It’s okay to be a little overwhelmed if you’ve just decided to uproot your hair care regimen. Many people aren’t familiar with hair masks and the purpose they serve to enhance the look of your hair. You might be thinking, should I use a hair mask or conditioner first? Why do I need both of them in my hair care routine? 

Evalectric is here to clear all your doubts about using hair masks and conditioners. 

Today, we’re here to tell you about the importance of using hair masks and conditioners in your routine while also addressing the age-old question: do you use a hair mask or conditioner first? So, let’s dive right into it!

What is the Difference Between a Hair Mask and a Conditioner?

Hair masks and conditioners, aren’t they the same thing? They both help keep your hair moisturized and looking smooth. So, why use both of them? Well, that’s partly true but we’ll break it down for you to erase any confusion.

What Are Hair Conditioners?

Getting the order of hair mask and conditioner right is important but knowing the basics is even more so. Hair conditioners are conditioning agents in that they help soften the feel of your hair and enhance its manageability.

These hair care products typically contain humectants, oils, and fatty alcohols to keep your hair looking healthy and smooth. Not only that, conditioners tend to carry a positive charge to cling to dry, damaged hair (which has a high negative charge and thus creates frizz). The positive charge helps neutralize the negative effect, helping to tame the frizz and keep your hair shafts looking smooth and silky. These formulas are designed to be light and creamy so they can be easily applied to your hair.

Hair conditioners are hair care saviors because they help prevent your hair from looking broken and brittle, giving you healthy-looking locks! It’s important to have these details with you before asking, “hair mask or conditioner first?”.

The best way to use a hair conditioner is to apply it to damp hair after every wash. You’re only supposed to massage it onto your hair strands; not the roots. Leave it for roughly 2-3 minutes and then rinse properly. After drying, you’ll notice that your hair appears hydrated and shinier than when you don’t use conditioner.

To sum things up, here are the benefits of using a hair conditioner:

• A good conditioner can help strengthen the feel of your hair follicles and inhibit the visibility of damage caused by brushing or direct sunlight.
• The natural nutrients in conditioners can help breathe life into dry, dull hair. They give your locks a smooth feel and a natural, healthy glow.
• You get results almost instantly after drying your hair.

The Evalectric Moisturizing Conditioner

If you want to experience all the benefits of a great hair conditioner, then our Moisturizing Conditioner won’t leave you disappointed! The formula is enriched with argan oil — a superb hair care ingredient that can help reduce the look of damaged hair. Argan oil has many exceptional benefits to improve the look and feel of your hair because of its rich nutrient profile. It helps alleviate the appearance of dandruff, tames frizz, and gives your hair a sensationally smooth and shiny feel!

The unique combination of treating agents used in our conditioner can help moisturize and hydrate your hair. You don’t have to worry about breakage because of tangling — the Evalectric Moisturizing Conditioner softens the feel of your hair shafts. This makes your locks much easier to untangle and style in any way you want. Witness healthy-looking hair after every use!

What Are Hair Masks?

Hair masks are special formulas for your hair to help target specific concerns. They’re heavy-duty formulas that can bring dry, dull hair back to life over time with their intense moisturizing and scalp-enhancing properties. They deliver deep hydrating and moisturizing effects to your strands, keeping their healthy glow alive!

A hair mask will typically include extra protein, essential vitamins, and minerals to pamper your hair. To use a hair mask, you need to shampoo your hair first to get rid of any dirt particles and let the follicles open up. You can use a brush to help you apply the mask. Here are a few things to consider:

• If you’re using an oil-based hair mask, it’s better to apply it to dry hair. Since oil repels water, applying an oily mask wouldn’t let the nutrients absorb into your hair.
• If you’re using a water-based hair mask, keep your hair slightly damp before applying it.
• For oily hair, start at the middle of the hair shafts and work your way toward the ends.
• For dry hair, begin applying the hair mask near your scalp and move toward the ends of the hair shafts. Go back to your scalp and continue applying the mask gently. If the mask is specifically for treating the signs of dandruff, it’s better to cover your scalp first.

