Hair mask for color-treated hair

Pureology Strength Cure Treatment Mask has the best record for color-treated hair: 20 of 21 shoppers said it softened their hair without fading their color, with Amika Soulfood Nourishing Mask next at 25 of 28. Each record counts just shoppers who said they have color-treated hair. Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair Mask has the weakest record here at 20 of 29, even though more shoppers weighed in on it than on any other mask.

  • 186 store reviews counted
  • Ulta and Sephora shoppers
  • Apr 2020 to Oct 2026

Updated . How we count

Did it soften hair without fading color? What shoppers said
  1. Pureology Strength Cure Treatment Mask 21 said either way
  2. Amika Soulfood Nourishing Mask 28 said either way
  3. Pureology Hydrate Hair Mask 26 said either way
  4. K18 Leave-In Hair Mask 15 said either way
  5. Color Wow Money Masque 15 said either way
  6. Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair Mask 29 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for dry or faded color-treated hair. 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 Strength Cure Treatment Mask Best record Pureology Strength Cure Treatment Mask 20 of 21 say it softened their hair without fading their color See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

Reviews of these masks mention softness more often than color. Of all 33 Pureology Hydrate reviews, 55% say hair felt soft, against 15% who say it keeps color bright.

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 Strength Cure Treatment Mask

Pureology

Strength Cure Treatment Mask

20/21 say it softened their hair without fading their color

20 of 21 shoppers said it softened their hair without fading their color. Across all 30 of its reviews, 40% like the scent and 23% say it adds shine, though 7% say it made no difference.

What buyers praise

  • Nice scent 40%
  • Adds shine 23%
  • Detangles 17%
  • Light on fine hair 10%

What buyers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 20 of 21
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination13 of 14
  • Oily3 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light13 of 13
  • Light-medium to medium5 of 6
2 Amika Soulfood Nourishing Mask

Amika

Soulfood Nourishing Mask

25/28 say it softened their hair without fading their color

25 of 28 shoppers said it softened their hair without fading their color, and reviews first posted on Amika's own site agree at 23 of 24, which we show but don't count. Across all 31 of its reviews, 35% like the scent and 13% say it adds shine, though 6% say their color faded.

What buyers praise

  • Nice scent 35%
  • Adds shine 13%
  • Works on thick hair 10%

What buyers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 1 of 1
  • Sephora 24 of 27
  • Brand site 23 of 24 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination12 of 14
  • Normal5 of 5
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light14 of 17
  • Light-medium to medium3 of 3
3 Pureology Hydrate Hair Mask

Pureology

Hydrate Hair Mask

23/26 say it softened their hair without fading their color

The complaints are small, with 6% of its 33 reviews calling it too expensive and 6% calling it greasy or heavy. 23 of 26 shoppers said it softened their hair without fading their color, and 36% of its reviews like the scent.

What buyers praise

  • Nice scent 36%
  • Adds shine 21%
  • Works on curly hair 6%
  • Detangles 6%
  • Defines curls 6%

What buyers complain about

  • Too expensive 6%
  • Greasy or heavy 6%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 2 of 2
  • Sephora 21 of 24
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination11 of 13
  • Oily6 of 6
  • Normal3 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light13 of 15
  • Light-medium to medium6 of 6
4 K18 Leave-In Hair Mask

K18

Leave-In Hair Mask

13/15 say it softened their hair without fading their color

This leave-in mask rests on a smaller group than the masks above it: 13 of 15 shoppers said it softened their hair without fading their color. Across all 30 of its reviews, 13% say it adds shine, but 20% call it too expensive and 7% say it made no difference.

What buyers praise

  • Adds shine 13%
  • Light on fine hair 10%
  • Good value 10%
  • Works on curly hair 7%

What buyers complain about

  • Too expensive 20%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 13 of 15
5 Color Wow Money Masque

Color Wow

Money Masque

Best for adding shine

13/15 say it softened their hair without fading their color

A small group weighed in, with 13 of 15 shoppers saying it softened their hair without fading their color. Across all 16 of its reviews, 31% say it adds shine and 25% like the scent, while no complaint came up more than once.

What buyers praise

  • Adds shine 31%
  • Nice scent 25%
  • Works on thick hair 12%
  • Works on curly hair 12%
  • Light on fine hair 12%

What buyers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 13 of 15
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination6 of 7
  • Normal4 of 5
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light6 of 7
  • Light-medium to medium5 of 5
6 Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair Mask

Briogeo

Don't Despair, Repair Mask

20/29 say it softened their hair without fading their color

More shoppers weighed in on this mask than on any other here (29), and it has the weakest record at 20 of 29. Across all 46 of its reviews, 15% like the scent, but 15% say it made no difference and 11% say it left hair dry.

What buyers praise

  • Nice scent 15%
  • Detangles 11%
  • Adds shine 11%
  • Works on thick hair 7%
  • Light on fine hair 7%

What buyers complain about

  • Too expensive 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 4 of 7
  • Sephora 16 of 22
  • Brand site 8 of 8 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination7 of 10
  • Dry6 of 6
  • Normal1 of 4

Where these numbers come from

The 6 products ranked here carry 21,255 reviews at Ulta and Sephora. We searched them for dry or faded color-treated hair and read the newest matching reviews, up to 40 per product and store, posted between Apr 2020 and Oct 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 Strength Cure Treatment Mask Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  2. Amika Soulfood Nourishing Mask Ulta and Sephora (31 reviews counted)
  3. Pureology Hydrate Hair Mask Ulta (33 reviews counted)
  4. K18 Leave-In Hair Mask Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  5. Color Wow Money Masque Sephora (16 reviews counted)
  6. Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair Mask Ulta and Sephora (46 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which hair mask works for color-treated hair?

Pureology Strength Cure Treatment Mask has the best record (20 of 21), followed by Amika Soulfood Nourishing Mask (25 of 28) and Pureology Hydrate Hair Mask (23 of 26). Amika and Pureology Hydrate sit close together, so a small gap between them means little.

Can a hair mask fade color-treated hair?

A few shoppers say one did: 6% of Amika Soulfood reviews say their color faded. No other mask drew that complaint more than once. Few reviews of any mask here talk about color, so treat these shares as what shoppers reported, not a promise.

Is Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair Mask good for color-treated hair?

Often. It has the weakest record here at 20 of 29, though more shoppers weighed in on it than on any other mask. Reviews first posted on Briogeo's own site are kinder at 8 of 8, which we show but don't count.

Which of these hair masks are sold on Amazon?

All 6 are sold on Amazon by the brand or Amazon itself. Pureology Strength Cure Treatment Mask, the leader, is also the best pick sold on Amazon.

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.