HOW TO WASH WITH MONAT - THE CONDITIONER

MONAT CONDITIONER - THE HOW

NOTE: using an in-shower masque is the same process as below. Your masque goes in after shampoo and before conditioner. The only exception to this is the Super Moisture Masque​ (launched in Australia in Feb 2024) - this can be used as both a masque and conditioner. 

1. After shampooing, squeeze as much water out of your hair as possible. 
2. Shake the bottle.
3. Squeeze out a 10-20 cent sized piece.
4. Rub together in palms.
5. Apply to hair from ears down only.
6. OPTIONAL BUT A GOOD TIP: section by section, “milk” the conditioner into your hair from the ears down to the ends of the hair, as if “milking a cow”. 
7. Leave for the time specified on the bottle.
8. Rinse with cold water or at least colder water than what you would normally use. 
9. Gently squeeze out excess water. 
10. Wrap in an old cotton t-shirt or microfibre towel.
11. Air dry or style as preferred. 

MONAT CONDITIONER - THE WHY

1. The more water you squeeze out, the better chance your hair has to absorb the conditioner. Hair is a fibre; squeezing out the excess water before applying conditioner allows the conditioner to penetrate instead of rolling off hair that’s saturated with water. If you like, step out of the shower, and towel dry your hair, apply the conditioner, and hop back into the shower to rinse it out. 
2. Monat is a more natural product and some separation can occur, so we need to shake the bottle very well and mix all those lovely ingredients back together. 
3. Remember with Monat, less is more, so start with a little bit and see how you go. If you have very thick, long hair, you will obviously need more - but a little goes a long way with Monat!
4. You won’t need to emulsify as long as with the shampoo though. 
5. You only need to apply conditioner to your hair. Shampoo is for scalp health - conditioner is for hair health (quite simply). Putting conditioner near your scalp and roots can actually clog your follicles, and slow hair growth/increase oil production.
6. Milking the conditioner in is a really good technique that I encourage everyone to practise! Sounds weird, but as you keep milking, you’ll notice that the hair feels silkier and silkier. This is because the mechanical action of milking is pushing the conditioner deeper into the hair cuticles. 
7. The longer you wait and allow your conditioner to set, the more it will be able to do to improve the health of your hair. But only leave on for the time specified on the bottle - less is ok, more is not necessary. Monat’s formulations are very active, and the times specified on each bottle are the MAXIMUM amount you will need to leave it in order to get the benefits. 
8. Hot water versus cold water: the age old hair debate. Are we rinsing with cold water because we read an article in a Dolly magazine when we were 13 years old? Or is there actually something to it?? Read on below...*
9. GENTLY squeeze out water. Don’t rip your hair, don’t twist your hair... basically, try to avoid any mechanically induced strain to your hair that may stretch it, break it, and cause micro-damage.
10. If you don’t have a cotton t-shirt or microfibre towel handy, at least dry your hair gently with your towel by squeezing the towel over the hair instead of rubbing the towel to and fro over over your hair strands. While regular bath towels are absorbent, they soak up too much water — yes, that is possible. They strip too much moisture from your hair, leaving you with extra dry, frizzy, rough hair. Unlike natural cotton towels, traditional terry cloth bath towels are woven using two warp beams — these two loops give terry cloth its rough texture. These abrasive fibres are large and easily entangle and tear hair strands, creating high levels of friction, damaging the follicle, stunting length retention. Microfibre towels for hair have tinier and smoother fibres, as opposed to bath towels. This is because these towels are made with a blend of tiny polyamide and polyester fibers. Additionally, microfibre towels are 100 times finer than human hair and hold 200,000 individual threads. Even better - use an old cotton t-shirt!
11. Now your hair is ready to style as desired - talk to your market partner for tips of the best styling products for your hair. 

*Extracted from Vogue:

The cuticle of your hair is its outermost layer, and is made up of overlapping cells. When each piece lays flat, light reflects off your hair’s surface, making your strands look glossy. An increase in temperature separates the cells forming your cuticle, and when hair is rinsed with warm water, the cuticle layer does not seal well. Warm water (never hot!) is great for the shampooing phase, as it separates the cuticle, and the deep-cleansing action of the shampoo can get to work. Using warm water during the cleansing phase, and then colder water for the conditioning phase is ideal. This cold rinse at the end also helps to lock in moisture, preventing frizz. Couple the cooler temperatures with your conditioner and hair masque (and a hair texture and type specific shampoo to amplify the results - enter Monat). Don’t freeze though! As cold as you can tolerate is fine. 

The one common factor that protects your skin and hair is sebum, a secretion of your sebaceous glands that makes your skin and hair look oily when in excess. This waxy substance, which is made up of different lipids, helps to moisturise your skin and hair, and even makes it waterproof. As expected, using hot water in the shower dissolves these fatty lipids, thus damaging your skin and hair. Using hot water overtly activates production of sebum, which makes hair oilier and can cause damage. But it’s the dissolving of sebum in hot water that causes the most harm. When you rinse your hair with hot water, you don’t just wash off the protective sebum, you also get rid of the nourishing oils from that conditioner you patiently massaged through.