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It doesn't seem fair to condition your hair in the shower only to have most of the conditioner and your hair color go down the drain. While your hair can feel smoother after you've gotten out of the shower, it doesn't have the same luxurious moisture it had in the shower. There's no need to worry, you can hang on the moisture and your hair color far beyond your shampoo session when you use a leave-in conditioner.
While You Are Sleeping
Protecting your hair color and moisturizing your tresses is so easy, you can do it with your eyes closed. Whirl magazine suggests spraying Brume Nuit Apres-Soleil leave-in treatment on your hair before bedtime to wake up to rejuvenated hair. It penetrates your hair while you sleep, replenishing it. Color-treated, African-American hair needs all the nourishment it can get. Because this leave-in is applied before bed, eliminating the need for heat-styling, the product works at its highest potential to restore hair.
While You Are Coloring
Yes. There is a leave-in product that conditions and boosts shine while you color your hair. It's the Kelly Van Gogh Wonderlust Hair Color Illuminating Tonic, recommended by "Elle" magazine. Coloring African-American hair can cause damaging, long-term effects such as dryness and brittleness. This leave in conditioner -- which can also be used before and after coloring -- helps to minimize the damage while magnifying the shine.
While You Are Swimming
Take one dip in a chlorinated pool or body of saltwater, and your hair instantly feels parched. Take one-too-many dips and your hair becomes brittle, starts to break and loses its lustrous color. There's no need to give up summer fun for the sake of beauty. "Essence" magazine advises using Philip Kingsley's Swimcap -- a leave-in conditioner, not an actual swimming cap -- to protect your hair and its color from the damaging effects of chlorine, saltwater and UV rays.
While You Are Working
Of course, you shouldn't ignore your hair when you're not sleeping on it, coloring it or swimming. To keep your color vibrant and protect your strands as you go about your day, Ebony magazine recommends two leave-in conditioners: Creme of Nature with Argan Oil Strength & Shine Leave-in Conditioner and Jane Carter Solution Revitalizing Leave-in Conditioner. Either of these provide the moisture that color-treated, African-American hair needs to withstand daily hair stressors like flat-ironing, blow-drying and brushing.
