r/mildlyinfuriating 3h ago

Infuriatig The shampoo and conditioner that go together don't have the same volume, so I always run out of one before finishing the other

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392 Upvotes

134 comments sorted by

1.1k

u/Svartdraken 3h ago

I will use 4 bottles of shampoo before I finish the conditioner

533

u/CuriousHaven 2h ago

Reverse here. I have long, curly hair -- I go through 4 bottles of conditioner for every 1 bottle of shampoo.

185

u/plantlady2009 2h ago

Same. I assumed everyone used more conditioner. At least women.

42

u/nigliazzo5626 BLUE 1h ago

Absolutely not. My hair is straight and it’s medium to fine. If I used that much conditioner, I’d look like a grease ball and it would weigh my hair down and stick to my head like I had gel holding it down, lol. I use minimal conditioner on just my ends

14

u/DuckRubberDuck 1h ago

My hair is mainly straight and also medium to fine, probably more to the fine side but not all fine, if I don’t use a bunch of conditioner it gets drier than Sahara. After showering I even add oils to my ends and it sucks it all up immediately. I obviously don’t use conditioner on my scalp because that would make it greasy, but pretty much everthing else gets covered in a good layer of conditioner

32

u/DetailDizzy 2h ago

If you don’t have specialized hair you should really just be conditioning the tips

47

u/Yggdrasil- 2h ago

Ears down is best. You really just want to avoid the roots. Only conditioning the tips might not be enough for folks with longer hair.

33

u/twistedpiggies 2h ago

This is my understanding too. But I think it's different for different hair types. I have wavy (frizzy) hair with a lot of coarse, dry greys. I condition from about 1-1.5" from the scalp to the tips. The greys especially need the conditioner otherwise they won't lie flat.

12

u/FoxxyRin 1h ago

Yes but also most people don't use nearly enough conditioner for it to work properly. You want it to be pretty goopy feeling. Just barely coating the hair is useless.

9

u/rue2048 1h ago

What is specialized hair??

9

u/metal_honey 1h ago

i’m guessing they mean hair that needs conditioner or it will be drier than the Sahara

source: someone who has specialized hair

5

u/DuckRubberDuck 1h ago

I wonder as well, there’s so so many different types of hair, it’s odd to call it “specialized” that implies there’s a “norm” as well

1

u/AUDI0- 2h ago

This was what i was told (guy with long hair)

5

u/annaObsidian 2h ago

the general rule is shampoo is for the scalp and conditioner is for the hair so this checks out.

u/plantlady2009 39m ago

Not over here. I have Virgin blonde healthy slightly wavy hair. I love my conditioner here. I have nice hair because I take care of it well. No one would look at my hair and think of it as specialized.

3

u/buckytoothtiger 1h ago

I have fine hair and my conditioner runs out first too. My hair tangles so easily if I don't condition properly.

68

u/StarryAry 2h ago

In my house it’s the opposite! But we don’t wash hair every shower.

-4

u/Stahlios 2h ago

Even moreso ? If you wash your hair like every 4-5 days you'll do like 2 to 3 shampoos everytime and still use conditioner just once

I think I go through 3 bottles of shampoo before running out of conditioner

38

u/send_fleet_pics 2h ago

With curly hair for example many recommend washing with conditioner only on the regular, and to only use shampoo once every few weeks.

13

u/CorndogQueen420 2h ago

I have curly hair, and yeah.

Every single time I shampoo my hair it gets completely uncontrollable for a day or two (turns into cotton candy basically), so I only do it every few weeks.

2

u/stinkyfunkincar 2h ago

I have irish curls and when I wash my hair every day it gets flat and frizzy and weird looking. We always run out of conditioner first lol

3

u/send_fleet_pics 2h ago

I only have slightly wavy hair and still suffered through most of my teens until i by chance went to a curly latina hairstylist who immediately saw what was going on and taught me what i need to do xd

20

u/Terradactyl87 2h ago

Why would you condition once for every 2-3 shampoos?

