Cheap conditioner that is the awsomesauce

[Nicky]

My hair dresser said that it is not that important what shampoo you choose as it is often not in your hair long enough to make much difference. Conditioner is where it is at and worth splurging on.

I suffer from a dry scalp and tend to use a anti-dandruff shampoo - none of them are particulalry classy. But lately I figured that I could use a better conditioner than the matching antidandruff one and it won't affect my scalp too bad.

But, I picked up some new conditioner at the supermarket on a whim (I know, goes against the advise of buysing a good one.) - and it was awsome!
I got Pantene Pro V Sheer Volume conditioner.

Worked great on my hair. After a couple washes it did what it promised - shiny hair, more volume, soft silky hair. I love it!

[Jamie-o]

I'll agree.  Pantene knocks the socks off the expensive salon brands.  In fact, I remember several years ago there was a segment done on Dateline with the help of Consumer Reports in which they asked a bunch of high-end hair product makers why their shampoos were so expensive.  Time and again they were told, "Our shampoo has less water than the super market brands."  So they did chemical analysis on a bunch of salon and super market shampoos and found 2 that had less water in them than the others - Pantene and Head and shoulder.    The report said that shampoo is shampoo, they all use the same active ingredient.  But conditioners can use a number of different ingredients to protect the hair and make it shiny, with the best (in their estimation) using silicone.  But, whatever it uses, I've never found anything that holds a candle to Pantene.

[LordKAT]

vinegar and water works well and even helps with dandruff a bit.

[Miniar]

that green one is pretty good too

[sd]

I had back luck with Pantene stuff lately.

[BrandiOK]

I loved Pantene when I first started using it but after awhile it didn't seem to work any better than other conditioners I tried.  I assume that's why they recommend changing your shampoo/conditioner occasionally. 

[Autumn]

I used pantene for a while, and it was like oh my god for my hair. then it turned to crap.

I've had it explained by multiple stylists and random people with long hair - it leaves a lot of wax in your hair, which is why it looks so great at first. But the buildup prevents natural oils from getting to your hair, and causes other problems from use at length. Very controversial products. I'll surely never use it again.

I've been using stuff from Visible Changes for years (preview, take 1, take 2, and a few other things i've experimented with lately) with a few breaks to try other products - that again, were good to start with, but my hair needed to return to the quality products after a couple of months.

Everybody loves my hair and always tells me how soft it is, so I'm doing something right.

[Nicky]

Interesting Autumn,

I think I will consider chopping and changing to avoid that problem.

[sd]

All of that wax and silicone not only builds up, but hides any real damage underneath.

[finewine]

Some girls in tropical parts of Asia use coconut oil to give their long dark hair a nice conditioning and lustre.  You need to know how to apply it, so you don't end up looking like you dipped your head in a deep fat fryer!

[Nicky]

All of that wax and silicone not only builds up, but hides any real damage underneath.

That sounds like a good thing.

[sd]

That sounds like a good thing.

It is if you want it to look good, but it also doesn't mean anything is being done to fix it or prevent it.

Putting wax on a rusty car doesn't stop the rust, it just makes it shiny.

[Bellaon7]

Everyone's hair& scalps are different, so my theory is if it works, it's good. My dandaref went away after hrt. But I have dark brunette hair that I dye bananna peel blonde. This damages my hair if I don't take steps beyond regular conditioning to prevent it. My 2 best secrets are 1) 100% pure jojoba oil after wash & cond. dark is best for dark hair/skin, light is best for light hair/skin. 2) & Wild Oats is cheapsest I've found & once a week & before/after dyeing hair I cond. w/egg whites covered by saran wrap(to keep wet as possible) for 1hr. You can buy egg whites in a carton, but that would just be silly cuz you'd have no yokes leftover to make choc. frosting with(I don't need no stinking cake)! 

[Walter]

Since I dye my hair, I use the expensive stuff that still doesn't work for me. I have super oily hair and the conditioner just makes that happen faster. I rarely use conditioner, but my hair seems to be falling out. Maybe I should stop dying it....

[heatherrose]

My hair is curly, fine and tends to be dry. As it began getting longer
(after years shaved bald) I started using Pantene because I believed
the T.V. (not a pun) propaganda. It worked great until I noticed my hair
breaking off, seemingly by the handfuls. When I started asking around,
I got responses like, "Oh yea, Pantene does that because of the wax build up"
AAAAAARRRGG I wish I had known that before
I spent my money to damage my hair.

[sd]

Everyone's hair& scalps are different, so my theory is if it works, it's good.

Quite true.
The another factor is water quality.

[finewine]

It's said by some that if you can bear the unpleasantness, a sufficiently long period without washing at all allows the natural scalp oils to do the trick (ever wondered why the wild furries have nice shiny coats?)

In my yoof I did an experiment to see if this was true (as I had fairly long hair).  It was NOT pleasant, especially as I've always been rather fastidious about personal hygiene.  Anyway, it took a full (and foul) 6 months but I did indeed find that my hair ended up naturally conditioned and, as it happened, remarkably "clean" simply by combing through.

However, getting it wet immediately turned it into matted straw - which was fine as I was literally aching to give it a thorough wash.

So in conclusion - yes, you can go through the greebo stage and end up with a nature's own conditioning but unless you want to be Tarzan/Jane, you're better off with the bottled products

[Bellaon7]

This is why I use 100% jo joba oil, it's nearly bio identical to the oills your hait & scalp produce, has no smell, & is naturaly hypoallergenic, & you can control the exact amount/colour to yout hair type. It also helps w/dander. 

[Eva Marie]

I recently switched to garnier fructis shampoo and conditioner. I noticed a real difference over the generic suave stuff that I had been using. My hair was a lot fluffier and nicer. I'm happy at the moment.