11 Best Conditioners For Color Treated Hair

1. Best For Shine: Biolage Colorlast Conditioner

The low pH formula of the Biolage Colorlast Conditioner increases the life of your hair color and leaves your tresses detangled and soft. This moisturizing conditioner is powered by orchid extracts that prevent hair color from fading and preserve color vibrancy for up to nine weeks. It improves the depth and tone of the color while enhancing shine and gloss. This gentle conditioner smooths your hair and protects it from the harmful effects of UV rays and heat styling. It is infused with a blend of 27 fragrant notes to leave the hair with a timeless scent. Key Ingredients: Orchid Pros

Pleasant fragrance Travel-friendly Gentle Vegan Paraben-free

 Cons None

2. Best Sulfate-Free Formula: Pureology Hydrate Conditioner

The luxurious Hydrate Conditioner from Pureology is fortified with botanical extracts like jojoba, sage, and green tea that prevent breakage and dryness while promoting the growth of stronger and healthier hair. The healing and hydrating ingredients leave the hair soft and smooth. The blend of mint, menthol, and greens gives a fresh, tingly feel to your scalp. The Antifade Formula, enriched with sunflower seed, vitamin E, and UV filters, helps maintain color vibrancy and ensures a lasting shine. Key Ingredients: Soybean oil, Sunflower seed oil, Jojoba butter, Rosemary leaf, and Soy protein Pros

Refreshing fragrance Paraben-free Sulfate-free Mineral oil-free Cruelty-free Vegan

Cons

May irritate the scalp

3. Best For UV Protection: L’Oreal Paris Elvive Color Vibrancy Protecting Conditioner

The L’Oreal Paris Elvive Color Vibrancy Protecting Conditioner is infused with linseed elixir and antioxidants to offer UV protection and prevent color fading due to sun damage. It seals in color for up to 60 days while strengthening the hair strands to make them less prone to breakage. This creamy conditioner also fortifies the hair follicles to encourage growth and volume. The formula restores shine to dull, lifeless hair while protecting it from environmental damage, pollution, and smoke. Key Ingredients: Linseed oil and Niacinamide Pros

Has UV filters Pleasant scent Gentle on the hair and scalp

Cons

Contains sulfates Weighs the hair down

4. Best pH-Balanced Formula: Redken Color Extend Conditioner

The Color Extend Conditioner from Redken is enriched with ceramides to strengthen the hair by smoothing the cuticles and promoting elasticity and moisture retention. The cranberry oil in the formula conditions and nourishes the strands. The innovative Color Care Complex protects the hair from damage due to sun rays, heat styling tools, and other environmental aggressors. This lightweight conditioner forms a protective coating on the hair to tame frizz and flyaways and make it soft and manageable. Key Ingredients: Cranberry seed oil and Ceramides Pros

UV protection Lightweight Smells good pH-balanced

Cons None

5. Best Hair Thickening Formula: Nioxin Scalp Therapy Conditioner

The lightweight Nioxin Scalp Therapy Conditioner is formulated to fight hair fall and build hair resilience. It helps maintain the moisture balance while amplifying the texture and strengthening the strands. The formula is fortified with the BioAmp technology that volumizes and thickens the hair. It is enriched with peppermint oil that refreshes the scalp and delivers a healthy shine to the hair. This hydrating conditioner nourishes the hair from root to tip, reduces hair breakage, and combats progressive thinning. It is a part of the three-step Nioxin regime for colored hair. Key Ingredients: Peppermint oil, White tea extract, Citric acid, and Polysorbate 60 Pros

Lightweight Suitable for fine hair Smells good Dermatologically tested Paraben-free Sulfate-free Colorant-free

Cons None

6. Best Color-Safe Formula: Nexxus Color Assure Conditioner

The ProteinFusion blend of elastin protein and quinoa in the Nexxus Color Assure Conditioner creates a protective layer on the hair strands to seal in essential proteins and strengthen the fibers. This deep conditioner maintains color vibrancy for up to eight weeks or 40 washes while adding a brilliant shine to the hair. It softens, smooths, and detangles the strands to make the hair manageable and ready for styling. This restorative conditioner moisturizes the hair and replenishes essential nutrients lost during the coloring process. Key Ingredients: Quinoa, Hydrolyzed elastin, Sweet almond oil, and Coconut oil Pros

Pleasant fragrance Gentle A little goes a long way

Cons

Contains DMDM hydantoin Leaves the hair slightly greasy

7. Best Lightweight Conditioner: Matrix Total Results Keep Me Vivid Conditioner

The easy-to-apply Matrix Total Results Keep Me Vivid Conditioner covers each hair strand with an invisible protective layer without weighing it down. It deeply nourishes the hair while sealing in color. This glazing conditioner gently conditions the hair and leaves it soft and manageable while taming frizz and flyaways. The acidity in the formula smooths the outside layer of the cuticles to enhance shine and color vibrancy. It is infused with fragrant notes of vanilla, cotton candy, and coconut. This lightweight conditioner can be used daily to extend hair color up to 21 washes. Key Ingredients: Pearl infusion Pros

