As someone with perpetually knotty hair I am always on the lookout for ways to make the detangling experience a little smoother. Thankfully, there’s one product that most of us already have in our showers that can help no end with the task at hand—conditioner. And I’m not talking about those dedicated detangling sprays, but your classic wash-out formulations. The secret to its ability to help when brushing out tangles? “Conditioner gives hair ‘slip’ and makes it easier to manage,” explains award-winning hairstylist and Fudge Professional Global Ambassador, Jonathan Andrew.
Most of us will follow our usual shampoo routine with a conditioner or hair mask, but when using it to help with detangling there’s a little more involved than slapping it on the ends of your hair and rinsing it straight out. To really help with detangling, Jonathan suggests leaving it on your hair for up to 10 minutes to really help it “penetrate the hair shaft with moisture, proteins and other nourishing ingredients” and therefore making it easier to work out those knots. Get on with the rest of your shower routine while it gets to work and then “gently brush your hair with a wide-toothed, soft comb from the ends upwards to detangle”.
Brushing or combing your hair while it’s wet does mean there is a risk of breakage, but Jonathan explains that doing this while the conditioner is still on your hair means that it acts as a protective barrier. Once the tangles have been removed, Jonathan suggests rinsing the conditioner out with cooler water “so as not to cause any trauma or breakage” to the hair.
If you do find that your hair is extra prone to knots and tangles then following up with a leave-in conditioner can help with additional detangling. “I’d also advise to get your hair trimmed regularly to avoid tangles, as split ends can be one of the causes of this, and consider using a weekly hair mask to get your hair in tip-top condition,” says Jonathan.
Ahead, I’ve rounded up 7 of the best detangling conditioners that will help you achieve hair that a brush will glide through effortlessly. Look out for ingredients like shea butter, jojoba or argan oil, suggests Jonathan, to really improve the moisture levels of your hair as “regular tangles and knots could be a sign that your hair is parched”.
1. Kérastase Symbiose Detangling Soothing Cellular Conditioner
Formulated with sensitive, dandruff-prone scalps in mind, this detangling conditioner is infused with salicylic acid to help remove product build-up and improve hair health—leaving strands silky-smooth and less prone to knotting. If you have finer hair, or hair that gets greasy quickly, I’d really rate this thanks to how lightweight the conditioner is without compromising on hydration. Yes, it’s expensive, but it smells incredible and really improves hair and scalp health overall as well as making light work of removing tangles.
2. L'Oreal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Conditioner for Long, Damaged Hair
If you’re between haircuts or struggling to grow your hair as long as you’d like then the entire L'Oréal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths range is a brilliant place to start for affordable solutions, and their conditioner is one of the best I’ve tried for detangling hair. Formulated with keratin, vitamins and castor oil, it’s rich without weighing hair down and when combined with a wet brushing technique it really helps knots to slip out of hair. Plus, it leaves hair looking delightfully sheeny.
3. Briogeo Curl Charisma Conditioner
It’s so important for detangling conditioners to be rich in nourishing ingredients, but so many of them can feel heavy on the hair. This one from Briogeo contains all of the good stuff to soften and moisturise—shea butter, sweet almond oil, and rice amino acids—but feels featherlight in the hair. Leave it on for a few minutes then comb through with a wide-toothed comb and knots and tangles will practically dissolve. Plus, it’s been formulated to really support and enhance curl formation so your hair texture will be left tangle-free and well defined.
4. Olaplex No.5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner
Like all of Olaplex’s cult haircare products, this conditioner is infused with the brand’s patented bond-building technology which helps to repair hair and reduce the problems that come alongside breakage i.e. tangles and knots. If your hair is bleached, prone to breakage, or coloured regularly then this is one of the best conditioners on the market. It feels so silky on the hair and really smooths the hair cuticle to allow for effortless detangling.
5. Bumble and bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Conditioner
Formulated with an impressive blend of six oils—coconut, argan, macadamia, sweet almond, safflower seed and grapeseed FYI—this is a fantastic option if you have dry, coarse or generally frazzled hair that’s in need of a moisture boost to tackle those tangles. While it is probably a little on the heavy side for fine strands, it really does a great job at quenching dehydrated or thick hair and my hair always looks so much smoother and feels softer when using this. I love that the oil-rich formula means that detangling is totally fuss-free, and it smells wonderful too.
6. Fudge Professional Clean Blonde Damage-Rewind Treatment
If you bleach your hair regularly then this deeply conditioning hair treatment will not only elevate your colour, but it will up your detangling game too. The nourishing conditioner contains violet pigments to neutralise yellow tones and reduce brassiness, alongside combatting hair damage to minimise knots. Blonde hair will be left bright, smooth and expensive-looking.
7. Redken All Soft Conditioner
Redken’s ‘Silk-Luxe Complex’ is the secret sauce at the heart of this detangling conditioner, and it certainly does a great job at softening coarse hair thanks to the use of avocado and olive oils, silk amino acid and gold camelina which adds that expensive-looking shine. Not only will your hair look so glossy after using this, but you only need to leave it on for a couple of minutes for that smoothing and detangling action to get to work. It’s a bit of an investment, but worth it for such healthy looking (and feeling) hair.
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