The 14 best hair conditioners for every hair type—and your one-way ticket to hydrated hair
Shiny and nourished
When it comes to your hair care routine, chances are you've spent a lot of time and effort finding the best shampoo for your hair type—but how about the best conditioner? Over my years working in the beauty industry, it's clear that while most of us are evangelical about keeping our strands squeaky clean, the same level of care and attention isn't always given to what we hydrate our hair with afterwards.
And while you might treat ourselves to a nourishing hair mask or reach for a hair oil when our hair starts feeling particularly parched, ensuring that you're using the best conditioner for your hair on a regular basis is something of a game-changer.
Why? Well, not only will a good conditioner help your comb to glide through your strands once you're out of the shower, but it can also improve the look, health and manageability of the hair—without leaving it looking greasy or dirty.
With that in mind, we've charted the best formulas that money can buy, for every hair type, plus we've spoken to the experts about how to best choose—and use—a good conditioner.
How does hair conditioner work?
"Conditioner is a moisturising agent that helps to replenish the hair's moisture post-cleansing," explains Antony Rawlings, creative director of Redken salon Lockonego London. "It's worth noting that conditioner alone will not improve the health of the hair, only its appearance and manageability. Conditioners help to close the cuticle, and also leave hair feeling soft and looking shiny."
How to choose the right conditioner for your hair type
"Quite simply, you need to choose a conditioner based on the weight and thickness of your hair," says Antony. "If you find your hair is dry and undernourished—a result of cold weather or overuse of heat styling tools, for example—then you'll want to use a conditioner that is packed full of protein and moisturising agents like argan oil." In contrast, those with fine hair should choose a more lightweight formula to avoid it making the hair look greasy.
The ingredients to look out for in the best conditioners are lipids and peptides, says Bernardo Vasconcelos, celebrity hairdresser and founder of salons BCO London and Blu Kuwait, and TRYO Hair Extensions. "These will help to nourish the strands and protect the hair against thermal and UV damage."
How to add a conditioner to your hair care routine
If you're not already regularly using a conditioner then you might not be sure exactly how to make one work for your routine. Luckily, though, it's pretty simple. If you already know your hair type then it will be easy to pick out the best conditioner for you from our list below, but if you're not sure then bear in mind that thick or textured hair types will benefit from rich formulations containing ingredients like shea butters or oils, while finer hair types or those that get greasy quickly might want to seek out lightweight conditioner containing things like hyaluronic acid or volumising formulas.
After shampooing your hair, you'll then squeeze out any excess water and apply roughly a 50p-sized dollop through the ends and mid-lengths of your hair. "I always recommend that my clients apply conditioner after rinsing the hair with plenty of water (ideally cold water to close the hair cuticle)," says Bernardo. "Then apply it to the ends and spread it upwards towards the middle of your lengths, avoiding the roots, and keep it for a few minutes. The longer that you leave it, the better the results."
Rinse out thoroughly and then, once a week, experts recommend following with a more intensive hair mask for added TLC. If you use serums or hair oils then towel-dry your hair and apply as normal.
How we tested the best hair conditioners
As with all of our recommendations at Marie Claire, in order to make sure that I collated a thorough list of options for the best conditioners I tested all of these conditioner either personally or be enlisting the help of fellow editors with different hair types and concerns.
To make the list, all of the conditioners had to deliver on their claims and work well alongside their matching shampoo as well as on their own. We paid close attention to the key ingredients, the texture, price and, most importantly, the results. Did the conditioner perform as promised? How did our hair look and feel afterwards? We put everything through its paces for a good few weeks, but you can find out more about how we test our products here.
