Hair
Best Shampoo
Oribe Hair Alchemy Collection
Resilience Shampoo
Matrix Unbreak My Blonde Conditioner
Best Conditioner
Chia seeds, fermented bamboo leaf, plant-based protein . . . no, we're not reading the ingredients of this week's trending smoothie at Erewhon. We're talking about the reparative and strengthening secrets behind the Oribe Hair Alchemy Collection Resilience Shampoo ($49). Featuring the brand's iconic scent (of course), the formula's lather is rich and fluffy, and our hair was left feeling softer, smoother, and stronger from the first wash.
Christophe Robin Pre-Shampoo Hair Purifying Mud Mask
Best Preshampoo
Treatment
Fact: healthy hair grows from a healthy scalp, and if you've ever looked at your scalp using one of those super-zoom cameras (we don't recommend), then you know that it resembles the surface of Mars thanks to flakes, product buildup, and sebum. Enter the Christophe Robin Pre-Shampoo Hair Purifying Mud Mask ($49), a weekly preshampoo scalp treatment with thermal mud and deep-sea minerals to rebalance this often-overlooked skin.
The magic ingredient behind
the Matrix Unbreak My Blonde Conditioner ($22): citric acid. Yep, the same stuff that gives your favorite sour candies their pucker power also helps reinforce the hair's structural bonds
that become weakened by dyes, bleach,
and chemical processes. For blondes, it
can also help brighten up your color.
For everyone else, it'll leave you with stronger, softer, more hydrated hair
that isn't weighed down.
Playa Super Seed Co-Wash
Best Co-Wash
Calling everyone with 3A to 4C curls: the Playa Super Seed Co-Wash ($28) will be your new favorite for wash days. The cleansing conditioner gently lathers, while the chia, flax, and hemp seeds add that much-needed moisture back to your coils. Oh, and it smells just like a fancy high-end salon (you know the kind).
Technically, the Brazilian Blowout
Anti-Frizz Shampoo/Conditioner ($49) were created to extend the life of
your in-salon keratin treatment, but
even our virgin hair testers noticed smoother results after just one wash. The duo work by infusing your ends with vital nutrients and protein, locking
in that moisture while blocking out
frizz-causing humidity. All you'll
get is glassy hair.
Brazilian Blowout Anti-Frizz Shampoo/Conditioner
Best Keratin Shampoo & Conditioner
Add this The Inkey List Glycolic Acid Exfoliating Scalp Scrub ($13) to your biweekly exfoliating routine, only this one's for your scalp. Flakes or not, that skin also comes in contact with a lot of product, dirt, and oil, and this formula has exfoliants, both chemical (glycolic acid) and physical (castor beads), to give it a deep clean. We also love how easy it is to apply, thanks to the long, tapered applicator and thin, liquidy texture.
The Inkey List Glycolic Acid
Exfoliating Scalp Scrub
Best Scalp Product
Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! MegaStrength Rice Water Protein Treatment
Best Hair Mask
The Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! MegaStrength Rice Water Protein Treatment ($42) is the easiest way to
get in on the trend of using rice water for hair. Rather than boiling your own basmati, the brand's proprietary rice-protein complex gives you the same strengthening effect to protect against future damage. You can use it for a
few minutes in the shower, but we also
love it as an overnight hair treatment.
Don't worry, its lightweight consistency
means it won't get all over your
pillow while you sleep.
#HairTok is right: this viral K18
Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask ($75) is worth the hype. Apply it on freshly shampooed hair, and watch the damage from color, bleach, chemical treatments, heat styling, and just general wear and tear (what's up, Hailey Bieber sleek buns) instantly transform to soft, stronger hair. The formula's proprietary peptide blend repairs your hair's
keratin chains that are broken —
in just four minutes.
K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask
Best Leave-In Treatment
The Klorane Volumizing Dry Shampoo With Flax ($20) does exactly what it's meant to: absorbs excess oil better than the best of them and imparts fluffy, just-showered volume that actually lasts. It leaves behind zero annoying grit or texture, but you will have to blend out the white powder (to which we say: worth it for the clean-looking hair).
Klorane Volumizing Dry
Shampoo With Flax
Best Dry Shampoo
Fekkai Shea Butter Intense Oil
Best Hair Oil
The scent of this Fekkai Shea
Butter Intense Oil ($28) alone could rival our favorite rich, warm perfumes, but the lightweight formula also smooths frizz, adds shine, and battles tangles. Its blend of sustainably sourced shea butter and monoi oil also works
to deeply hydrate the hair, making it perfect as an overnight intensive treatment or quick touch-me-up.
