By Miracle Westfall, 03 Oct 2023

Whether you’re looking for a couple of leavein conditioners that will continue to nourish and moisturize hair over the next few days or a deep conditioner that will penetrate the hair strands and leave your frizzy hair feeling soft and bouncy, we have the recommendations for you.

While these products are probably good for all hair types, our testers have 4c curls and we focus on checking out the best shampoo and conditioners for 4c wash days.  Wash day is the day that we try to correct the most common issues with dry 4b and 4c hair and we try to repair the conditions that damages hair like environmental heat, wind, and friction that damages hair and creates hair breakage.

For the best chance at healthy hair, use a hair treatment especially formulated for type 4c hair. Products for 4c and 4b hair vary it will take some time and patience to find the right daily moisturizer, styling products and conditioners for natural hair.  Some days you may feel like like going all natural with apple cider vinegar and olive oil and other days, you'll want something predictable, portable and fragrant Like one of the conditioners listed below.

*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to click through and make a purchase through my links, at no additional cost to you.  Please read my disclosure for more information. We purchase and test products.  We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.

• Key Ingredients in this leave-in conditioner includes extracts of coconut, sugar beet root, green tea, lemon, apple, sugar cane, and saw palmetto.
• Other ingredients include cocos nucifera (coconut) and phyllanthus emblica (Amla), Serena serrulata fruit (saw palmetto extract) and Peru’s Mali’s (apple) extract.
• The fragrance is very light and not overpowering at all.  This is a great benefit if you tend to mix a couple of products while styling your hair.  At least one of the gels or curl custards is likely to have a strong scent.
• It helps with detangling and contains a strengthening agent and other ingredients that promote hair growth.
• It is a light formula that is light enough to use everyday. 

• I like to deep condition every time I wash my hair so this product just feels too light.  But if light is your preference, then this is a solid choice.
  

• Key Ingredients in this moisturizing conditioner is sweet almond (prunus amygdala’s dulcis) oil, tea tree (melaleuca alternifolia) leaf oil and avocado (per sea gratissima) oil and jojoba oil (simmondsia chinensis) and hydrolized keratin to strengthen hair strands.
  

• The formula is light so you’ll have to apply every day or two.  This can cause product build up.

• The need to use it everyday also means that you use a lot of the product over time and may have to buy it more often and a longer lasting leave in product.

• It is one of the most affordable product lines for natural hair and this conditioner lasts a long time.
• The formula is quite slippery to me but it feels good on the hair and creates nice slip for combing through.
• It doesn’t leave the hair feeling sticky when dry and can be reapplied at night for re-twisting.

• The second ingredient is glycerin which explains the slip but also indicates that it might not contain as much natural oils as one would like if you’re looking for a natural moisturizer for your 4c hair.

• I kind of hate digging my hands into jars of products and I hate having to pick up a bottle to squeeze out ore product (when my hands are already super slippery) so I wish all manufacturers would create formulas  in pump bottle only. 

• Sulfate free formula

• Safe for color treated hair.  It won’t strip your hair color or alter the color

• It contains castor oil, shea butter, manuka honey, yogurt powder, coconut oil and jojoba oil.

• The product was recently reformulated and 2 waxes were introduced into the formula.  This added weight to the formula and now makes it feel heavy and hard to rinse out.

• With the yogurt powder, it may not be the product to use if you are sensitive to milk or dairy products.  Even topical application can cause rashes or itching.

• Really light cocoa butter fragrance.
• Light feel for a treatment masque. Not heavy at all.

• It is a fairly expensive product as it comes in a 8 oz jar for about $20 at most retailers. But it only took a couple of dips of product to apply to my entire head.

• Sulfate free formula
• A great deep conditioning treatment masque for dry type 4c hair.
• Gives at least 48 hours of curl definition

• No real change in the hair after use and had to use a lot of leave in conditioner

• No Parabens, no mineral oil, no petroleum, and no artificial colors.
• It has a nice light fragrance
• It smoothed my dry hair as soon as I applied it, it made detangling and comb through really easy.

• I have to come clean and say that our testers are not fans of the Cantu products that we have tried.  They feel waxy and synthetic but most people call this great slip and notes that it makes if super easy to detangle the hair.

• They also have a very strong fragrance and it can be overpowering especially when using other products.

• As someone who raised a child with a ton of food allergies, I have been reading labels for 2 decades.  When I see an ingredient labek that is as long as my hand, I don’t even bother. The ingredients list for this conditioner is VERY long compared to other products in this roundup.  A lot of the components are extracts and look natural but others don’t.  I would rather use a product with a short ingredients list that I can understand.

As someone who usually suffers with dry 4C hair, I really appreciate a conditioner that gives me predictable, consistent results that doesn't make my hair heavy.  We love the As I Am product line and the As I Am Hydration Elation is our go-to conditioner.

• deeply moisturizes hair shaft and smooths the cuticle layer.
• makes hair shine
• increases manageability and makes detangling easier.

*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to click through and make a purchase through my links, at no additional cost to you.  Please read my disclosure for more information. We purchase and test products.  We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.