What is the difference between a conditioner and a mask?
Can I just leave my conditioner on longer?
Will it be the same thing?
Why should I use a mask in my hair?
Why is a mask more expensive??
These are the common questions we hear from clients all the Time and truth be told some stylists may not be giving you all the answers, you need either.
I’m sure you have a beautiful tub of goodness that smells divine sitting on your bathroom shelf as we speak???
Collecting a spot of dust possibly, that you keep meaning to use. I always say to my clients, only buy a mask if you’re going to use it as a mask and not a conditioner, you’ll just be washing it down the drain basically. A mask needs a little bit longer to work as they travel deeper into the hair cuticle!!!!! That’s it the truth is out!!!
So here we have it, conditioners are designed to soften your hair and make it nice and silky and manageable and we defiantly need to use a conditioner every time we wash our hair, or we would be trying to brush the tangle out for a week but a mask is designed to go further into your hair than conditioner which is happy sitting on the surface of your strands.
So, hair masks do what conditioners can’t. A hair mask has a higher concentration of nutrients that is meant to penetrate the cortex and hydrate and repair the hair from deep within. When choosing a hair mask, it’s important to know what hair issue you want to treat. Is your hair dry or damaged?? Damaged hair will be crying out for a portion packed mask and dry hair will be thirsty for a mask oozing natural oils and blends of plant butters.
Anyone can benefit from a hair mask just make sure it’d be the right fit for your hair. If you’re having some hair issues at the moment be it tired dehydrated hair or broken damaged ends, then a mask is the quickest way to see a difference and start to treat your concern. Swap your conditioner for a mask and use it every time you wash your hair for 2/3 weeks or until you notice a difference then use once a week.
If your hair is happy out but you use a lot of heat or styling tools, or maybe its prone to a bit of frizz it may just need a little TLC and some extra moisture add a mask to your hair routine once a week and your hair will thank you for it.
Masks are easy to use but here a few little tips:
Apply to towel dried hair.
Focus on the mid length to ends and avoid the roots, this is where the damaged will be, and it will be too heavy for new hair at the roots.
Follow instructions for protein masks as you don’t want to add too much protein and make your hair hard.
Stylists extra tip: Follow protein masks with conditioner to soften your hair.
Top secret tip: enjoy your hair mask with a glass of your favorite vino.