Supermodel blowouts of '90s fame
are back, and the IGK Big Time Volume and Thickening Mousse ($31) will help get you that look but better. Work a small amount through your damp roots, then blow-dry (this stuff
is heat-activated, so it's not for air-dry days), and prepare to be amazed at the weightless lift it leaves behind. The best part? Our hair held the volume until our next wash day . . . many days later.
IGK Big Time Volume and
Thickening Mousse
Best Mousse
The R+Co Velvet Curtain Cotton
Touch Texture Balm ($34) will give you that coveted second-day matte texture from the jump. It's really versatile — it works on damp or dry hair and can be air-dried or heat-styled — and leaves behind soft, touchable hold and the yummiest woody scent. What it won't give you is any grit or crunch. Bless.
R+Co Velvet Curtain Cotton
Touch Texture Balm
Best Texturizer
Virtue Flourish Density Booster
Best Volumizer
Like a "Top Chef" quickfire
challenge, the Virtue Flourish Density Booster ($48) serves you volume two ways. First, the lightweight, liquidy
spray gives your roots a noticeable, noncrunchy boost to make your hair look instantly fuller. Then, the blend of peptides, micro algae, and the brand's proprietary protein complex works to stimulate new hair growth with continued use over time.
Defined edges? That's a can-do for the SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus + Flaxseed Defining Styling Gel ($10), which offers that long-lasting hold and shine you need for sleek styles without hardening, flaking, or drying your hair oil. It's all thanks to the alcohol-free base that's infused with hydrating silk protein, neem oil, and flaxseed oil.
SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus + Flaxseed Defining Styling Gel
Best Edge Control
Formulated to be layered, you can
pack on the Pattern Beauty Styling Custard ($25) until you get your perfectly hydrated, shiny, and defined curls, coils, and tight textures — all without dryness or crunch. Plus, we love that it's safe for kids over 6, making it a household staple for the whole family.
Pattern Beauty Styling Custard
Best Curl Cream
Dae Hair Vegan Detangle + Style Brush
Best Hairbrush
It's probably time to replace your battered, old-school paddle brush with something a bit more gentle on your hair. Our pick: the Dae Hair Vegan Detangle + Style Brush ($22), and not just because it's the most aesthetic option. The blend of vegan boar-like bristles with long, flexible bristles means this brush works on both damp or dry hair to detangle and smooth. Honestly, we were shocked by how well this got through our hair without tugging or breakage, and it's become our go-to
for achieving sleek ponies and buns.
The biggest upgrade to your
supply-store bonnet is here with the
You Go Natural Pleated Sleep Turban ($48). Lined with 100 percent mulberry silk, this turban helps retain moisture, reduce frizz, and protect your style or natural hair overnight. Plus, because
it's adjustable, it fits all textures and lengths, and you'll get no annoying slippage while you snooze.
You Go Natural Pleated Sleep Turban
Best Hair Wrap
You can't open a social media
app without seeing a do-it-all blow-dry tool, but this T3 AireBrush Duo ($180) goes a step beyond the pack. It comes with two brush heads (a paddle brush for smoother styles; a round brush
head for bouncier blowouts) and offers five heat and three speed settings, so you can adjust it based on your hair
type and texture. It makes drying our hair a breeze, and we still haven't noticed any dryness or breakage
even after dozens of uses.
T3 AireBrush Duo
Best Blow-Dry Brush
Cords are so 2021. The
Ghd Unplugged Cordless Styler
($299) is just as powerful as its corded counterparts but smaller in size, which makes it perfect for travel (even though we also use it for quick touch-ups and style changes when we're home). Like all
Ghd tools, it is set at the perfect, safe-for-all-hair-types temp of 365 degrees and has ceramic-coated plates that impart tons of shine and glide through hair without catching.
Ghd Unplugged Cordless Styler
Best Flat Iron
Yes, it's a splurge for shampoo,
but the Philip B Russian Amber Imperial Shampoo ($45) is worth the dough if you can swing it. It's been called the Fountain of Youth for hair, and as hyperbolic as that sounds, we have to agree. The thick, honey-like texture is unlike anything else we've tried, but we love how much it lathers and how long it lasts (just a dollop is enough for your entire head).
Philip B Russian Amber Imperial Shampoo
Best Splurge-Worthy Product