Best hair conditioners in 2025: Quick links
- Best conditioner for dry hair: Aveda Sap Moss Weightless Hydration Conditioner, £32 | Lookfantastic
- Best bond-building conditioner: Olaplex No.5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner, from £14 | Cult Beauty
- Best conditioner for curly hair: Sachajuan Curl Conditioner, £28.45 | Amazon
- Best conditioner for fine, thin hair: Living Proof Full Conditioner, £29 | Lookfantastic
- Best conditioner for knotty hair: Eleven Australia Hydrate My Hair Moisture Conditioner, £27 | Amazon
- Best budget conditioner: Monday Smooth Conditioner, £5 | Lookfantastic
- Best conditioner for fragrance: Sol de Janeiro Strengthening + Smoothing Conditioner, £23 | Cult Beauty
- Best anti-dandruff conditioner: Head & Shoulders DermaX Pro Soothing Comfort Conditioner, £6 | Boots
- Best conditioner for damaged hair: K18 Damage Shield Protective Conditioner, £39 | Cult Beauty
- Best conditioner for dull hair: L'Oréal Elvive Glycolic Gloss Conditioner, £12.99 | Lookfantastic
- Best luxury conditioner: Augustinus Bader The Rich Conditioner, £45 | Cult Beauty
- Best conditioner for very dry, curly or coily hair: Dizziak Deep Conditioner, £22 | Space NK
- Best leave-in conditioner: Revlon Professional Uniq One All In One Coconut Hair Treatment, £11.70 | Amazon
- Best conditioner for frizzy hair: Rhyme & Reason Quench & Curl Conditioner, £8.99 | Boots
The best hair conditioners to buy in 2024
Ready for some hair-spiration? Keep on scrolling for Team MC's hero conditioners for every hair type and budget; we've included everything from exciting new releases to old favourites such as Olaplex.
1. Aveda Sap Moss Weightless Hydration Conditioner
Aveda's conditioner is the perfect antidote to dry and thirsty hair. It may look a little like mayonnaise, but it's a dreamy conditioner; it infuses your hair with lightweight moisture, keeping it soft and frizz-free, and detangles it well. And, of course, it has that signature Aveda 'pure-fume' scent, so you'll spend a lot of time resisting the urge to sniff your freshly-washed 'do.
Freelance beauty editor Laura Mulley says, "I'd call this a great all-rounder, everyday shampoo for all but greasy hair. Its scent is very distinctive; green and a bit earthy, with notes of jasmine and cypress."
2. Olaplex No.5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner
If your hair is in need of some TLC, look no further than Olaplex. The bestselling conditioner targets the appearance of breakages and helps to fortify damaged locks. Designed for hair weakened by frequent colouring, bleaching, chemical treatments and heat styling, the formula works to re-link broken disulphide bonds and fortify hair structure.
3. Sachajuan Curl Conditioner
This conditioner is up there with the best of the best for curly hair. "With curls, the hair's structure mean that it's harder for the natural oils to make their way down the lengths of the hair shaft, usually rendering the ends a bit dead and brittle," says freelance beauty editor Lucy Abbersteen. "Sachajuan's Curl Conditioner puts the moisture back into the full length of your hair, maximising its shine and bounce. Plus the Ocean Silk Complex scent is incredible; I really wish they'd turn it into a perfume."
4. Living Proof Full Conditioner
A popular choice for anyone with fine, limp hair—and a favourite with Bernardo—this not only adds just enough moisture to soften and detangle, but also plumps up strands.
Laura says, "It's worth noting that a conditioner on its own is unlikely to add much oomph to your hair, but using this along with other products from Living Proof's Full range (I'm a huge fan of the texturising foam) will definitely help. This doesn't give a light, airy feel, instead the hairs themselves feel thicker."
5. Eleven Australia Hydrate My Hair Moisture Conditioner
From Australian haircare brand Eleven, this contains super-nourishing avocado oil plus proteins. If you hair's dry or damaged, hairdressers will often recommend alternating strengthening shampoo and conditioner with moisturising ones, like this.
"I'm rarely gobsmacked by a hair-washing product, but this has been an absolute revelation," says Laura. "Thanks to years of bleaching and a lack of regular trims, my long, fine-but-plentiful hair gets so knotty when washing it that trying to get a brush through it afterwards is a real challenge. This conditioner, however, makes it a breeze, without leaving my hair feeling limp. It's shaved some serious time off my morning haircare routine."
6. Monday Smooth Conditioner
Monday is a fairly new, affordable and Instagrammable haircare brand to hit the shelves of Boots and Lookfantastic, as well as a number of supermarkets. This conditioner is designed to smooth frazzled strands, but there are also 'volume', 'moisture' and 'gentle' ranges.
"Firstly I'm in two minds about the packaging," says Laura. "I love the chunky bottle, which sits very neatly in my shower shelf, and the very satisfying click-to-close pump, but it is tricky to get the very last dregs out. This formula leaves my hair feeling very swishy, but it's a little too much for my fine hair (great for thick or very dry hair, though)."
