Demystifying 2-in-1 Shampoo and Conditioner

Happy Friday everyone!

Back for another session of demystifying. Today I want to tackle 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner. Hands up all those of us who have used this wash day cheat *raises hand* What could be easier than to wash and condition at the same time? However as much as I used this this from time to time, somehow I was always suspicious of 2-in-1. I mean how is my hair getting squeaky clean yet conditioned at the same time?  Am counteracting the effect of the conditioner cause there is shampoo in there? Am I counteracting the shampoo cause of the conditioner? Isn't it just watered down shampoo? Is it as good as sulfate free shampoo? Anyone else have these thoughts???

Let's dive into it then!

What is 2-in-one shampoo and conditioner?

2-in-1 Shampoo and conditioner is self- explanatory really. It is a product that is designed to cleanse and condition in one easy step, by combining properties and ingredients of both a shampoo and conditioner.

How does it work?

In order to  make the shampoo both conditioning and cleansing, two ingredients are added to the mix. A silicone usually dimethicone, and a suspending agent. The suspending agent is usually glycol distearate.
The suspending agent works by keeping the emulsion of shampoo and silicone mixed when in the bottle. This is because ordinarily the silicone would just drop to the bottom of the bottle and not mix with the rest of the liquid.

When you rinse out the shampoo, the suspending agent becomes less effective. This means that the silicone will be left on your hair, whilst the cleansing agents are rinsed off. The remaining silicone is what creates that softer feel and shinier appearance after the shampoo has been rinsed off. This also makes your hair feel "conditioned." 


So to answer that earlier question: no, it's not just watered down shampoo.

 Can I use it in place of sulfate free shampoo? 

The "conditioning" that this type of product does is not truly conditioning because all it does is cleanse the hair and then leave it feeling softer. Keyword here is feeling. Sulfate free shampoo is hailed because it does  not contain the often criticsied stripping sulfates, thus giving your hair a softer cleanse. 2-in-1 shampoos still contain sulfates. 
Some actually say their hair feels better when they use a 2-in-1 others say their tresses still feel stripped. As for me personally I never got that conditioned effect and just tried to pass my hair off as cleaned and conditioned cause the bottle said so, even though I knew otherwise (clever me). I would not recommend it as a weekly replacement for your sulfate free shampoo for two reasons.

 1. You'll not want to condition cause the bottle said the product has done it for you even though it actually hasn't. 
2. It not sulphate free although slighlty gentler than the regular shampoos 

Is it really good for my hair?
When tackling this question I looked at the aim this kind of product was trying to achieve- cleaning and conditioning in one simple step. The shampoo cleans, but it does not condition. It just makes your hair feel like its been conditioned  ( if it's a good brand) and in turn you will not condition. The importance of deep conditioning has been repeated over and over again on this blog. A product which implies you don't need to condition, when in fact you do, is. not.good. full stop.

 Another aspect is the silicone used to deliver the conditioned feel - dimethicone - is not water soluble. This is the kind of silicone you would rather use in a heat styling product to protect your strands from the heat. So a non-water soluble silicone will cause eventual build up over time and one will experience some difficulty in moisture absorption.
In short, no.

If you want to use it, I would suggest using it occassionally (like in emergency situations) and always follow up with a dc.

What are your thoughts ladies?