Long story, short
- Conditioner coats and reinforces the hair cuticle — the outer protective layer — helping it lie flat so hair looks smoother, shinier, and feels stronger. It’s essential post-shampoo because cleansing strips natural oils from the hair.
- There are five main conditioner types: rinse-off (everyday), leave-in (for curly/damaged hair, used after styling), hair mask (weekly deep treatment, higher oil and butter concentration), deep conditioner (protein-packed repair treatment), and lamellar conditioner (lightweight water that coats hair in amino acids for instant gloss).
- Silicones in conditioner add slip and frizz-busting shine — great for dry or damaged hair, but potentially too heavy for fine or naturally soft hair. If they’re causing build-up, reset with a clarifying detox shampoo.
- Apply conditioner to damp (not soaking) hair, focusing on the lengths and ends — not the scalp. Comb through while the conditioner is in, then rinse thoroughly with warm water. A cold-water final rinse may help seal the cuticle for extra shine.
Everything you need to know about the easiest way to ‘girl in a hair advert’ hair
What comes after your lather, rinse, and repeat? For most of us, the next step is conditioner. But are you getting the most out of your conditioning step, so that your hair is insanely soft and silky? Here’s what you need to know.
Why do you need to condition your hair?
Feel like conditioner is an unnecessary extra step in your routine? Allow us to convince you otherwise – starting with a speedy science lesson. Despite the fact that hair health is something that’s talked about a lot, our hair is, confusingly, already dead by the time it leaves our scalps. It’s made of a strong and durable protein called keratin, which is the same substance that forms our nails.
Thick hair has three parts to each strand – the inner medulla, the cortex (which is where your hair colour sits) and the cuticle (an outer layer that protects these inner sections). Finer hair tends not to have a medulla, which is why the texture is different. All three parts of the hair strand are important, but when it comes to conditioner, it’s the cuticle we’re most interested in.
The hair cuticle is made up of smaller cells which overlap each other like scales. For a healthy cuticle that protects the inner parts of the hair and looks smooth and shiny on the outside, these scale-like cells need to sit flat. If they’re upright with gaps between them, then the cortex of the hair can be harmed and your strands will feel rough to the touch. If your hair is curly, these cuticles are naturally more raised, and things like heat styling and colouring your hair can damage them.
By coating the hair, conditioner will help to reinforce the cuticle so it’s less prone to this kind of damage. A welcome side effect of this is a shinier, healthier finish. Conditioner will also moisturise the hair and make it less brittle. Think of it like a strand of spaghetti – if it’s dry, then it’s easier to snap and break, whereas if it’s filled with moisture it will be softer and more malleable. This is especially handy if your hair is prone to tangles, as it’s much easier to tease out those knots when there’s more slip to the hair.
The need to condition our hair becomes even greater post-shampoo. That cleansing step is designed to clean your hair and scalp by removing natural grease, daily grime and product residue, but it can also strip away your hair’s natural oils in the process. Conditioner will counteract this dryness by nourishing the hair and helping to replace that lost moisture.
Ultimately, as hair is dead when it leaves our scalps, it can’t regenerate or heal itself like our skin can. That’s why the ends of your hair will be drier and more damaged than the roots – and maybe even lighter in colour too. They’re the oldest and will have been exposed to the most styling, colouring and sunshine over the years. The only way to fully repair your hair is to wait for regrowth, and given that’s quite a time-consuming process, committing to a conditioner to care for the hair you already have is a much better plan.
Why are there different conditioners for different hair types?
Conditioners are normally sold either by hair type – like curly, coily, wavy or straight – or they’re sold by key concern, so things like dry, dehydrated, coloured, fine, flat or thinning.
Of all the hair types, straight hair tends to need the least amount of nourishment, as the cuticles are flat and neatly slotted together. Curly and afro hair is more porous, and more in need of moisture, as the cuticles aren’t as tightly packed, and these gaps allow water to escape. A conditioner for your hair type will take these differences into account to keep the hair in tip-top condition.
Straight hair tends to need the least amount of nourishment, as the cuticles are flat and neatly slotted together. Curly and afro hair is more porous, and more in need of moisture.
If you colour your hair, you can make it weaker, and bleaching in particular can dry out the hair and make it brittle. In this instance, you’d need to lean heavily on a nourishing conditioner to repair it. Equally, if your hair is naturally greasy or thinning, you won’t want a conditioner that weighs too heavily on your strands. Choosing a lighter formula will allow you to benefit from the hydration, without leaving your hair slicked to your scalp.
What is the difference between a hair mask and a conditioner?
There are three big differences between a hair mask and conditioner. First, the consistency — a hair mask will be thicker and creamier than a regular conditioner. This brings us to point two: hair masks are designed to be a deeper hair treatment for strands in need of some TLC. Unlike a conditioner which is formulated to be smoothed onto hair, combed through and washed away, hair masks stay on for a few minutes (or longer) to deliver extra nourishment to the hair. It makes sense then that the texture is heavier. Last, but not least, is the difference in ingredients. Hair masks are loaded with higher concentrations of oils and butters for softer, smoother and silkier hair.
Not sure whether you need both in your routine? Hair masks are designed to be used around once a week in place of your normal conditioner. But, if you have very dry or damaged hair, there’s no real reason why you can’t give your hair the premium treatment every time you shampoo.
What kinds of ingredients are in hair conditioners?
