Hair Food & Hair Grease.

Two different things share the name

Hair food means one thing to somebody who grew up greasing their scalp on a Sunday evening and something else entirely to a shopper who saw a Garnier tub on a supermarket shelf. Both are in this collection, and they are worth telling apart before you buy.

The traditional kind is a thick, semi-solid dressing in a tub, usually built on petrolatum or a heavy oil blend, applied to the scalp and along the length. Blue Magic Hair Food, ORS Olive Oil Creme Hair Dress, Dax Short and Neat and the Tropic Isle Living Jamaican Black Castor Oil hair foods all belong here. The modern kind is a wash day range named after fruit and butter: Garnier Hair Food shampoos, conditioners and 3-in-1 masks, and the Creme of Nature Pure Honey Hair Food line.

The grease pot, and what it is good at

A grease is a sealant. It does not add moisture, it slows moisture leaving, which is why it works best on hair that has just been dampened or creamed rather than on bone dry hair. Used that way it keeps ends from splitting, stops braids and cornrows drying out, and gives a scalp a barrier against cold air and wind.

Used badly it clogs the scalp, attracts lint and makes wash day harder than it needs to be. The rule is small amounts, on the length rather than piled on the roots, and a proper clarifying wash every few weeks. Petrolatum based products do not rinse out with a gentle sulphate-free shampoo, so keep something stronger in the cupboard.

The Garnier and Creme of Nature side

Garnier Hair Food is a mainstream range built for dry and frizzy hair, and the 3-in-1 masks are the pick of it: Aloe Vera & Coconut and Watermelon & Pomegranate for lighter hair, Cocoa Butter and Banana for coarser or more damaged hair. They work as conditioner, mask or leave-in, which makes them good value on thick hair.

Creme of Nature Pure Honey Hair Food is aimed squarely at textured hair and goes further into styling: a sulphate-free cleanser, a Curl Creator Pudding, a Curl Defining Cream, a styling mousse, a leave-in treatment and a 24-hour cream oil for protective styles. That is a complete routine rather than a single tub.

Where it fits in a British routine

Grease comes into its own from October. Central heating drops indoor humidity to around 30 percent and hair loses water to the room all day, and a thin layer of Blue Magic Hair Food or ORS Olive Oil Creme Hair Dress over a moisturiser holds it in. It also protects ends tucked into a winter coat collar, which is where a lot of breakage quietly happens.

Summer is the opposite call. At 75 to 90 percent humidity there is no shortage of water in the air, and heavy grease on the scalp in warm weather feels unpleasant and builds up faster. Switch to the lighter Creme of Nature cream oil or a Garnier mask used as a leave-in.