Conditioner for wavy hair

Pureology Hydrate Conditioner has the best record for wavy hair: 41 of 45 shoppers said it softened and detangled their waves without weighing them down. Each record counts just shoppers who said they have wavy hair. Moroccanoil Moisture Repair Conditioner and OUAI Medium Hair Conditioner both have a slightly higher share but from smaller groups, while Olaplex No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner has the weakest record here at 37 of 51.

  • 262 store reviews counted
  • Ulta and Sephora shoppers
  • Jun 2015 to Sep 2026

Updated . How we count

Did it soften waves without weighing them down? What shoppers said
  1. Pureology Hydrate Conditioner 45 said either way
  2. Moroccanoil Moisture Repair Conditioner 18 said either way
  3. OUAI Medium Hair Conditioner 18 said either way
  4. Pureology Strength Cure Conditioner 41 said either way
  5. Bumble and bumble Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Conditioner 36 said either way
  6. Pureology Nanoworks Gold Conditioner 14 said either way
  7. Olaplex No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner 51 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for frizzy or tangled waves. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Pureology Hydrate Conditioner Best record Pureology Hydrate Conditioner 41 of 45 say it softened and detangled their waves without weighing them down See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

Not enough moisture is a complaint that repeats, at 14% of Olaplex reviews and 10% of Moroccanoil reviews. Bumble and bumble draws the same complaint in 10% of its reviews.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points reviewers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1 Pureology Hydrate Conditioner

Pureology

Hydrate Conditioner

41/45 say it softened and detangled their waves without weighing them down

41 of 45 shoppers with wavy hair said it worked. Of its 53 reviews, 36% say hair feels soft and 34% mention moisture, while just 6% say it weighs waves down.

What buyers praise

  • Soft hair 36%
  • Moisturizing 34%
  • Nice scent 26%
  • Doesn't weigh hair down 21%
  • Detangles 19%

What buyers complain about

  • Not moisturizing enough 4%
  • Too expensive 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 21 of 24
  • Sephora 20 of 21
  • Brand site 0 of 1 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination9 of 9
  • Normal4 of 5
  • Dry4 of 4
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light11 of 12
  • Light-medium to medium5 of 5
2 Moroccanoil Moisture Repair Conditioner

Moroccanoil

Moisture Repair Conditioner

17/18 say it softened and detangled their waves without weighing them down

17 of 18 shoppers with wavy hair said it worked, though that is a smaller group than for the leader. Of its 20 reviews, 40% say hair feels soft and 25% call it moisturizing, while 10% say it isn't moisturizing enough.

What buyers praise

  • Soft hair 40%
  • Moisturizing 25%
  • Nice scent 20%
  • Tames frizz 20%
  • Doesn't weigh hair down 20%

What buyers complain about

  • Not moisturizing enough 10%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 17 of 18
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination9 of 9
  • Dry5 of 5
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light11 of 11
  • Light-medium to medium3 of 4
  • Medium-tan to tan3 of 3
3 OUAI Medium Hair Conditioner

OUAI

Medium Hair Conditioner

Best for thick hair

17/18 say it softened and detangled their waves without weighing them down

Though it is named for medium hair, 55% of its 20 reviews say it works on thick hair. 17 of 18 shoppers with wavy hair said it worked, though that is a small group, and no complaint came up more than once.

What buyers praise

  • Soft hair 35%
  • Moisturizing 30%
  • Tames frizz 20%
  • Nice scent 20%
  • Adds shine 15%

What buyers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 17 of 18
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination10 of 10
  • Dry6 of 6
See price & reviews on Amazon

Share of 20 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

4 Pureology Strength Cure Conditioner

Pureology

Strength Cure Conditioner

Best for a nice scent

36/41 say it softened and detangled their waves without weighing them down

Scent is the big draw, at 49% of its 49 reviews, with 45% saying hair feels soft and 27% saying it tames frizz. 36 of 41 shoppers with wavy hair said it worked, though 6% of reviews call it too expensive.

What buyers praise

  • Nice scent 49%
  • Soft hair 45%
  • Tames frizz 27%
  • Doesn't weigh hair down 24%
  • Moisturizing 22%

What buyers complain about

  • Too expensive 6%
  • Still frizzy 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 16 of 17
  • Sephora 20 of 24
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination15 of 16
  • Dry2 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light12 of 13
  • Light-medium to medium8 of 10
5 Bumble and bumble Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Conditioner

Bumble and bumble

Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Conditioner

Best for a light feel

31/36 say it softened and detangled their waves without weighing them down

A light feel stands out: 38% of its 39 reviews say it doesn't weigh hair down, and 33% say it tames frizz. Price is the main complaint, at 18% of reviews, while 10% say it isn't moisturizing enough.

