conditioner

Deep conditioner is a must have to combat dried-out hair in Winter, and getting silky-smooth strands can be as easy as taking a trip to the kitchen. Mask mixologist Samira Asemanfar of The Broot (an all-natural hair mask bar in Santa Monica, CA) breaks down the essential ingredients for every hair type. Once you stir these hair concoctions, you'll truly believe in the term: hair food. However, if you don't have the time to whip something up, you can always add a drop of coconut oil to the conditioner you already have. Get Asemanfar's favorite recipes to remedy cold-weather hair woes when you read more.

'Tis the season for dry hair, but Frédéric Fekkai isn't going to let straggly strands happen to you. On Thursday Oct. 27, just head to a Saks Fifth Avenue store for the "Calling All Conditioners" event, where you can trade your regular full-sized conditioner for a full-sized Fekkai conditioner (a $25 value).

Choose between Brilliant Glossing, Full Blown Volume, or Salon Technician Color-Care formulas. Even better, a Fekkai representative will be on hand to ensure you get the right one for your hair type. So save the date now, and your hair will thank you later.

Is there anything more annoyingly earnest than a newly made teenage vegetarian? Ask me; I used to be one. "Someday, people will choose to eat less meat and buy vegan products," my self-righteous teenage self declared to anyone who would listen. And while I'm less prone to herbivorous proselytizing these days, there's no denying that vegan beauty products have finally gone mainstream. Case in point: L'Oréal EverSleek Intense Smoothing Conditioner ($6.99) is completely vegan, it isn't tested on animals, and it's available in drugstores everywhere. In addition, it's free of sulfates, parabens, and silicones — three ingredients that some women don't want on their hair. Best of all, though, this stuff leaves hair smooth and shiny without weighing it down. Not much more to say about it than that. If you're looking for a smoothing conditioner for less than $10, go for this one and go vegan at the same time.

If you don't want to spend any money right now, then stay away from Carol's Daughter Monoi hair care ($18–$29). Because here's the thing: after you smell the shampoo, conditioner, or mask, you will pretty much be powerless against its sway. It smells that good, like a perfect tropical blend of suntan lotion and a salty breeze. (This makes sense, considering its star ingredient is Tahitian monoi oil, a blend of coconut oil and tiare flower.)

The products promise to dramatically reduce breakage, but I haven't been using the collection long enough to tell whether that's the case. However, the formulas are incredibly moisturizing — seriously, you could easily confuse the rich shampoo for conditioner — and they've left my hair smooth and shiny without weighing it down. Still, considering how amazing this stuff smells, it could turn my hair green with purple polka dots and I'd still rush out to buy another bottle. Obsessed.

From A Beautiful Life, makers of the incredible natural nail polish remover that really works and I Heart Unicorns Perfume, comes these cute as can be Honey'do Shampoo and Conditioner ($16 each or $30 for the set).

While they look like something you'd keep in your kitchen, much like FarmHouse Fresh Goods' Sweet Cream Body Milk ($26), these goodies are best left in the shower — and not drizzled atop your Elvis-style peanut butter and banana sandwich. Made with organic honey to promote bounce and shine in the hair, these orange-blossom-scented products are also sulfate- and paraben-free. Will you get your buzz on?

Gilles Marini may be best known for his successful foray onto Dancing With the Stars and his role as Luc on Brothers & Sisters. But he's also an expert shower-taker, as anyone who saw his turn as Samantha's sexy exhibitionist neighbor in the first Sex and the City movie knows.

I got the chance to meet Gilles a couple weeks back when he was in San Francisco. He's a L'Occitane ambassador, which makes sense: he grew up in Provence and even used to take lavender from the L'Occitane fields as a child. And now I know how he shortens his bathing time. Instead of using his shampoo and conditioner separately, Gilles says he makes his own two-in-one by mixing his products, lathering, and then leaving them on for two minutes. Why he would ever want to save time in the shower, however, is still a mystery.

In the quest for a natural-leaning hair care line, I've been blowing through about a dozen brands. More on those soon, but for now, let's look at Evolvh. If you can get past the oddball spelling, you'll find a vegan and mostly organic collection of shampoo, conditioner, and styling products. They're free of sulfates and parabens, but they're filled with extracts of plants such as mallow, flax, pansy, and marigold.

That's all fine and dandy, but how well do they work? Actually, pretty well. The shampoo and conditioner have a light, pleasant scent and leave hair shiny and moisturized. But the star of the line is Ultimate styling lotion ($28), which claims to provide volume, hold, and shine. It's super-lightweight, keeps frizz at bay, and gives hair a glossy but not greasy look. Win!