What's the optimum time for leaving on hair conditioner?

[MsVestibule]

I want to put an intensive conditioner on today. I'm not going out for ages so could leave it on for about three hours, but will that make any difference? Does it stop doing anything after 15 minutes? My hair's been heavily highlighted recently and really needs a bit of loving!

While I'm on the subject, can anybody recommend a really, really good conditioner? Don't mind paying £££ if I know it's going to work. (Well, maybe ££.)

I leave conditioner on for as long as it takes to shave my legs. I've never tried leaving any sort of treatment on longer. Nor have I tried putting anything on it and then covering with a shower cap. I'm not convinced that it will make a huge difference to do that. I'm happy to hear otherwise, though!

I also don't know if any one conditioner is better than others.

OK, I'll leave it on for a few hours and report back!

I know it's not quite conditioner but I've tried a fair few and none of them work half as good as coconut oil.

You can get a whopping huge jar of it for a fairly reasonable price and it lasts forever. I use about 2-3 spoonfuls, melt it in the palm of my hands and run it through the ends of my hair (you can do all of it if you really want) then leave it in overnight. But you can leave it in for as little as 2 hours and it still does a pretty decent job.

I'm in love with the stuff - it's really helped my hair since a recent disaster as the salon with cheap and poorly applied bleach.

Hope this helps!

Thanks mommybear. Sorry if I'm stating the obvious, but is it sold in supermarkets with the rest of their cooking oils?

Coconut oil is available from superdrug and Holland and Barrats - probably other chemist style shops too.

Twice a week, once I've washed/conditioned my hair, I part dry it, then add some extra conditioner to the last 4-5 inches and then dry it in. It works wonders for mine, stops it drying out and becoming static.

Normal conditioner I leave on a few mins while I wash my body in the shower. Deep conditioner leave for 10-15 mins. I don't think any longer would make a difference. Kerastase do a deep conditioner which is nice.

is your hair fine? Personally Tigi Oatmeal and Honey conditioner is great (they often do twinsets of shampoo and conditioner for good prices in some salons) for highlights and dry hair.

No idea how long to leave leave-in conditioner for but maybe wrap in heated towel or clingfilm so it really penetrates the hair and does good.

I' a big coconut oil fan too. I use it as a body oil as well and it's fabulous.

Days when I don't wash my hair, about once a fortnight through utter idleness , I dampen my hair around the edges and spray on leave in conditioner and it stays there until I wash my hair next. I've got chin length hair btw.

I thought leave in conditioners were for leaving in. I've been doing it wrong haven't I?

It depends what you need. My hair is brittle and breaks easily so I need a protein conditioner. MrBearleigh told me this morning that my hair looks really nice these days - I put it down to (a) Aveda Damage Remedy Restructuring Conditioner (b) Aveda Shampure every day (c) not colouring my hair any more.

I leave on the conditioner for a few minutes and use it twice a week.

missmartha unless it's specifically marketed as a leave-in conditioner (most of them aren't), then yes, you are supposed to rinse them out.

My hair is shoulder length, thick, and goes horribly frizzy around the ends if I leave it to dry naturally. I left the intensive conditioner in for about 2 hours but I can't see any massive difference - maybe I should have wrapped it in cling film!

I use the Aussie conditioners in and leave them in as long as possible in my v bleached and highlighted hair - I can usually only manage an hour max. When my hair was longer ie, shoulder length, I notice that if I left it in longer, it made a real difference to how soft and shiny my hair was. My hair's chin length now so in better condition but still, the longer I leave conditioner in, the better.

Follow the instructions.

It's highly unlikely that leaving it for hours will help- in fact you may end up with a sore or itchy scalp.

Hair is not permeable- the hair is covered with Keratin which is hard. All conditioners do is smooth it down and reduce static. Products like perms break down the hair shaft to allow it to be 'waved' on rollers then set into waves/ curls using the neutraliser.

Think of it the same way as a face pack- leaving it on for 3 hours won't add benefits.