Best-Rated Conditioners

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Dove shines as best-rated conditioner

Wash, rinse and repeat! Let’s get back to the basics – none of that argan oil, hair masks and volume sprays – conditioners are one of the traditional ways to help soften, volumise, nourish and repair your beautiful hair. We all want that healthy hair glow, but we know the haircare aisle can get a little confusing.

To help you navigate your way to silky and smooth locks, we’ve asked more than 1,500 Aussies for their feedback on the hair conditioner(s) they purchased and used in the last six months. Respondents rated brands on effectiveness, consistency, scent, packaging design, value for money, and overall satisfaction. Those that received at least 30 responses are compared in our ratings.

Dove was rated the best brand for hair conditioners after achieving a straight five-star win across all categories!

Best Hair Conditioner Brands

Here are the best hair conditioner brands in Australia, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s latest review:

1. Dove
2. L’Oréal
3. Schwarzkopf
4. Natures Organics
5. TRESemmé
6. Pantene
7. Sunsilk
8. Head & Shoulders
9. Garnier
10. Palmolive
11. Herbal Essences
12. Monday
13. Sukin

Dove topped our ratings with five-star reviews in all categories, including for effectiveness, consistency, scent, packaging design, value for money and overall satisfaction. Natures Organics was the only other brand to receive full marks in any category, namely for value for money. All in all, most brands finished on a solid four-star rating for overall satisfaction, except for Sukin which ended on three stars overall.

What to consider when buying hair conditioner

Haircare can be a little tricky, especially when everyone’s haircare routine demands a different approach or solution. For example, a fifth of our survey respondents (21%) said they suffer from an itchy scalp, while 12% said they have problems with split ends.

So, what should you look for? Our research found the following factors to be the most important when choosing what to buy, according to the Aussie consumers we surveyed:

• Effectiveness: 39%
• Consistency: 22%
• Scent: 14%
• Value for money: 14%
• Packaging design: 10%

In addition, our survey revealed the following insights:

Effectiveness

While shampoo washes away the dirt and grime, conditioner is designed to moisturise your hair and leave it feeling soft and silky, which makes its effectiveness a big factor in which brand you end up using in the shower. If our ratings are of any indication, there is plenty of choice in the market, making it easy to switch if one brand doesn’t cut it.

• Dove was the only brand to earn five stars for effectiveness, while most other haircare brands landed on four stars. Monday and Sukin got three stars.

Consistency

Hair conditioner formulation and consistency are both important to consider, to ensure you get the right kind of hair product for your individual needs. A quarter of our survey respondents (25%) said they use a specific type of conditioner for their hair type

• Dove was also the only brand to score five stars for consistency, with most other brands getting four stars. Monday and Sukin got three stars.

Value for money

Getting good value for money is important, particularly if you’re washing your hair multiple times a week. Although, if you’re in the 25% of people who use a specific type of conditioner for your hair type, or buy products suited for coloured hair (14%), or with certain ingredients (13%) ─ you’ll know that these luxuries might come at an extra cost. Only one in ten people (10%) said they buy the cheapest brand of conditioner. That isn’t to say that cheap brands are a flop, but it’s something you might like to keep in mind.

• Dove and Natures Organics were both rated five stars for value for money, while most other brands received four stars. Sukin got three stars.

Scent

Don’t you just love the smell of fresh mint or green tea and cucumber? Perhaps coconut and lime? If not, there’s still a wide range of other scents and fragrances to tickle your nose buds and make your hair wash experience that much better. While scent doesn’t affect the end result of your hair, it might help keep you smelling fresh throughout the day.

• Dove finished in the lead once again on five stars for scent. Many of the brands compared scored a four-star review. The only exceptions were Head & Shoulders, Monday and Sukin which got three stars.

Packaging design

Last but not least – packaging design. While it might not be the most important factor, it can make you buy one brand over another. Maybe it’s in your favourite colour or it has an easy to hold and pour bottle design. This might end up making it your go-to, which might partly explain why 37% of those we surveyed buy the same brand of conditioner. Alternatively, over a tenth (15%) try to buy ethical conditioner brands. In these cases, the company’s values around using cruelty-free or natural ingredients, for example, typically extend to what’s both in and outside the bottle.

• Dove also took the lead on packaging design, with the majority of the remaining brands rating four stars. Head & Shoulders and Sukin got three stars.

Which conditioner should I buy?

The conditioner you buy will ultimately come down to your hair type and budget. Beautiful hair is not always easy to achieve, but perhaps switching brands might help, as while one product might work wonders for a particular hair type it might not do the same job for someone else. A conditioner that leaves your hair feeling soft is its primary goal, so if you’re not happy with what you’re using, there’s plenty of options out there if our ratings are of any indication. We hope you’ve found this guide helpful and will finally see the end of bad hair days!

About the author of this page

This report was written by Canstar Blue’s Home & Lifestyle Content Lead, Megan Birot. She’s an expert on household appliances, health & beauty products, as well as all things grocery and shopping. When she’s not writing up our research-based ratings reports, Megan spends her time helping consumers make better purchase decisions, whether it’s at the supermarket, other retailers, or online, highlighting the best deals and flagging anything you need to be aware of.

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Picture credits: B-D-S Piotr Marcinski/Shutterstock.com, Iakov Filimonov/Shutterstock.com, monticello/Shutterstock.com.