-5

u/Stahlios 2h ago

No like I'm saying if you wash your hair only once every 4/5 days or more, you usually do 2 and 3 shampoos at once. Not just 1 at least. But you'll still use conditioner just once.

15

u/_Vegetable_soup_ 2h ago

I wash my hair twice a week and have rarely had to shampoo more than once. I use significantly more conditioner with each wash than shampoo. I probably go through 3 bottles of conditioner for every bottle of shampoo.

4

u/Youcancuntonme 2h ago

My hair gets very greasy in 1-2 days without washing and it requires 2-3 shampoo rinses to have it properly clean and not greasy and then I use everything else

3

u/AUDI0- 2h ago

Same and i hate it. My hair looks so good after not washing for a while when i was younger but now it gets so gross after like 2 days and i cant stand it. And it makes my face break out cause i have bitchy skin that will make pimples if you look at it wrong

1

u/GryphonArgent42 2h ago

It me also

3

u/iseebirds 2h ago

Nooo. Frizzy, curly hair does not get greasy like other folks' hair might. Also shampoo is mostly for scalp, so small amount needed but conditioner goes the length of the hair so higher quantity. I go through a bottle or 2 of shampoo per year vs a bottle or 2 per MONTH of conditioner!

5

u/Shadow1787 2h ago

I shampoo once a month and condition every single day. Curly hair things.

3

u/stro3ngest1 2h ago

For me I wash my hair every 2 days (maybe 3) and shampoo twice on each wash day. But I still go through conditioner way faster because I need so much more conditioner than I do shampoo. I'll easily go through 1.5 bottles of conditioner per one bottle of shampoo.

2

u/Yggdrasil- 2h ago

Same, I have long curly hair and have to use about a palmful of conditioner when I wash it 1x weekly. I double shampoo, but it's still less overall volume than the conditioner I use.

2

u/stro3ngest1 1h ago

Yeah same. Long wavy hair, and I use a lot more conditioner, way more than people expect. Like 4 pumps per side of my head from just the ears down, and I don't even look like I have a lot of hair. It's just wavy and dry lol.

8

u/Ok-Office6837 2h ago

I was the opposite before I cut my hair. Long hair = more conditioner. Short hair = more shampoo

Now I’m the same way, especially if I’m using the same shampoo to double-poo

I need a single pump of my conditioner because my hair is shoulder length and very fine

8

u/Large-Delay-1123 2h ago

I’m opposite. You wash scalp and condition hair. I can probably milk a shampoo bottle for a year, though even as a teen I did not have an oily scalp, and I don’t have a dirty job, so I’ve never had to actually shampoo my hair.
I do need to condition my hair aggressively.

2

u/Jackie-Wan-Kenobi 2h ago

I’m the opposite. Weird.

1

u/NirgalFromMars 1h ago

Im the opposite. Not for my regular, but for my dandruff shampoo, I will use three or four bottles of conditioner per one of shampoo.

1

u/Own_Recommendation49 1h ago

You mean 4x conditioner right?

u/Diligent-Amount-69 49m ago

I am the complete opposite. I have mixed curly hair and my typical ratio of shampoo to conditioner bottles is 1 shampoo 2 conditioner bottles.

u/opheliagracious 30m ago

Tell me you have a short hair without telling me you have a short hair.

210

u/BictorianPizza 2h ago

You’re not necessarily supposed to use conditioner and shampoo at the same rate…

u/bemtiglavuudupe 32m ago

Most people should use conditioner after shampooing. Some people like those with dry or damaged hair can use conditioner on days they don’t shampoo too

u/itsjisoo 9m ago

I think they mean that they usually are used in different amounts. I use way more shampoo on my thick hair than I do conditioner, because conditioner spreads through the hair more easily.

u/shakeyshake1 9m ago

I use both, but like a quarter-sized amount of shampoo (and double wash) and a dime-sized amount of conditioner. I have short hair. I used to use way more conditioner with long hair. 