7. Sol de Janeiro Strengthening + Smoothing Conditioner
The Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa 62 fragrance hardly needs any introduction, but here it is anyway: a delicious concoction of pistachio, salted caramel and vanilla that delivers instant tropical beach vibes. It's been bottled up into this conditioner, designed to strengthen fine-to-medium hair.
"This is another that works detangling miracles on my troublesome hair, and the smell make hair-washing day more of a joy than a chore," says Laura. "I'm lucky enough to often be sent hair products to test, but this—and the matching shampoo—are ones I buy on repeat."
8. Head & Shoulders DermaX Pro Soothing Comfort Conditioner
If you're currently using products to tackle—or, at the very least, not further irritate— dandruff, sensitive skin or an itchy scalp, this conditioner would make a great addition to your haircare routine. It contains soothing cactus extract, aloe vera and vitamin E, along with anti-dandruff active ingredient piroctone olamine.
Laura says, "Not that conditioner should really be used on the head, but this didn't irritate my often-itchy scalp any further. I feel like it definitely has more skin benefits than hair ones, as it did leave my oily roots in need of another wash on day two."
9. K18 Damage Shield Protective Conditioner
K18 has swept the hair world by storm in recent years, fast becoming the brand of choice for repairing damaged strands—and is also a favourite with Sofia Richie. The Damage Shield range actually helps to prevent damage from happening in the first place by defending it against environmental aggressors.
Laura says, "This sounds ridiculous, but I honestly felt like my hair actually looked a bit like Sofia Richie's after using this and the shampoo: strong, healthy and expensive. A new favourite for me."
10. L'Oréal Elvive Glycolic Gloss Conditioner
L'Oréal Elvive's new Glycolic Gloss range is a clever idea; using popular skincare ingredient glycolic acid to gently smooth the surface of the hairs as it does with the skin, revealing significantly shinier strands.
"It takes a lot to get my bleached blonde hair looking glossy, but this definitely works, turning my straggly strands into a light-reflecting curtain" says Laura. "I wouldn't use it every day as it's a little too much on my roots (and the bottle's quite small) but for special occasions where I want a sleek, shiny 'do, I'll reach for this."
11. Augustinus Bader The Rich Conditioner
Augustinus Bader takes its patented renewing TFC8 molecule into haircare, creating a nourishing, hydrating conditioner that has over 96% of users saying hair looks smoother, shinier and less frizzy after using.
"I didn't want to like this, as it's an expense that I can't keep up, but unfortunately I really love it," says Laura. "It leaves hair looking amazing—swishy, bouncy and (like the K18 conditioner) expensive, like I've just had a professional salon treatment. I'll be scraping every last drop out of this bottle."
12. Dizziak Deep Conditioner
Dizziak's Deep Conditioner has gained plenty of beauty awards and a loyal following amongst those with curly, textured or Afro hair over the years, thanks to the way it nourishes and controls frizz using a blend of natural oils and butters.
Laura says, "Despite the bottle saying it's suitable for all hair textures, I knew this would be too rich for my fine, poker-straight hair the moment I applied it, but my curly-haired beauty editor peers tell me that it's one of the very best for their hair type, and one that they regularly re-buy."
13. Revlon Professional Uniq One All In One Coconut Hair Treatment
The detangling spray of choice in many salons, this delivers 10 hair benefits, from strengthening and adding shine to protecting against heat damage. Spritx through damp lengths before blow drying.
"I admit that I rarely buy the products that my hairdresser recommends each time I go to the salon, but I couldn't resist this (based on its incredible coconutty smell at first)," says Laura. "I'll also try anything that might help to shorten the time it takes to comb through my knotty hair, and this is one of the best detangling sprays I've ever tried."
14. Rhyme & Reason Quench & Curl Conditioner
“As someone with hair that frizzes almost as soon as I’ve stepped out of the shower, this conditioner has become pretty much the only one that I use thanks to its impressive smoothing capabilities. Shea butter and peach extracts are the star ingredients (meaning that it smells amazing too) and it has a delightfully rich whipped texture that hydrates and nourishes without weighing hair down. Side note: it’s coined as a curl conditioner, but I think this would work just as brilliantly for anyone with waves or thick hair. Even better, though, this conditioner also contains a rosemary scalp serum so it helps to hydrate and care for your scalp health while encouraging hair growth—perfect if you’ve been dealing with copious hair fall like me.” — Mica Ricketts, Freelance Beauty Editor and Marie Claire Contributor
