresa