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If your hair is heat or color-damaged like mine, a leave-in conditioner is key. My favorite leave-in conditioner (I’m currently using one by Monday and it’s $6) gives me healthy, hydrated ends, as well as an extra week’s grace between salon appointments. However, it’s easy to get confused by what makes a leave-in conditioner different from a hair mask, spray, or serum. Essentially, a leave-in should offer more moisture than a wash-out conditioner, but won’t be as heavy or greasy/oily as a hair mask often is (leave-ins are, on the whole, surprisingly lightweight). A leave-in conditioner can also detangle more efficiently and offer better shine, and has the bonus of heat protection over its rinse-out counterpart. And while a protective styling spray may well shield hair effectively from heat, it won’t necessarily deliver on moisture, detangling, and next-level shine the way a leave-in conditioner can. (I tend to mix and match the two products, focusing heat-protectant spray on my roots and leave-in conditioner on my ends — but that’s just what works for my fine hair.)
Basically, if you haven’t tried a leave-in conditioner yet, take this as your sign. In addition to inexpensive picks, I’ve found products suited to hair that’s straight, fine, curly, and coarse — as well as products recommended by the nine hair experts who I spoke to.
Updated November 7: Checked price and stock for all products, added L’Oréal Paris EverPure 21-in-1 Leave In Conditioner Spray as a less-expensive spray option.
What we’re looking for
Ingredients
A leave-in conditioner needs to give intense moisture but shouldn’t leave the hair feeling greasy. So I’ve focused on products that contain ingredients like vitamin E, aloe vera, amino acids, and naturally derived oils and butters, which, since they’re not washed out, maximize hair health along with offering hydration.
Scent
Fragrance preferences are extremely personal, so I’ve listed the scent profiles of each conditioner throughout.
Size
A product’s price is relative to its size, so I’ve highlighted how many ounces each one is to give an easy indicator of value for money.
Best overall leave-in conditioner
Ingredients: Vitamin-E oil | Scent: Citrus, floral, white musk | Size: 4.7 ounces
As someone who dyes their hair, I worship any product that makes my hair feel (even briefly) as it once did before I heard the siren call of hair dye. This leave-in conditioner is one of them. As well as vitamin E, it contains moisturizing ingredients like tamarind-seed extract and amino acids. It applies as a mist, which allows you to customize and fine-tune how much product your hair needs (globs of conditioner aren’t quite as forgiving). It also smells sensational, precisely what I would have described as “fancy salon smell” as a kid (in my adulthood, I’ve identified that scent as a floral musk.) My hair is quite fine, and in the past when I’ve spritzed this on and let my hair air-dry, it feels hydrated. When I style it with heat, though, it’s actively glossy. I’ve also noticed lately that it gives me a bit of texture: It’s far easier to flick the ends of my hair with my Dyson after using the Ouai.
And it’s not just great for fine hair: Karen Miller, a stylist at Spoke and Weal, recommends the Ouai Leave-In Conditioner “for any hair type.” For straight to wavy hair, Miller says you can spray it on with the option of letting it air-dry or styling it because it “acts as a heat protectant as well.” For more coily textures, she loves how it leaves the hair “feeling silky rather than oily” after you straighten it. Giovanni Vaccaro, artistic director of Glamsquad, says he likes to use it on clients who love beachy waves: “I’ll spray it in to detangle before using a wave spray.” He adds that on top of it being color-safe, he loves its bergamot-, lemon-, and magnolia-laced scent. It’s also a favorite of Strategist beauty columnist Rio Viera-Newton, who used it to nourish her double-processed hair, saying that it gave her hair that “final kick of moisture and nourishment it needs to ensure it feels perfectly silky and smooth once dry.”
Best (less-expensive) leave-in conditioner
Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, shea butter, jojoba oil, wheat protein | Scent: Floral | Size: 5 ounces
I’ve been writing about hair care for years, and when I’m scanning ingredient lists for moisturizing products, I want to see butters, oils, proteins, and hyaluronic acid. This $6 bottle from Monday has them all. The combination of shea butter and wheat protein is particularly effective, too, as one hydrates while the other strengthens — meaning hair is less prone to breakage in the long term, and less frizzy in the short term. I’ve been massaging a coin-size amount of this through my ends for a few weeks now and my hair has really been responding. It looks healthier, it feels bouncier, and my curls have been lasting longer than they usually would. I feel like for $6, you can’t go wrong. (Its Repair Leave-In Conditioner is also excellent. It contains keratin, so worth a look if breakage is further up your agenda than hydration.)
Best (less-expensive) leave-in conditioner spray
Ingredients: Coconut oil, Vitamin E, sunscreen | Scent: Rose and almond | Size: 6.8 fl oz
I keep seeing recommendations on TikTok for Redken’s leave-in conditioner — it does sound great, but it costs $30. For less than half of that you can buy L’Oréal’s 21-in-1 spray, which is effectively the same, (or at least very similar). It shares 16 ingredients with the Redken spray, including coconut oil and thickening polymers; it also heat protects, helps detangle, and has UV protection. If you’re looking for a drugstore option but prefer a light spray to the goopy kind, this is my recommendation.
