A 2-in-1 combines cleansing and conditioning in one step. It is a convenience product, and convenience products are worth judging on whether the convenience is worth the compromise for you.
The inherent tension
Shampoo cleans by removing oil and residue. Conditioner works by depositing a light coating.
One product doing both must moderate each — clean slightly less thoroughly, condition slightly less richly. Modern formulations handle this far better than they used to, but the tension does not disappear.
When it works well
- Children, where the priority is finishing bath time rather than optimal hair care
- Short hair, which needs less conditioning because there is less old hair to condition
- Normal hair with no damage or colour
- Travel and the gym, where one bottle beats two
- Anyone who was skipping conditioner entirely — a 2-in-1 is a clear improvement on nothing
- Men's routines, which frequently fall into the categories above
When two products are better
- Long hair, where the ends are years old and need real conditioning
- Coloured or bleached hair
- Very dry or damaged hair
- Curly hair, which needs generous conditioning the shampoo half would work against
- Very oily scalps, which need thorough cleansing the conditioning half moderates
Using it
- Lather at the scalp, where the cleaning is needed
- Let the run-off carry through the lengths rather than scrubbing them
- Leave it a moment before rinsing, so the conditioning part has contact time — this is the step people skip, and it is where most of the conditioning benefit is
- Rinse thoroughly. Residue is more likely with a combined product
For a family
A shared product is sensible for children and for anyone with straightforward hair. Anyone in the household with coloured, curly or damaged hair will do better with separate products — a shared bottle plus one personal one is a reasonable arrangement.
The full composition is in the Faberlic catalogue. For separate products, see the haircare section.