Consider the stress you put on making time for relaxation, a weekly HIIT class, or ditching screens to curl up with a book. The same way breaking up your daily routine is a must, so is taking up a few extra minutes in the shower to nourish your natural curls, coils, and waves with a deep conditioner.
Weather, pollutants, dyes, even your washing and styling routine—regardless of the extracts in your sulfate-free shampoos and styling jellies—will, over time, strip your hair of its natural shine and stress it out. “Deep conditioning fixes dry, frizzy hair. It brings out the natural texture, and is often the best method for defining curls,” says celebrity hair stylist Marcia Hamilton. Not to mention, it hydrates the sh*t out of your locks.
To get the most out of your deep conditioner, Hamilton recommends heating it up pre-shower. “Heating any conditioner up to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) increases the amount and effectiveness of absorption of the conditioner,” she explains. Once you’re ready to apply it, start with your ends, the driest and most brittle part of the hair, to “[allow] them a little more time to soak up the nutrients.” From there, move upward to your roots and then gently comb through your strands to help distribute. If you have a hooded dryer like those at a salon, steaming your hair while the deep conditioner sets is always a good move, but if you don't, letting your locks drink up the treatment sans steam works just fine too.
The caveat: The same way you wouldn’t wait until you were completely burned out to go on a vacay, you shouldn’t wait until you notice your hair is tangled and brittle before starting your search for deep conditioner. “Hair that’s deep conditioned regularly is more manageable, softer, less prone to breakage and frizz, and is able to retain length,” says Hamilton. AKA, these treatments should be a permanent part of your haircare lineup.
To help you pick the top contenders from the many, MANY options out there, natural haircare experts weighed in on the ones that are basically a spa day for your strands. Ahead, check out a few of the deep conditioners that deserve a spot in your cart.
Experiencing breakage? This mask's for you, says Latoya Boothe, owner of Honey Salon in Harlem, NY. It's what she turns to when clients "need a more intense treatment." It's packing nourishing Argan oil, restorative proteins, silky smooth shea butter, and Caryocar Brasiliense fruit oil which dishes out all the vitamins and fats your strands will happily eat up.
After your weekly shampoo, reach for this intense hydrating mask, says Boothe. Once you start making it a regular part of your routine, you'll notice shinier, stronger, and smoother strands. Because of the beating hair often takes from the sun, heat styling tools, and the styles you put it in, hair is constantly having to adapt and this stuff, says Boothe, can keep up.
Monica Stevens is a big fan of this curl restoring treatment because the hairstylist created it—plus, it works. This treatment is key to balancing "moisture and proteins in the strands," she says. The quinoa protein, mongongo oil, and mango butter "restore moisture-protein balance and improve elasticity"—a biggie for allowing curls to retain their length, shape, and strength. Leaving this in for just seven-to-ten minutes will maintain curl pattern uniformity and tame frizz, she adds.
Other than its natural ingredients which promise to reverse damage, nourish, and protect from stress brought on by over-processing, Hamilton's a fan of this mask because there's "no build up or a greasy [feel] after rinsing." Pro tip: If your hair's in need of even more TLC, once you massage the mask into your clean hair, put on a shower cap to really let it soak in.
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Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Hair Mask
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Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Hair Mask
Briogeo's Don't Despair, Repair "has B-vitamins to fight the damage caused by coloring and heat styling," says Hamilton. What's more is that it's silicone free, dye-free, cruelty-free, and won't warp your color, relaxer, or keratin treatments.
This is the "best protein treatment" full-stop, says Hamilton. Quick lesson: hair is pretty much just keratin proteins, so when you style it, dye it, or expose it to really hot or really cold temps, or chlorine (to name a few hair-damaging elements), keratin treatments "and ceramides [the fat keratin loves] rebuild those broken bonds," Hamilton says. In other words, this mask is a reset button for your hair.
Okay, okay, pretty packaging doesn't make a deep conditioner affective, but it sure is a nice perk. Now, onto the important stuff. Hamilton says this one's for the girls with the chemically damaged hair. The babassu butter works wonders on tangles and knots, while the yellow clay repairs your texture's natural structure.
If you're a fan of extensions or weaves, consider this conditioner a game-changer, says Hamilton. It's her "fave for detangling hair" once the extra pieces have been taken out.
Once you squeeze a bit of this rec from Hamilton (made by her client Tracee Ellis Ross) on your hand, you'll notice how rich and luxurious it feels. Then, once you start applying it to your hair, you'll see that a little goes a long way. And so you never have to worry whether the product knows what your hair needs, Pattern said it's for coilies right there on the bottle (the brand makes them for all types of hair).
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Aunt Jackie's In Control Anti-Poof Moisturizing & Softening Conditioner
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Aunt Jackie's In Control Anti-Poof Moisturizing & Softening Conditioner
"This conditioner is nourishing for the hair strands and helps frizzy hair conform to its natural texture," says Felicia Leatherwood, celebrity stylist and natural hair specialist. What she loves most about it is its ability to essentially give CPR to all texture types from curls, to coils, to waves—this treatment gives life back to dry and brittle hair.
You've been there. You're stunned, watching clumps of your hair circle the shower drain. Never again. This protein-rich mask "helps hair stop shedding and hydrates the hair, bringing out its natural shine," Leatherwood says.
"This conditioner is absolutely amazing," says Leatherwood, and the praises kept on coming. "It softens the hair, restores the life in the hair, makes the hair easy to detangle, and provides the hair with proper keratin to thrive, shine, and not look dull." What makes this potion so magical are the butters it's loaded with. They coat and seal in moisture, stimulate growth, and add volume and body.
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SheaMoisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen & Restore Treatment Masque
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SheaMoisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen & Restore Treatment Masque
The standout ingredient in this TikTok favorite is castor oil, a thicker oil known for stimulating hair growth. The mask itself is formulated with clean ingredients and can be used on color-treated or chemically processed hair to repair damage and reduce breakage.
As the name suggests, this thick formula was specifically designed with tighter curl patterns in mind. It has a buttery texture made with grapeseed oil to soften and hydrate the hair while slipping through your strands with ease.
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DevaCurl Heaven in Hair Moisturizing Deep Conditioner
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DevaCurl Heaven in Hair Moisturizing Deep Conditioner
Aryelle Siclait is the editor at Women's Health where she writes and edits articles about relationships, sexual health, pop culture, and fashion for verticals across WomensHealthMag.com and the print magazine. She's a Boston College graduate and lives in New York.
Danielle is the beauty editor at Women's Health. Her apartment is currently littered with beauty products, but when she's not testing them all out, you can find her watching facial ASMR videos on YouTube, binge-watching The Golden Girls on Hulu, and reading rom-coms.