Best leave-in conditioner for curly hair
Ingredients: Cupuacu and mango seed butters | Scent: Exotic fruits | Size: 8.4 ounces
Medearis is a colorist but also a self-proclaimed “curl enthusiast” who uses this product when he’s working with curly hair that’s color-treated, too. For clients with curly hair, he recommends silicone-free products like this one (which instead contains cupuacu and mango seed butters as well as a host of nourishing oils, including olive, avocado, and jojoba) and to look for ingredients that will restore the natural pH (he advises to look for aloe vera on the ingredient list). “The Oribe Priming Lotion does all of the above,” says Medearis. “Highly textured curly hair [often high porosity] is naturally lacking moisture — and color-treated curls are even more at risk of damage. I’m always recommending products with natural-based ingredients that will penetrate the curls and preserve their texture and bounce.”
Best lightweight leave-in conditioner
Ingredients: Aloe vera | Scent: Aromatic, fresh | Size: 5 ounces
As I mentioned under my favorite overall, a spray or mist applicator means that you’re less likely to overdo it. But if you still notice build-up in your hair no matter what (perhaps it’s superfine or flat), this leave-in conditioner is for you. “You could not overuse this product,” says Mark DeBolt, a celebrity colorist and co-founder of Mark Ryan Salon. DeBolt likes that it offers “featherlight hydration” (it literally just mists the hair) while still effectively nourishing it thanks to ingredients like aloe vera and flaxseed extract. This is good news for those with fine, thin, very straight, or low-porosity hair. It’s also a top-of-the-class detangler and gives great suppleness to the hair, which in turn gives next-level smoothness and shine. The best part, though, says DeBolt, is the scent: “It’s a beautiful perfume that reminds me of an evening summer walk upstate.”
Best leave-in conditioner for color-treated hair
Ingredients: Omega-3 oils | Scent: Floral, spicy, woody | Size: 6.7 ounces
All hair benefits from a heat protectant — but if yours is color-treated, this is especially true. That’s because exposure to heat makes your color fade quicker, meaning you have to treat it more, which along with heat, puts more stress on your hair. “When hair is delicate from being colored, it’s important to prevent breakage and further damage. Brushing out very tangled hair, or using hot tools and blow-dryers without heat protection, can all add to breakage.” This leave-in, Lundy explains, has “multiple benefits” including being great for detangling, conditioning (thanks to camelina and olive omega-3 oils), and acting as a heat and UV protector. “I’ll spray this in before a blowout, and even hair that’s been through multiple color services still looks shiny and smooth.”
Best leave-in conditioner for frizz
Ingredients: Vitamin C | Scent: Resinous, woody, smoky | Size: 4.2 ounces
DeBolt is a fan of this spray leave-in from R+Co. “It helps to soften, seal, detangle, and fight frizz,” he says. It also has a scent that DeBolt describes as “a very modern Le Labo–esque vibe,” with notes of palo santo, tobacco leaf, white cedarwood, and pine needles (R+Co calls this its Stars Align fragrance). And as well as being great for styling, the spray protects hair from sun damage and environmental stressors thanks to its hero antioxidant ingredient, vitamin C.
Best leave-in conditioner for badly damaged hair
Non-greasy hydration: Olaplex (bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate) | Scent: Citrus, fruity, floral | Size: 3.3 ounces
My hair advice is never one-size-fits-all, but this is as close as I’ll come: If your hair is in need of some serious recovery, use Olaplex. This product strays slightly into bond-building territory — products that chemically repair hair’s damaged and broken protein bonds — but Olaplex No.6 Bond Smoother Leave-In Styling Treatment can be applied after every shampoo, so it works like a leave-in conditioner. Olaplex (the line’s main ingredient, not the brand) is designed to repair and protect, which is why Lundy recommends this to clients with damaged and overprocessed hair. Not only does it work as a leave-in treatment, but it also doubles as a styling cream that “protects hair, hydrates, and gives you a smooth blowout.” Bonus: “It’s also super-concentrated, so a little goes a long way.”
Some other leave-in conditioners we’ve written about
Our experts
• Koni Bennett, stylist
• Mark DeBolt, a celebrity colorist and co-founder of Mark Ryan Salon
• Mark Hampton, stylist
• Kenna, founder of the Kennaland salon
• Lundy, a stylist at Le Shag
• Austin Medearis, master colorist at Butterfly Studio Salon
• Karen Miller, a stylist at Spoke and Weal
• Giovanni Vaccaro, artistic director of Glamsquad
• Rio Viera-Newton, Strategist beauty columnist
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