The first ingredient in almost all conditioners will be water, as this works as a base for the other ingredients to dissolve into. In addition to this, there will also be ingredients called humectants – like glycerin and hyaluronic acid — which attract and draw moisture into the hair strand. To hold this moisture where you want it, conditioners also contain emollients: ingredients like oils, butters and fats that form a seal over your strands. Conditioners for dry hair will typically have more emollients, while ones for healthy hair will have less.
Conditioners often contain silicones too, which brings us to…
Are silicones a bad thing to have in a conditioner?
There are two sides to the argument over whether silicones are bad for your hair. Silicones are synthetic substances included in hair conditioners as well as products like makeup primers. In a conditioner, they’re there to give the formula enough slip to make it easy to distribute through your hair, as well as forming a film around the strands to leave them feeling softer and looking shinier than before.
If your hair is dry, damaged or just generally unruly and difficult to tame, then you’ll probably love the frizz-busting, shine-inducing effects that silicones have. But, if your hair is very fine or already naturally very soft, then you might find that silicones are too heavy and weigh it down.
That’s where the main criticism of silicones comes from. There is also a school of thought that by creating a film on the hair these ingredients block other nourishing ingredients from getting in. If you’re worried about this, reset with a clarifying detox shampoo. How often you need to detox your hair will depend on your hair type and how often you wash it.
What is the best way to apply conditioner?
Conditioner almost always comes after shampoo, and ideally you’d squeeze some of the moisture out of your hair before moving on to this second step. You want your hair to be damp, but not soaking wet, so as not to dilute the ingredients. After you’ve applied your conditioner, focusing on the lengths and ends, you can comb it through. It’s best to comb at this point, as hair is especially fragile when it’s wet, and the conditioner will give your comb or hair brush extra slip so you can tease out tangles and knots without snagging.
If it’s a normal conditioner rather than a hair mask, you can rinse straight after. Use warm water to make sure you’ve removed all of the product from your hair, as leaving residue can irritate your scalp and leave your hair feeling coated and sticky. If your commitment to your hair gives you Wim Hof levels of bravery, finish with a cold rinse — the idea is that an icy blast will help to seal the hair cuticle for a shinier finish.
Do your shampoo and conditioner have to be from a matching set?
The key benefit of a matching shampoo and conditioner set is that it will have been formulated to work together, and probably designed to solve a particular problem too – like colour fade or damage. That being said, if you run out of one before the other or can’t buy both as one is out of stock, there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t mix and match. A bit like wearing odd socks, nothing bad is going to happen.
A bit like wearing odd socks, nothing bad is going to happen if you don’t use the same shampoo and conditioner.
If you have more than one hair concern, you might do this deliberately. Say, for example, you have blonde hair and you’ve just had a fresh set of highlights — you might want to use a purple shampoo to keep brassiness at bay, then follow with a conditioner for dry hair to rehydrate your strands post-bleach.
What happens if I skip conditioner?
Skipping conditioner just once is absolutely not the end of the world. You will probably see a difference in how your hair looks and feels though — it won’t be as smooth or shiny, and it might be rougher and coarser, creating more of a struggle for your hairbrush to pass through.
The healthier and more hydrated your hair is generally, the less keenly you’ll see these differences. If you’re in a pinch, smoothing on a conditioning serum or hair oil post-shampoo will help to buy you some time until you stock back up on conditioner.
If you were to skip conditioner after every wash, however, it would be a very different story — particularly if your hair is long. Without conditioner, hair is less protected from the elements and isn’t being treated with nourishing ingredients, which will leave it brittle and more prone to breakage. You might not see this negative impact immediately, but it will catch up with you and your hair over time.
What should I do if my conditioner is weighing my hair down?
Find that your hair is lank and lacklustre after using conditioner? You have a few options. Number one (the cheaper option) is to try using less conditioner. A 10p-sized blob is good to aim for with shoulder-length hair. You can also reconsider placement — if you have thinning hair, fine hair, or hair that is prone to greasiness, don’t take the conditioner too close to your roots. You might even find that just using conditioner on the very tips of your hair is enough.
Another option is to switch to a lighter conditioner formulated specifically for fine hair. Unless you have very dry hair, masks are potentially off the menu too — not only are they extra nourishing, but there’s a temptation to over-scoop from the tub, neither of which will help in your quest for fuller-looking hair.
What’s the difference between the different types of conditioners?
The category of conditioner isn’t limited to your traditional rinse-off. There are a number of different types, which can either be substituted for each other or used in tandem for seriously shiny hair.
Rinse-off: Your classic conditioner. Applied to the hair after shampooing, combed through, and rinsed out. No need to leave it on for any length of time.
Leave-in: Applied to the hair once you’ve stepped out of the shower, before styling or air drying. Best suited to curly and coily hair types, as well as coloured or damaged hair. Use in addition to, not instead of, your normal in-shower conditioner.
Hair mask: An upgraded conditioner containing a higher concentration of nourishing ingredients. Heavier in texture and designed to be used once a week — most hair masks need to be left on for around ten minutes for your hair to reap the full benefits.
Deep conditioner: Like a hair mask but used even less regularly, only when your hair really needs TLC. Tends to contain proteins to help repair the hair.
Lamellar conditioner: The newest, lightest kind of conditioner. Lamellar conditioners are rinse-out waters that coat the hair in lightweight layers of moisturising ingredients and amino acids for immediate glossiness.