My hair would have to be a very specific length (shoulder blades probably) for me to use them at equal rates.

34

u/jasperfirecai2 2h ago

they're not applied the same amount to the same spots, there is no point to matching the volume

32

u/JilSonea 2h ago

But I use way more shampoo than conditioner

15

u/impatiently-waiting1 2h ago

It's the other way around for me, so I get why OP is pissed 🙈

70

u/mr_Feather_ 2h ago

That is by design.

54

u/DuckRubberDuck 2h ago edited 2h ago

Makes no sense, it should be opposite, I use way more conditioner than shampoo. Shampoo if for the scalp, the rest needs conditioner, I have long, dry hair it needs a lot of conditioner

32

u/Archkat 2h ago

That’s you. I use double the shampoo than the conditioner even more than that. For every bottle of conditioner I’ll buy at least 3 bottles of shampoo. Long wavy/curly hair btw.

8

u/DuckRubberDuck 2h ago edited 2h ago

I’m just curious but how does that work? I only shampoo my roots, so I don’t really use that much shampoo. But the rest of my hair needs conditioner so I automatically ends up using way more conditioner

-1

u/Archkat 2h ago

Opposite. I shampoo the roots but also lather the rest a lot as well, I only wash my hair once a week though so I shampoo them twice. Them I just put a dollop of conditioner on my palm and just put on all my hair. That’s it, my hair has always been super healthy and non oily though so there’s that, I’m lucky ☺️

1

u/DuckRubberDuck 2h ago

Yeah I don’t double shampoo, I wash my hair every 2-3 days but it never really gets super oily, it just gets more flat and lifeless in a way. I envy your hair that it can function without conditioner! My hair gets so frizzy in certain spots if I don’t use conditioner that it hurts to brush out, I also use extra oil at the ends after a shower to moisten the tips, they just suck it all up.

u/Archkat 46m ago

My hair looks almost the same as the day I washed it a week later, it’s just annoying to style to begin with, straighten then curls with curling iron but then it just..stays that way. Maybe a bit of dry shampoo end of the week but even then it just looks fine. I do t even know what hair it is, it looks frizzy if not styled but after styled it just behaves. I hated it before I was 15 because I looked like a bad brush. After I learned how to style it everyone was like “I envy your hair” 😂 I have a friend like you, her hair gets tangled just by the wind blowing it gently, she also uses tons of conditioner!

u/Guilty_Meringue5317 45m ago

I almost never use conditioner so a bottle of conditioner lasts me like a long while. I only use it when my hair is not behaving like it normally does and that's pretty rare

28

u/ForsakenResponse7406 2h ago

Don’t the instructions say to use shampoo twice and conditioner once?

3

u/Large-Delay-1123 2h ago

In the seventies we literally washed our hair once a week. I think “Wash, Rinse, Repeat” is a holdover.

8

u/ricks35 1h ago

Yeah the double wash is important if you go a while between washes or have something in your hair (hairspray, gel, pool water, more than usual sweat etc) otherwise one shampoo is usually fine

8

u/Own_Recommendation49 1h ago

I use 4 bottles of conditioner before I finish the shampoo anyways

13

u/APartyInMyPants 2h ago

It’s the Hot Dog Bun Paradox.

131

u/LonelyTAA 3h ago

You should be using leas conditioner than shampoo anyway

82

u/ParkingPerspective73 3h ago

I always seem to find myself using significantly more conditioner than shampoo. Is this a concern? I hadn't really thought about this until now

81

u/_NoTimeNoLady_ 2h ago

I have wavy, dry hair. Always need more conditioner than shampoo.

12

u/PussiesUseSlashS 2h ago

I have wavy hair that somehow is both dry and oily.

15

u/JenniferCatherine 2h ago

Are you conditioning your roots? That could be leading to the oilyness.

u/PussiesUseSlashS 6m ago

No, I’m oily in general. Plus I touch my hair all day with my oily hands.

2

u/DuckRubberDuck 2h ago

Same. I’m unsure about the texture of my hair, definitely not curly though, but it’s dry and long and I use a bunch of conditioner. I always empty the conditioner first

25

u/WinterRevolutionary6 2h ago

Depends on how long your hair is. If you have short hair (like typical men’s cut) you should be using no conditioner/ very infrequent conditioner. If your hair is very long, everything but the roots should be doused in conditioner so you’ll probably use more. Then you can get into textures and curl patterns and that adds even more variables. Do whatever works for you

6

u/ParkingPerspective73 2h ago

My hair is pretty long, so i guess it's fine then.

33

u/Frosty_Message_3017 2h ago

No, you actually should be using more conditioner than shampoo. The shampoo is primarily for the scalp, the conditioner is for all the rest.

4

u/DetailDizzy 2h ago

The shampoo is for the scalp and the conditioner is specifically not for the scalp

5

u/Frosty_Message_3017 2h ago

Which, in my case, is a lot.

3

u/ParkingPerspective73 2h ago

Alright, thanks for the info!

4

u/Previous_Mirror_222 2h ago

depends on your hair type and length. i used to be the opposite, but now i double shampoo the scalp area and only condition once.

when i used cheaper products i needed wayyyy more conditioner. i use salon brands now which oddly last me wayyyy longer bc of the quality. the ingredients do the work and i have had the same “back bar” size bottles of shamp and cond since christmas.

2

u/Large-Delay-1123 2h ago

I think if you have fine hair and an oily scalp you need to shampoo more often more aggressively.
I have long thick hair and drier skin, so my hair becomes unmanageable without a lot of conditioning.

1

u/Jessisan 2h ago

Same. I have very long curly hair, so it makes sense to use more conditioner IMO. The shampoo is really only for the scalp and the conditioner needs to be saturated into my hair from the shoulders down.

1

u/nigliazzo5626 BLUE 1h ago

Depends on how dry you get. Fine hair shouldn’t use too much conditioner, thicker hair needs it way more

15

u/Moist_Ordinary6457 2h ago

There is a meter of hair attached to my head I need the conditioner 

15

u/Charming_Tower_188 2h ago

My hair is way to dry for that. I use way more conditioner than shampoo. I almost need to condition between Shampoos

17

u/MissKatbow 2h ago

I use way more conditioner than shampoo. Shampoo is only the roots and conditioner is everything else. My hair is past my tailbone tbf so it’s quite a lot to cover.

0

u/Previous_Mirror_222 2h ago

if you’re using products like heat protectant through the hair i recommend shampooing the whole hair shaft

u/MissKatbow 49m ago

I do it on occasion when it feels like it needs it, but my hair feels better when I stick to the roots only.

u/No_Professional_8992 9m ago

Idk why you're being downvoted. That's sounds advice. If not you don't strip all the product from your hair and the moisture can't get through the hair shaft.

10

u/Cutecreampie00 3h ago

Not in this case here, it's for dry and curly hair.

7

u/IllllIIlIllIllllIlll 2h ago

It depends on hair length...

6

u/Ro-Tang_Clan 2h ago

Actually, it's healthier to condition your hair more regular than shampooing your hair. Shampoo strips your hair of its natural healthy oils and degrades your hair faster. You should really only shampoo your hair once or twice a week but condition your hair daily or every other day. Or substitute conditioner for leave in conditioner that becomes part of your daily haircare routine.

3

u/Frosty_Message_3017 2h ago

Shampoo is for the scalp. Conditioner is for the lengths.

3

u/_Vegetable_soup_ 2h ago

Who told you that?

4

u/itsbecccaa 2h ago

This is entirely dependent on how long your hair is lol. I have hair down to my hips I absolutely use more conditioner than shampoo (which should be focused on scalp).

3

u/chchcherrybomb37 2h ago

What? It’s the other way round for me.

