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The Shortlist

  • Best for WavesNot Your Mother's Curl Talk ConditionerShop
  • Best for Dry CurlsSheaMoisture Manuka Honey & Mafura Oil Intensive Hydration ConditionerShop
  • Best for CoilsPattern Beauty Heavy ConditionerShop
  • Best for Colored CurlsOlaplex No. 5 Bond Maintenance ConditionerShop
  • Best Deep ConditionerBriogeo Don't Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning MaskShop
  • Best with ProteinMielle Organics Babassu Oil & Mint Deep ConditionerShop
  • Best ValueAussie 3 Minute Miracle Moist Deep ConditionerShop

If you could improve only one product in a curl routine, it should be the conditioner. Shampoo is on your hair for a minute. Stylers can only work with the condition of the strand underneath them. Conditioner is what puts moisture back, smooths the cuticle and, above all, makes it possible to detangle without breaking anything.

What we looked for

  • Slip. The slick, seaweed-like feel that lets a comb pass through. For curly hair this matters as much as moisture.
  • The right weight. Rich enough to soften, light enough not to flatten your particular pattern.
  • Two kinds. A rinse-out conditioner for every wash, and a deep conditioner for once a week. Both are covered below.

Everyday conditioners

Deep conditioners

A deep conditioner is a more concentrated treatment, left on for ten to thirty minutes. Most curly hair benefits from one a week.

How to condition curly hair

  1. Apply to soaking wet hair, from the ears down. Keep it off the scalp unless your scalp is dry.
  2. Use plenty. Curly hair needs more conditioner than the bottle suggests.
  3. Detangle now, with fingers or a wide-tooth comb, working from the ends upward.
  4. Squeeze water in. Cup water into your hair and scrunch upward before rinsing.
  5. Rinse most of it out. Leaving a trace behind is fine.

For deep conditioners, cover your hair with a shower cap. The warmth of your scalp helps the treatment absorb, which matters most for low porosity hair.

What comes next

Conditioner is step three of seven. For where it sits in the full sequence, see The Wash Day Routine. For the conditioner you do not rinse out, see our leave-in edit.