The Best Leave In Conditioner For Your Hair Type

by Kathleen Loxton
Woman with brunette hair in a bun

Whilst ordinary shampoo and conditioner keeps hair looking healthy on a regular basis, leave in conditioner treatments are equally important if you want your locks to look salon worthy every day of the week.

What Is Leave In Conditioner?

Leave in conditioner – a richer and often more concentrated form of regular conditioner – is a great way of helping to restore moisture and vitality to hair the easy way. Leave in conditioner often contains extra ingredients such as oils, amino acids and proteins to aid specific hair care concerns, and comes in a wide variety of textures, forms and formulas. Whether it’s in the shower or out, leave on or rinse off, these conditioning treatments have been created to keep every hair type looking its best.

Best Leave In Conditioner for Dry Hair

Dry hair is what leave in conditioner was originally designed for. Often prone to frizz, breakage and general fragility, leave in treatments are important if your locks are prone to looking a little parched. Dry hair often requires treatments with a thicker texture, as well as oils to restore moisture and manageability. Here are the three of the best leave in conditioners for dry hair:

Redken All Soft Heavy Cream
Redken All Soft Heavy Cream (£23)
Living Proof No Frizz Leave-In Conditioner Dry Hair
Living Proof No Frizz Leave In Conditioner (£22)
Moroccan Oil Intense Conditioner
Moroccan Oil Intense Hydrating Mask (£24.75)

Redken All Soft Heavy Cream (£23)

Redken leave in conditioner is an intense treatment, designed to target extra dry or brittle hair. It contains a rich blend of ingredients such as argan oil, proteins and amino acids, to help rebuild and strengthen the hair follicles, and can be used as an ordinary conditioner or a conditioning mask. Redken’s Heavy Cream also includes a Keratin leave in conditioner, to help straighten locks and achieve that smooth, sleek finish.

Living Proof No Frizz Leave-In Conditioner (£22)

Time to put your science cap on! Living Proof’s leave in hair conditioner features the brand’s patented ‘Healthy Hair Molecule’ (OFPMA), an ingredient designed to create an invisible coating over your locks so that the hair holds on to its moisture. The super ingredient also helps to block dirt and oil build up, allowing your hair to feel conditioned and dirt free until its next wash.

Moroccan Oil Intense Hydrating Mask (£24.75)

It wouldn’t be a hair article if we didn’t feature argan oil leave in conditioner. This cult favourite is a must for those with dry hair, with its rich, creamy consistency. Enriched with argan oil to restore elasticity, glycerin for moisture, and linseed extract to restore essential fatty acids, this treatment is one of the heaviest masks in our line up and works wonders as the best leave in conditioner for black hair, as well as any locks prone to dryness. Because this is a richer mask, we suggest using it no more than once or twice a week for the driest of hair types.

Best Leave In Conditioner for Fine Hair

Fine hair can often be tricky when it comes to treatments. The hair can still become dry or dehydrated, but too much moisture can easily weigh down finely textured hair, leading to oiliness and a lack of volume. All is not lost, though…

Sachajuan Leave In Conditioner Spray Fine Hair
Sachajuan Leave In Conditioner Spray (£22)
Davines Dede Hair Mist Leave In Conditioner Spray
Davines Essential DEDE Hair Mist (£21.99)
Redken One United Conditioning Spray Fine Hair
Redken One United Multi-Benefit Treatment (£12.75)

Sachajuan Leave In Conditioner (£22)

This oil free leave in conditioner spray states it turns ‘straw into gold’, and it seems its bold claim does not disappoint. Sachajuan uses the best class grouping of marine algae and mineral extracts, to soften and strengthen the hair throughout the day. And, because it’s in the form of a spray, you can top up as often as you need without the fear of your hair falling flat (definitely a horror story you don’t want to experience).

Davines Essential DEDE Hair Mist (£21.99)

Like Sachajuan, DEDE Hair also comes in the form of a lightweight conditioner spray, perfect for fine hair. Using essential minerals, it works to strengthen weak or limp hair strands. Its powerful grape extract antioxidant helps to protect hair from the elements which can often add further damage and dryness, whilst Panthenol moisturises and adds shine, making it perfect as a leave on conditioner.

Redken One United Multi-Benefit Treatment (£12.75)

Fine hair can often become easily tangled and flyway, making Redken’s One United Multi-Benefit Treatment perfect for restoring control. Once again designed in the form of a lightweight conditioner spray, this multitasking formula promises to moisturise, detangle, nourish and smooth. It also works to restore damage from split ends and protect against further heat styling – making it a truly universal product when it comes to essential hair care.