What buyers praise

  • Doesn't weigh hair down 38%
  • Tames frizz 33%
  • Soft hair 31%
  • Moisturizing 26%
  • Nice scent 23%

What buyers complain about

  • Too expensive 18%
  • Not moisturizing enough 10%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 7 of 8
  • Sephora 24 of 28
  • Brand site 14 of 16 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Dry8 of 9
  • Combination4 of 5
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light10 of 12
  • Light-medium to medium3 of 3
By age (reviewers who gave one)
  • Under 405 of 7
  • 40 and over4 of 4
6 Pureology Nanoworks Gold Conditioner

Pureology

Nanoworks Gold Conditioner

Best for added shine

13/14 say it softened and detangled their waves without weighing them down

Softness is the draw, at 68% of its 22 reviews, with shine (32%) and scent (32%) next. 13 of 14 shoppers with wavy hair said it worked, though that is a small group, and no complaint came up more than once.

What buyers praise

  • Soft hair 68%
  • Adds shine 32%
  • Nice scent 32%
  • Tames frizz 23%
  • Good value 14%

What buyers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 4 of 4
  • Sephora 9 of 10
  • Brand site 3 of 3 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Normal4 of 4
  • Combination3 of 4
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light6 of 7
  • Light-medium to medium3 of 3
7 Olaplex No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner

Olaplex

No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner

37/51 say it softened and detangled their waves without weighing them down

More shoppers with wavy hair weighed in on this conditioner than on any other here (51), and it has the weakest record at 37 of 51. Of its 59 reviews, 29% say hair feels soft and 25% say it doesn't weigh hair down, but 14% say it isn't moisturizing enough.

What buyers praise

  • Soft hair 29%
  • Doesn't weigh hair down 25%
  • Moisturizing 20%
  • Adds shine 19%
  • Nice scent 12%

What buyers complain about

  • Not moisturizing enough 14%
  • Too expensive 7%
  • Build-up 3%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 21 of 24
  • Sephora 16 of 27
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination12 of 15
  • Normal2 of 4
  • Dry2 of 4
  • Oily0 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light6 of 9
  • Light-medium to medium8 of 14
  • Medium-tan to tan2 of 3

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 27,633 reviews at Ulta and Sephora. We searched them for frizzy or tangled waves and read the newest matching reviews, up to 40 per product and store, posted between Jun 2015 and Sep 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (0 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Ulta also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. They run much more positive than store reviews of the same products (across 19 products with both, 76% of brand-site reviewers said the product solved the problem, against 55% of Ulta shoppers), so we show them on product cards but never count them.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Skin type, skin tone and age splits use what reviewers chose on Sephora's review form (and age on Ulta's when given). We only show a split when enough reviewers fall on each side.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Pureology Hydrate Conditioner Ulta and Sephora (53 reviews counted)
  2. Moroccanoil Moisture Repair Conditioner Sephora (20 reviews counted)
  3. OUAI Medium Hair Conditioner Sephora (20 reviews counted)
  4. Pureology Strength Cure Conditioner Ulta and Sephora (49 reviews counted)
  5. Bumble and bumble Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Conditioner Ulta and Sephora (39 reviews counted)
  6. Pureology Nanoworks Gold Conditioner Ulta and Sephora (22 reviews counted)
  7. Olaplex No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner Ulta and Sephora (59 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which conditioner works for wavy hair?

Pureology Hydrate Conditioner has the best record (41 of 45), followed by Moroccanoil Moisture Repair Conditioner (17 of 18) and OUAI Medium Hair Conditioner (17 of 18). Both of those rest on smaller groups of shoppers, so a small gap in share means little.

Which conditioner for wavy hair is sold on Amazon?

Every conditioner here except OUAI Medium Hair Conditioner is sold on Amazon by an official seller. OUAI Medium Hair Conditioner is sold there by a third-party seller. The leader, Pureology Hydrate Conditioner, is also the best pick sold on Amazon.

Will conditioner weigh down wavy hair?

It can, though just a few reviews say so. 6% of Pureology Hydrate Conditioner reviews say it weighs waves down, as do 4% of Pureology Strength Cure Conditioner reviews. 3% of Olaplex No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner reviews say it weighs hair down. On the other side, 38% of Bumble and bumble Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Conditioner reviews say it doesn't weigh hair down.

Is Olaplex No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner good for wavy hair?

Often, but it has the weakest record here at 37 of 51. 14% of its reviews say it isn't moisturizing enough, while 29% say hair feels soft.

Related problems

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HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.