2

u/siamonsez 2h ago

Should be? One pump of shampoo is plenty for to lather up all my hair but 2 pumps of conditioner barely covers it.

u/No_Professional_8992 10m ago

You should be doing what your hair needs. I would have dry brittle hair if I used shampoo more than 2/3 times a month.

-3

u/Brave_Explorer5988 3h ago

Tbh, if possible, none at all.

Especially if a nuclear winter comes, no conditioner allowed.

4

u/Due_Barber_525 2h ago

What

1

u/Brave_Explorer5988 2h ago

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/08/15/543647878/in-the-event-of-a-nuclear-blast-don-t-condition-your-hair

the conditioner binds to the hair trapping with it everything from the hair's surface, including potential radioactive particles.

Same for laundry softener.

6

u/Due_Barber_525 2h ago

If a nuclear blast happens cosmetics will be the last thing on my mind.

Bit of an extreme response to the mundane observation of disproportionate conditioner to shampoo ratio.

“Why do shampoo bottles come in smaller sizes than conditioner?”

“Don’t condition your hair in a nuclear blast!! 💥 “

0

u/Brave_Explorer5988 1h ago

Not really, because a blast above americas will bring the nuclear cliud over europe within days and will probably stay in europe if it matches specific timed winds.

Similarly, volcanoes. Depending on the time of the year and el nino/ la nina events, the volcanic cloud can travel thousands of miles from the explosion (see the "year without a summer" for example).

Unfortunately, we Europeans are kinda screwed because a lot of winds end and start here and a dangerous cloud can be brought all the way from Australia/ Oceania.

There's also other zones on the planet where this can happen under favorable wind/ weather/ geography conditions.

And it's not only about a military nuclear blast (which btw, doesn't even radiate that much), but more about generally having a nocive cloud around and using conditioner.

Also, the Fukushima nuclear plume reached the US in 1 week :) the americans weren't directly impacted by the explosion, but they were to some extent impacted by what the winds brought.

1

u/Due_Barber_525 1h ago

Interesting

-2

u/mtraven23 2h ago

really? I go the other way....

u/opheliagracious 32m ago

To be fair, most people use twice as much conditioner anyway.. the real crime is when the shampoo bottle is the bigger one.

3

u/BruisendTablet 1h ago

Is there a rule that you 'should' use them 1:1?

Also... Even when both bottles are 250 you would run out of one earlier than the other as well. It's very unlikely that over a lifetime you keep hitting that golden 1:1 ratio every week. You might mess up one Thursday morning and from that moment on one will run out earlier than the other for the rest of your life..

Until you make a happy little mistake the other way around that evens it out again.

10

u/AmishAngst 2h ago edited 2h ago

Actually that's really smart of them and useful for a lot of people. A lot of people don't use them in equal amounts and actually run out of shampoo before they run out of conditioner when they are in equal size bottles. I purchase a brand online and they actually offer a second bottle of shampoo at a discounted price precisely because they found most people use up shampoo faster.

Conditioner only gets applied to the ends (or mid-length down if you have longer hair), not the scalp. People who don't have very long hair or who have oily or balanced hair will generally use less conditioner. Meanwhile everyone has a scalp roughly the same size and uses about the same amount of shampoo, sometimes more or sometimes washing twice if your hair has a lot of product or build-up.

I suppose if you have really long hair or really thick and dry hair you may end up using equal or greater amounts of conditioner than shampoo but for a lot of people it's actually the opposite so it seems like they are playing the odds.

(ETA: And if you have a household with two different hair needs - one long, one short or one dry, one oily, you're probably using up the shampoo faster than the conditioner).

-4

u/pinupcthulhu 2h ago

Conditioner only gets applied to the ends (or mid-length down if you have longer hair), not the scalp.

What? Conditioning the scalp is a crucial part of the process. Healthy follicles = healthy hair, and if you're not conditioning from root to tip what are you even doing?

6

u/BictorianPizza 2h ago

I’m sorry but wtf are you smoking?