Best Leave In Conditioner for Curly Hair

Curly hair is often thick, fierce and unruly. Prone to getting in a tangle, conditioning treatments are a must to keep this hair type under control and looking its best. Rather than searching for a leave in conditioner to straighten the hair, though, it is often best to look for products that promise to enhance and define curls, minimising frizz and allowing you to embrace your locks. Here are three of the best leave in conditioners for curly hair:

KMS Curl Up Leave In Conditioner Curly Hair
KMS California Curl Up Control Crème (£14.40)
Macadamia Essential Oil Leave In Conditioner Curly Hair
Macadamia Natural Oil Nourishing Leave In Cream (£15.15)
Bumble and Bumble Curl Custom Conditioner
Bumble and Bumble Curl Custom Conditioner (£25)

KMS Curl Up (£15.50)

This leave in conditioner comes in the form of a whipped mousse, containing glycerin and orange extract. Like all good conditioners for curly hair, it defines and separates the strands, adding bounce and smoothness to the curls without attempting to straighten them. Simply work through wet or towel dried hair and style as normal for best results!

Macadamia Natural Oil Nourishing Leave In Cream (£15.15)

This leave in hair conditioner contains macadamia and argan oil to instantly soften and hydrate hair. Its rich, creamy consistency works perfectly to detangle and tame, whilst UV protection helps to defend hair from the sun and protect against colour fading. It can be used as often as needed and is super simple – just apply a little to damp or dry hair as a top up treatment, or lather plenty on as an hydrating mask.

Bumble and Bumble Curl Custom Conditioner (£25)

Whilst technically not advertised as a leave in conditioner, this treatment works as a multi-use product and can be used an ordinary in-shower conditioner, as well as a treatment or mask. It’s 3-in-1 formula means it can be left in or rinsed out, and it’s enriched with Brazilian oils designed to create controlled, moisturised and beautifully defined curls. A versatile product that’s a must for all curly haired women!

Best Conditioner for Bleached Hair

Coloured and bleached hair should always be treated with the utmost care. Even if your hair is not prone to dryness, bleaching is likely to dry out the hair strands, leading to breakages, split ends, and even hair loss if the right conditioning is not applied. But not to fear – your bleached hair can still look happy and healthy with these leave in conditioner treatments:

Aussie Colour Leave in Conditioner
Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Colour Deep Treatment (£4.99)
Tigi Bed Head Dumb Blonde Reconstructor Deep Conditioner treatment
Tigi Bed Head Dumb Blonde Reconstructor (£9.75)
Kerastase Reflection Leave in Conditioner coloured hair
Kerastase Masque Chroma Riche (£23.20)

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Colour Mate (£4.99)

Aussie are famed for their wide range of hair heroes, and their consistently high reviews mean any treatment from their range is likely to help your hair. This particular Aussie leave in conditioner is perfect for keeping your colour fresh and helping to restore moisture. With wild peach extract to condition the hair, users of this conditioning treatment seem to be addicted to the product’s softening and taming powers, as well as its ability to enhance hair colour and vibrancy.

TIGI Bed Head Dumb Blonde Reconstructer (£9.75)

This product is a must for all bleached blondies. Salon brand TIGI use protein booster technology in their leave-in conditioner to specifically restore bleached hair, as well as milk extract and keratin to protect hair from environmental damage.

Kerastase Masque Chroma Riche (£23.20)

This product is more of a mask than a leave on product, but the results are worth the extra five minutes in the shower. As dyed hair can often lack radiance once it’s washed, this emollient light refracting hair treatment is an ideal product to restore hair’s vibrancy and promote shine. It’s formulated with Kerastase’s Aqua-Iconic System, and contains Vitamin E and UV filters to protect colour from fading in sunlight.

Homemade Leave In Conditioner

Of course, if you don’t want to go out and buy a leave in conditioner, you could always make one from some simple ingredients you probably have in your kitchen cupboard. Here are our suggestions, tips and recipes for how to make leave in conditioner:

DIY Shea Butter Hair Cream

Shea butter is one of nature’s best conditioning ingredients. This simple recipe demonstrates how you can make a shea butter leave in conditioner, perfect for use in or out of the shower depending on how dry your hair is.

DIY Leave In Conditioner (For Three Different Hair Types!)

These simple DIY leave in conditioner recipes are perfectly designed to suit either curly, long, or black hair types.

DIY Leave In Coconut Conditioner

Coconut oil leave in conditioner is continuously popular when it comes to homemade hair treatments. This recipe uses several oils – including coconut – to produce a lightweight spray which can be used throughout the day (including on fine hair) without the risk of weighing it down.

Leave In Conditioner: Happy Hair Guide

For the best hair conditioning treatment, look out for these key ingredients in your leave in conditioner:

  • Amino Acids – help to rebuild hair after breakage.
  • Keratin – helps to straighten hair and keep it looking sleek.
  • Silicone – adds moisture and thickens the hair.
  • Fatty Acids – essential for healthy hair.
  • Glycerin – great for adding moisture and protecting from environmental aggressors.
  • Protein – promotes healthy, faster hair growth.
  • Coconut Oil – helps to rebuild moisture and known to be the best hair detangler when it comes to natural ingredients.
  • Shea Butter – packed with natural moisture.

Along with your skin, your hair is constantly working against the elements. With some simple leave in conditioner treatments, however, you can make sure that your locks stay luscious all year long!

Read more great articles on women’s beauty here at alexie.co.

You may also like