Once you’ve applied the mask, use a comb to make sure it’s spread evenly across your hair. Use a shower cap to cover your hair up and leave the mask in for 20 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with cool water to get all the product out. It’s best to use a hair mask once a week. 

The Difference Summed Up

You’ve been wondering whether to use a hair mask or conditioner first, but do you know what makes the two different? Both of these products deliver varying degrees of hydration and moisture properties to your hair. You can look at your hair mask the same way as a face mask. Just like the latter can give you the little oomph that your face needs, a hair mask does so for your hair.

This hair care solution is essentially a reparative treatment to help different concerns, including dandruff, dryness, frizz, tangling, breakage, etc. It’s designed to penetrate deeply into your hair and scalp while a conditioner is only suitable to be used on the hair shafts. Conditioners are not used to treat any hair concerns — they’re suitable for superficial and fast results. In contrast, a hair mask will give you long-term results to keep your hair looking healthy, smooth, and fresh!

Do You Need Both?

We’ve established the different roles hair masks and conditioners play in improving the appearance and feel of your hair. So, before getting into the matter of “hair mask or conditioner first,” it’s important to note that one doesn’t replace the other. The two products can be confusing but it’s merely a matter of conditioning vs deep conditioning. While a conditioner will help your hair feel softer and smoother for a while, a hair mask will help your hair and scalp feel moisturized and protected in the long run.

That’s why you need a conditioner after every wash to give your hair a soft and shiny appearance. But you need a hair mask no more than once or twice a week to ensure your hair STAYS feeling healthy! If you don’t have any specific hair concerns like dryness, dandruff, or breakage, you probably don’t need a hair mask. You can do well with a good shampoo and conditioner in your hair care regimen. But if that’s not the case, you need to incorporate both.

It’s also important to be mindful and not overdo it. Conditioners are a must every time you wash your hair but you shouldn’t use a hair mask the same way. It’s not recommended to exceed its use more than two times a week as it can be overwhelming for your hair. Using it every other day can cause a lot of product buildup and grease that weighs your hair down. This often leads to long-term damage and increased breakage.

Whenever you feel like your hair needs a little nudge to help it regain its natural glow, you can use a hair mask to work its magic.

Hair Mask or Conditioner First?

So, what’s the final verdict? Should you use a hair mask or conditioner first?

When it’s that time of the week and you have your hair mask ready to go, the right order would be shampoo first, then hair mask, and then conditioner. The hair mask comes before the conditioner because it injects a lot of moisture and skin-enhancing nutrients into your scalp and hair strands. You need to follow up with a conditioner afterward to help lock all these goodies in!

Conditioners leave behind a thin film on your hair that helps it stay moisturized for a long time. If you were to condition your hair before using a hair mask, this thin film would prevent the essential nutrients of the mask from penetrating your hair. Without proper absorption, you won’t get the results you’re looking for from your hair mask, rendering the product effectively useless. And we wouldn’t want that, would we?

So, here’s how you can do it right:

• Shampoo your hair and pat it a little with a towel but keep it slightly damp.
• Properly apply the hair mask as we’ve highlighted before in this read.
• Use the conditioner right after rinsing your hair to keep the essential nutrients inside.

But your hair care routine isn’t bound to just these steps. If you feel like your locks need a little extra TLC, you can use the Evalectric Hair Serum to enhance your hair care regimen. This serum is formulated to be lightweight and non-greasy — perfect for a little pre-event touch-up! It infuses the powers of aloe vera and vitamin E to liven up the look and feel of dull, dry hair.

Experience soft-feeling, glossy hair within seconds of using this spectacular hair serum. And don’t forget the golden rule: a little goes a long way. Take a small amount and apply it to damp hair before styling to witness the ultimate soft and shiny look! You can also apply it to dry hair both before and after straightening to reduce the signs of split ends and frizz.

Enhance Your Haircare Regimen with Evalectric

Now that we’ve cleared the air about using a hair mask or conditioner first, we hope it helps you rediscover your hair’s natural luster! There is a whole world of products and solutions to be discovered at Evalectric. Browse through our bestsellers today and find your pick!