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This $8 Conditioner at Target Is the Equivalent of a $200 Gloss in a Salon

Zoe Weiner

February 21, 2019

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I have spent the better part of the last 10 years trying to find a conditioner that works for my hair. As a curly-haired woman with a full head of blonde highlights, I have a really hard time getting my strands to look anything other than brittle AF. I've tried literally everything on the market, from 5 dollar drugstore deals to products over 50 bucks recommended by professional stylists, all of which left some serious nourishment to be desired. This was all until I came across The Good Stuff's No-Rinse Conditioner.

The line—which includes one shampoo and six different variations of conditioner (or, as they like to call them, "hair moisturizers") to fit different hair needs—is unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Instead of rinsing out the conditioner in the shower, you put it in after you get out, and the whole point is that you aren't rinsing out any of the "good stuff" so that the nourishing elements of the product can sink into your hair all day long. Pretty cool, right?

I first fell in love with The Intensive Nourishment Cream Conditioner ($8) because it effectively cut my shower time in half. There's no longer any need for me to apply my conditioner and then hang out under the jet stream for the recommended 3 to 5 minutes for it to seep into my cuticles, as per usual. Instead of this annoying "wash and wait" situation, I now wash my hair as normal and then comb The Good Stuff through my damp strands after I get out. And that's it—not only is it a major time saver, but I also love that I'm using less water on top of that.

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But aside from that, the product truly works. I can say with full confidence that my hair has never looked as shiny or felt as soft as it does when I use The Good Stuff (solid name, I've gotta say). Whether I'm blow drying it straight or letting my natural curls run wild, I can easily run my hands through my hair without them getting caught in knots or accidentally breaking off strands of dry hair. Plus, it's not greasy and doesn't require any other styling products or smoothing serums—it's a one-and-done situation, which means that even more time is saved in my a.m. routine.

The brand recommends combining their cure-all shampoo one of the six conditioners (in addition to the nourishing one that I use, there are options for frizz control, color protection, repair, volumizing/hydrating, and weightless protection), but I've mixed and matched it with other shampoos and scalp scrubs and still gotten great results. While my curls work best with the Intensive Nourishment formulation, the brand recommends the Complete Repair Balm or Frizz Control Oil if you've got natural hair.

TL,DR: If loving a conditioner as much I love most of my family members is wrong, I don't want to be right.

As far as beauty routines go, "quick and efficient" are two of my favorite words. Here are my favorite 1-minute beauty hacks, plus the $5 drugstore smoothing serum that cut my blow-dry time by 12 minutes.