Before you take any of my beauty recommendations (as a beauty journalist of over eight years, I have bucket loads), there’s something you ought to know about me. For starters, I’m really lazy when it comes to beauty. Whether I’m doing my skincare routine, applying my makeup or styling my hair, I want the whole ordeal to take minimal time and effort. If any product takes longer than I consider necessary to do what it promises, I’m out.
And my inherent beauty laziness becomes a bit of an issue when it comes to caring for my long hair. There is, I have discovered, nothing low-maintenance about having long hair. It’s take a whole lot of time and energy to wash, style, and frankly, do anything with. But sadly, the truth is, I’m not prepared to part with my lengths just as much as I’m not prepared to put any real time into caring for them—and so I find myself in a catch-22.
But actually, I sort of have it easy in comparison to others. You see, my hair is straight. My friends that have curls and coils are always reminding me that wash day could be a whole lot worse. Because really, straight hair is a whole lot quicker to wash and style that curly hair is.
But I think there’s a product that helps us all out. It helps replenish curly styles with moisture for easier styling while also helping to reduce wash time for all—and it’s been staring us in the face for some time. Yep, I’m talking about leave-in conditioners.
While my curly-haired friends have used leave-in conditioners for almost their whole lives to help nourish and hydrate their curls, it has never really occurred to me that replacing my usual conditioner with a leave-in treatment could save me a whole lot of shower time. So, for the past six months or so I have more or less exclusively used leave-in conditioners as my post-shampoo treatment. And I’ve had more compliments on my hair than ever before (despite the fact I haven’t had it cut since August). Not only does it save time in the shower, using a leave-in conditioner can also help increase manageability, boost shine, and help restore moisture to prevent breakage—oh, and it saves on water. Here are the 12 best leave-in-conditioners for a lower maintenance hair routine.
This is the product that started my leave-in conditioner journey. It’s a big bottle (normal conditioner sized) and you need hardly any product to provide ample nourishment, so it lasts ages. With nourishing rice cream and super-softening oat milk, it leaves my long, bleach-damaged hair shiny, glossy and healthy-looking.
Most leave-in conditioners come in a spray bottle, like this one, to makes things less messy and easier to do. Not only does this product look great on the shelf, it also means serious business. Infused with honey to hold hydration, strengthen, soften, and fend off further damage, it’s an absolute game-changer.
If you struggle to get a comb or brush through your hair after washing, this product will sort you out. Many of my curly-haired friends absolutely adore this leave-in conditioner for its intense hydrating properties.
Ideal for those that battle breakage and snapping, this product utilises a hydrolysed elastin to strengthen hair by delivering more ‘stretch’ to prevent breaking. If you’re familiar with Philip Kingsley’s iconic Elasticizer, just consider this your everyday fix.
I’ve never met a JVN product I haven’t liked, and this leave-in conditioner is up there with the best. I barely go anywhere without a bottle of this with me. It can be used on wet hair to detangle and strengthen or, for when hair needs a hydration boost, you can mist it onto dry hair to smooth things out and increase shine.
Some leave-in conditioners can result in hair feeling undesirably coated, but this product isn’t one of those. It’s hardworking for sure, but with nourishing macadamia oil and hydrolyzed rhodophycea extract, it does all of that said hard work without overloading strands with weighty moisturisers.
Curly girls, this one’s for you. I have countless curly-haired friends that simply adore this product. Formulated with avocado oil, kiwi, sunflower oil, chia seeds, spinach and cocoa seed butter, it’s next-level moisturising to deliver long-lasting nourishment to curls. Just spray over damp hair after washing and let this super-conditioning spritz do its thing.
This stuff is one of my absolute favourite leave-in conditioners out there. The formula is suitably conditioning, detangling, smoothing, and strengthening (and I can definitely see it working for all textures). But the thing that really sets this above the rest is the mouth-watering smell. With a scent reminiscent of salted caramel, tropical fruit, and beaming sun rays, your hair will smell like paradise all day long.
This product has replaced conditioner in my ‘overnight’ bag. Now, whenever I go away, instead of lugging a bulky conditioner around with me in a wash bag, I just pack a travel-size bottle of this—and my hair has never looks better for it. It delivers heat protection (which is ideal when I’m having to use hotel-room hairdryers that feel like they’re about to combust any second), and makes hair feel stronger, smoother, glossier, and well nourished. And if you’ve ever had the joy of smelling the clean, skin-like scent of Ouai haircare, you’ll know what a huge selling point it is for this leave-in spray.
Sitting somewhere between a cream and a serum, this leave-in conditioner can be worked through ends to strengthen, nourishing and detangle dry strands. With coconut, avocado, rice protein, and moringa seed oil, it leaves hair feeling silky-smooth while also fortifying strands to protect against breakage and brittleness.
Not only does this spray look exceptional on the shelf, it also smells divine (like zesty, lemony tea) and leaves hair feeling (and looking) unbelievable good—it’s a triple threat. Formulated with Virtue’s iconic Alpha Keratin 60ku™ complex, it strengthens and conditions strands expertly. A top tip? Keep this mist on hand for refreshing second- and third-day curls—it will help restore definition and bounce.
Applied just like aforementioned Garnier Ultimate Blends, you work this cream through mid-lengths and ends just like you would a normal conditioner, you just don’t rinse. With cherry blossom extract, sweet almond oil and moringa oil, this super-softening formula does it all—strengthens, softens, detangles, smooths, detangles, protects against heat, and leaves hair smelling deliciously good.