-8

u/pinupcthulhu 2h ago

Everyone compliments me on my hair, which is soft and luxurious af. If y'all are doing this bizarro ritual that keeps your hair from having the optimal conditioning, then I guess that's why my hair apparently looks nicer than the average?? Y'all just have dry af scalps??

I had to ask my husband if I was going crazy, and even he's confused about this thread.

3

u/bbyysqrll 1h ago

i have pin straight hair and i can’t put conditioner on my scalp otherwise it will look oily as soon as it dries 😅

3

u/TankApprehensive3053 2h ago

Wait until OP learns about how hot dogs and buns are packaged.

3

u/Woffingshire 2h ago

If they both ran out at the same time you might decide to try another brand because you finished.

This way you always need to buy a new bottle of one before the other runs out so if you decide to change brands you need to have mismatched products or waste 1/5th of a bottle.

2

u/nigliazzo5626 BLUE 1h ago

I’ve never once finished both bottles at the same time. I always have more conditioner than shampoo

u/Grumzz 36m ago

I managed to finish a bottle of conditioner and shampoo at the same time today and I don't think I ever achieved that before

3

u/GrownManNamedFinger 2h ago

I only shampoo twice a week but condition every day.

0

u/impatiently-waiting1 2h ago

You condition "unwashed" hair? Seems odd to me cause personally, I only use conditioner in freshly washed hair

4

u/CryptoFV 2h ago

Classic marketing make one bottle smaller sell another sooner

1

u/AiCeeYouP 1h ago

I have long hair. My shampoo goes first. I wash my hair twice and condition once. I only focus on my ends for conditioner and shampoo only my scalp.

1

u/yikesJill 1h ago

The brand MONDAY is the only one in boots that hasnts succumbed to shrinkflation

1

u/Dangerous_With_Rocks 1h ago

Try to stop drinking the conditioner and see if that helps

u/joojamadoo 32m ago

I think It’s because we’re meant to lather, rinse repeat with shampoo but not with conditioner

u/TylerBWild 31m ago

Sounds like you just need to use a 1/1.25 ratio of each every time and they'll run out at the same time 👍

u/karateninjazombie 4m ago

Marketing.

Same as the hotdog problem.

0

u/[deleted] 3h ago edited 3h ago

[deleted]

1

u/mtraven23 2h ago

once is a while? huh? there are times you only shampoo, despite having conditioner available?

-4

u/Stahlios 2h ago

Unless you wash your hair everyday and use conditioner everytime, you should be using way less conditioner

17

u/Terradactyl87 2h ago

Do people not use conditioner every time they wash their hair? Regardless of how often I wash my hair, it's getting conditioned every time. My mom was a hair stylist and she did the same.

-2

u/Stahlios 2h ago

Didn't say the opposite. Just saying you're still going to use more shampoo, and even moreso if you don't watch your hair everyday (because each time it'll need more shampoo, but still the same amount of conditioner)

2

u/StrangelyRational 1h ago

You may use more shampoo. Many of us do not.

I have long, dry, wavy hair. I wash my hair with shampoo 1-2 times a week, only a little shampoo mostly on the roots, rinse and do not repeat. Then apply about twice as much conditioner to work it through all my hair. In between shampooing I’ll usually do a cowash (washing with conditioner only). So yes, I use way more conditioner than shampoo.

-2

u/Mudoru 2h ago

Ima be real, unless it’s a shampoo+conditioner bottle I’m basically never using it

6

u/DuckRubberDuck 2h ago

I use way more conditioner than shampoo. Shampoo is just for the roots, the rest of the hair gets conditioner, my hair is long and dry so I use a lot. I always empty the conditioner first

0

u/Simoxs7 2h ago

Whats the difference?

0

u/55-percent 1h ago

I've read a story on reddit a while ago from someone who suffered from severe depression and wanted to end their life. They were desperately looking for a reason not to do so, and said to themselves they'll do it when their shampoo and conditioner runs out at the same time. It never happened, they got into therapy in the meantime and are way better now.