What does my hair need? Is it Moisture, Hydration, or Conditioning

In general, we interpret moisturizing/hydrating as the act of adding water to our hair. But, this is a bad idea as adding water to our hair can lead to damage and make the hair vulnerable.

Wet hair without conditioning agents is more vulnerable and research has actually shown that hair containing higher percentages of water feels more dry/brittle/rough and hair with lower percentages is seen as more smooth.

We should condition it of course. We need to add ingredients to our hair that stick to the hair and coat it. In this way, we can make the hair smooth, easy to detangle, and glossy. Many conditioning products contain such ingredients as cationic surfactants, silicones, fatty acids, and polyquaterniums.

But then, there are so many products that advertise moisture/hydration.

Should we still use them?

Yes, it is safe to use them and they are definitely good products. These products don’t add water to your hair (you can use them with water) and they contain the above-mentioned conditioning agents which give your hair what we think is a hydrated feel but this is rather a conditioned feel.

These conditioning agents form a coating around the hair fibre or reduce friction. These products don’t increase the water content in your hair, something which these conditioning agents are not capable of, because you don’t have a higher concentration of water in your hair.  

When products say that they hydrate/moisture, they actually mean that they condition the hair. The thing you don’t need to do is to over-wet your hair. i.e. don’t over-hydrate your hair.