Can I make my own WEN conditioner by mixing regular shampoo and conditioner?

Can I make my own WEN conditioner by mixing regular shampoo and conditioner?
Duchess Gummy Buns says…Here’s the link to someone who claims that you can make your own cleansing conditioner. My question is will this even work? And does mixing the two seem pointless? The Beauty Brains respond: First, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that “Duchess Gummy Buns” is the best screen name. Ever. [...]

Duchess Gummy Buns says…Here’s the link to someone who claims that you can make your own cleansing conditioner. My question is will this even work? And does mixing the two seem pointless?

The Beauty Brains respond:
First, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that “Duchess Gummy Buns” is the best screen name. Ever.

Second, the site that DGB referenced says that you can mix a sulfate free shampoo and conditioner as  DIY version of WEN. Specifically, the recommendation is to take three parts conditioner to one part shampoo and mix it in your hand. Or, you can pre mix a larger quantity and save it an extra bottle.

DIY-not

We respectfully disagree with this particular DIY recommendation for a couple of reasons. First, there’s the question of performance.  By pre-mixing the two you are (to some degree) compromising the performance of each. The shampoo won’t clean as well because it will be overwhelmed by the conditioner and the conditioner won’t condition as well because some of the ingredients that should deposit on your hair will form a complex with some of the cleansing agents. (In fact, depending on the type of products you mix, you could form a insoluble anion-cation complex that will make your hair feel gummy and be hard to remove.)

Then there’s the question of preservation. If you do mix large quantities of two different products and save them for later, the resulting mixture may not be properly preserved. Just because two products are preserved doesn’t mean the preservatives will still work properly when mixed together.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

We’re not saying you CAN’T do it, obviously the person who wrote this post likes the way it makes her hair feel, but it really doesn’t make much sense based on how these products work. And if you’re really striving for a WEN-like effect you should use a silicone-free conditioner like VO5 or Suave.

Image credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org

Source: thebeautybrains.com