A conditioner for colour-treated hair from Cattier, the French natural cosmetics house founded in 1968. 150 ml, certified organic — the companion to the colour shampoo in the same range.
Why conditioner is not optional on dyed hair. Permanent colouring works by using alkali to swell the hair and lift the cuticle scales, so that dye precursors can get inside the shaft and react there. That process cannot be undone: coloured hair is permanently more porous and its surface permanently rougher than it was. That roughness is why dyed hair tangles more, feels drier and looks duller — a lifted cuticle scatters light instead of reflecting it.
Conditioner addresses exactly that. It deposits positively charged molecules onto the damaged, negatively charged sites along the hair, laying the scales flat and lubricating the surface. A flat cuticle reflects light, which reads as shine, and it also lets less dye escape when the hair is wet. On coloured hair, conditioner is doing two jobs at once.
Where to put it. Mid-lengths and ends, never the scalp. The ends are the oldest part of the hair, have been through the most washes and the most colour, and are where all the damage actually is. The scalp makes its own sebum and needs nothing.
Two details that double the effect. First, squeeze the water out of your hair before applying — conditioner put on soaking hair is diluted to almost nothing. Second, leave it for two minutes; conditioning agents need contact time to bind, and applying and immediately rinsing wastes most of the product. Put it on at the start of the shower and rinse it out at the end.
Detangle while it is in. Wide-tooth comb, working upwards from the ends. Wet hair is at its most fragile, and coloured wet hair more so again.
Available at Só Verde, an organic concept store in Foz, Porto.
Natura Siberica
Natura Siberica
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