Should you deep condition before shampooing?

The next question for the panel is the claim by some companies that deep conditioning can be done before shampooing.Here are our responses

I've "experimented" with this, and I would say that conditioning (not so deep) before shampooing is a necessity for me (but not every one "eats butter on their bread"). I do not wash as often as others (I love sebum! *smile*) and so though my scalp is getting nutrients, I've found that my hair will lack substance after a more than a couple weeks. Jc mentioned in one awesome blog in 2009 that coconut oil reduces hygral fatigue substantially, and so I'll use coconut oil and olive oil mixed with Nature's Gate Hemp conditioner (and some water) as a pre-conditioner as well as to release tangles before shampooing, every time. I'm not sure about "how deep" the conditioning is, again I would think this is relative to the user








I always wondered about this, I would think once you've deep conditioned then you wash that you are actually washing away some of the effects of the conditioner - pretty much defeating the purpose of deep conditioning. But, I also agree that if an oil is used as a deep conditioner (which I would consider a pre-poo oil treatment) and/or food products such as yougurt or coconut milk - these things may be required to be washed out. I experienced an itchy scalp for days when I first attempted to do a deep conditioner with avocado and coconut milk and simply rinsed it out with warm water, but others have done the same with no problems at all.








I also don't know about this. I think that the type of shampoo and conditioner used may have an affect on when you decide to DC. Some shampoos are harsh, essentially stripping the hair of all nutrients, where others don't have the product formulation to remove certain types of buildup. I notice a significant difference in my hair before and after my DC. I doubt I would ever wash my hair without a DC. I wash my hair after my DC with a J.R. Liggett's shampoo bar. It contains vegetable oils and one of their marketing platforms states that "it doesn't strip hair of its natural oils".








I have read both sides of that argument. The "nays" say it is a waste of product and time. The "yays" have a point in my opinion, depending on how a product is formulated and if one looks at traditional pre-wash products like oils (some oils are preferable to others for this purpose), which do not all wash away with cleansing and can serve to leave enough conditioning benefits behind to offset overcleansing and possible dryness.








Commercial conditioners all tend to contain surfactants that are intended to deposit on hair, so it is odd to me to shampoo after a deep conditioning treatment unless as previously menitoned if the deep conditioning treatment consist of penetrating oils mostly (olive or coconut oil pre shampoo wash). Sort of beats the purpose in my opinion to deposit lovely softening cuticle smoothing surfactants only to wash them away and redeposit.