Lightweight Smells good Works great for thick, curly hair

Cons None

8. Best For Daily Use: Paul Mitchell Color Protect Conditioner

The detangling and soothing Color Protect Conditioner from Paul Mitchell keeps the hair soft and adds shine and color vibrancy. It is fortified with sunflower extract to protect the hair from UV damage and prevent the color from fading. The white ginger extract in this formula promotes healthy hair growth by stimulating the follicles. This conditioner also contains jojoba leaf and aloe leaf extracts to replenish moisture levels and hydrolyzed wheat protein to strengthen and thicken the strands. It is infused with orange, bergamot, and apple to impart a refreshing, energetic fragrance to the hair.  Key Ingredients: Sunflower extract, Jojoba, and Aloe vera Pros

UV protection Lightweight Smells amazing Vegan Paraben-free

Cons None

9. Best Anti-Fade Formula: L’ANZA Healing ColorCare Color Preserving Conditioner

The signature Flower Shield Complex of the L’ANZA Healing ColorCare Color Preserving Conditioner uses extracts from fade-defying flowers to deliver optimal color retention. It contains echinacea flower extract that provides flavonoids to protect color vibrancy while keeping the hair silky soft and smooth. The calendula and yellow rose extracts enhance warm tones like yellow, green, reds, and oranges, while cornflour works for cool tones like blue, purple, and violet. The natural ingredients in this lightweight conditioner restore vital nutrients to the hair, fight environmental damage, and impart shine and gloss to your tresses. Key Ingredients: Calendula, Yellow rose extract, Echinacea flower extract, and Cornflour Pros

Natural ingredients Lightweight Sulfate-free Paraben-free Sodium chloride-free

Cons

Leaves a residue

10. Best Vegan Formula: Love Beauty & Planet Murumuru Butter & Rose Blooming Color Conditioner

Key Ingredients: Murumuru butter and Bulgarian rose petals Pros

Plant-based Paraben-free Silicone-free Vegan Cruelty-free Dye-free Silicone-free Phthalate-free

Cons None

11. Best Fragrant Conditioner: Herbal Essences Color Me Happy Conditioner

The pH-balanced Color Me Happy Conditioner from Herbal Essences is formulated to protect color-treated hair and replenish moisture levels to enhance shine and softness. It helps maintain the color radiance and vibrancy, extends the life of the color, and makes the hair soft and shiny. This conditioner is infused with a luxurious Moroccan rose fragrance to keep the hair refreshed and energized. The creamy blend detangles the hair to leave it silky soft and manageable. Key Ingredients: Rose flower extract, Corn silk extract, and Glutamic acid Pros

Nice fragrance pH-balanced Paraben-free Mineral oil-free Dermatologist-tested Cruelty-free

Cons

Thick consistency

Coloring your hair adds an instant vibrancy to your appearance. The only downfall is that it can strip your hair off its natural moisture and ruin the texture of the strands. The best way to replenish your hair with the necessary moisture and keep your hair color intact and vibrant, is a quality conditioner. There are many color-safe conditioners in the market, and to help you choose the right formula, we have curated a list of a few features to consider before choosing a conditioner for your color-treated hair.

How To Choose The Best Conditioners For Color-Treated Hair

UV and Hard Water Protection

Constant exposure to sunlight may fade out the hair color and make your hair dull and lifeless. It is best to choose a conditioner that is formulated with UV protection. Same way, hard water strips off the hair color, causes buildup, and makes hair unmanageable. Pick a conditioner that reverses the effect of hair damage from hard water and sunlight.

Moisturization

Most often coloring strips off the moisture from your hair and leaves your hair frizzy, dry, and coarse. In the long run, you might even experience split ends, hair fall, hair thinning, breakage, and a lot of other side effects.Therefore, it is essential to choose a conditioner that provides intense moisturization to the scalp and strands, resulting in healthy and shiny hair.

Ingredients To Avoid

Consider Your Hair Type

For an oily scalp, avoid a conditioner loaded with essential oil as it makes the hair heavy, limp, and greasy. For thin or fine hair, avoid heavy conditioners that weigh your hair down and make it look wet, with no volume.

Why Trust StyleCraze?

The author of this article, Shiboli Chakraborti, is a hair care enthusiast who loves reviewing hair care products. She has curated this list of the best conditioners for color-treated hair after carefully researching and reading online reviews on several e-commerce websites. These conditioners are fragrance-free and help keep your hair color intact. They also contain UV filters and are gentle on the hair and scalp. Do you need a special conditioner for color-treated hair? Yes, if you want your hair color to last longer, use conditioners suitable for color-treated hair. Should you deep condition hair after coloring? Yes, to make your scalp and hair hydrated and moisturized, deep condition them after treating them with dyes. How often should you condition color-treated hair? Pamper your color-treated hair with a nourishing conditioner once a week. What should you not use on colored hair? Do not use hair care products that contain toxic and harmful chemicals like parabens, sulfates, sodium, and alcohol on colored hair. Can I use a color-treated conditioner for regular hair? Yes, it’s completely safe to use a specialized conditioner on regular hair.

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