The Glow Standard · Hair · Conditioner
Best conditioner in Australia, 2026.
Five conditioners worn daily for four weeks across coloured, fine and over-styled hair. Olaplex No.5 takes the top seat on bond chemistry. The Kérastase pair held the runner-up.
The verdict · Olaplex No.5 at $49 #1 (9.0/10) · Kérastase Elixir Ultime premium runner-up · Living Proof PhD fine-hair pick · 5 brands · average 8.74/10 · Read the shampoo ranking →
The picks · June 2026
The five conditioners that survived.
Ranked by Glow Score, descending. Four-week daily-wear panel across three hair types — coloured, fine, over-styled. Paired with matched shampoos where possible.
Olaplex
No.5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner
Best overall · The colour-desk daily
The pair to No.4 — bond chemistry in conditioner form. Light slip, no waxy coating, the cleanest rinse-out among the colour-safe field. The default daily conditioner for bleached and coloured hair.
Kérastase
Elixir Ultime Le Conditionneur
Best premium · Salon shine premium
The salon-grade luxe conditioner — five precious oils, weightless slip, the shine premium that pairs with the Le Bain wash. The $66 you spend when the brief is event-week shine.
Living Proof
Perfect Hair Day Conditioner
Best fine hair · No-coat formula
The fine-hair conditioner — the patented Healthy Hair Molecule formula that conditions without coating. Holds the wash-extension result for the panel. The buy when slip on the comb cannot collapse the root.
Briogeo
Don't Despair, Repair! Super Moisture
Best clean formulation · MECCA-stocked
Clean-formulation moisture conditioner from MECCA. Rosehip, algae, B5, B12. The pick when ingredient list ranks above patent chemistry — gentle scent, even slip, no coating film.
R+Co
Atlantis Moisturizing Conditioner
Best curly + coily · Heavy slip
The editorial salon brand — kelp, hyaluronic acid, bamboo extract. The Atlantis range is dialled for dry curly and coily hair; sits in the rotation for hair that has earned the heavier slip.
Also tested · The shortlist
Three brands worth a line.
Tested, scored, didn't make the photographic ranking — but earn an honest mention. Each link goes through to the retailer.
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Aveda Botanical Repair · 8.4
Plant-derived conditioner pair to the bond builder — 95% naturally-derived, signature Aveda scent. The clean ingredient list winner when the patented chemistry is not the priority.
Aveda → -
Pureology Hydrate · 8.3
Salon-shelf colour-care default conditioner — sulphate-free, AntifadeComplex, heavier slip than Olaplex. The trade-up for thick coloured hair when the brief is depth.
Adore Beauty → -
Davines OI · 8.2
Italian salon-grade conditioner — roucou oil, recyclable packaging, cult scent profile. The lift if formula provenance and salon-only distribution matter more than the MECCA receipt.
Davines →
The ranking · At a glance
Five conditioners, one screen.
| Rank | Product | Best for | Price | Glow Score | Pairs with |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Olaplex No.5 Bond Maintenance ConditionerOlaplex · Daily bond conditioner | Best overall · Colour-desk default | AU$49MECCA | 9.0 / 10 | Olaplex No.4 |
| 02 | Kérastase Elixir Ultime Le ConditionneurKérastase · Salon-luxe conditioner | Best premium · Salon shine premium | AU$66Adore Beauty | 8.9 / 10 | Kérastase Le Bain |
| 03 | Living Proof Perfect Hair Day ConditionerLiving Proof · Fine-hair conditioner | Best fine hair · No-coat formula | AU$44MECCA | 8.7 / 10 | Living Proof PhD Shampoo |
| 04 | Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! ConditionerBriogeo · Clean-formulation conditioner | Best clean formulation | AU$50MECCA | 8.6 / 10 | Briogeo DDR Shampoo |
| 05 | R+Co Atlantis Moisturizing ConditionerR+Co · Curly + coily conditioner | Best curly + coily · Heavy slip | AU$47Adore Beauty | 8.5 / 10 | R+Co Atlantis Shampoo |
The method · In five axes
Formula, finish, slip, shine, value.
Every Glow ranking runs the same five-axis rubric. Weights are published. The Standard, edition .
The Glow Standard scores every conditioner against five axes — formula (30%), finish (25%), slip (15%), shine (15%), value (15%). Formula carries the most weight because a conditioner has to hold the cuticle without coating; the wrong wax load reads as drag at the comb.
Finish is the second axis: how the hair reads at the rinse-off, the air-dry and the blowdry. Slip and shine are tracked separately — the formulas that win on shine sometimes lose on detangle. Value pulls the salon-luxe formula and the MECCA receipt onto the same chart by modelling per-millilitre cost against the panel result at week three.
Full method at The Glow Standard. PR samples accepted and disclosed; affiliate links may appear; neither determines rank.
The range · Axis by axis
The five winners, compared.
On formula.
Olaplex No.5 wins the formula axis on the same bond-bridging patent that takes the shampoo seat. Kérastase Elixir Ultime takes second on the five-oil shine stack. Living Proof PhD wins the patented Healthy Hair Molecule moat for fine hair; Briogeo wins the cleanest ingredient list; R+Co wins on heavy moisture for curly hair.
On finish.
Olaplex reads as clean strength; Kérastase reads as polish; Living Proof reads as lift; Briogeo reads as softness; R+Co reads as defined slip on coil. The five finishes don't overlap — each targets a different brief.
On slip and shine.
Kérastase leads on shine; R+Co leads on slip. Olaplex sits second on both, which is what makes it the daily default. Living Proof leads on no-coat lift — the only axis where fine-hair conditioning gets credit. Briogeo holds the gentle-slip baseline.
On value.
Living Proof at $44 is the floor; Briogeo at $50 and Olaplex at $49 sit a step above. R+Co at $47 buys the curly-hair specialism. Kérastase at $66 buys the shine premium and the salon scent. Stripped-list brands — Aveda, Pureology, Davines — sit between $40 and $58 and earned honest mentions.
The verdict
If you only buy one.
The best conditioner in Australia is Olaplex No.5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner at $49 from MECCA. Kérastase Elixir Ultime Le Conditionneur runs second at $66 from Adore Beauty. Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Conditioner is the fine-hair pick at $44. All five tested over four weeks by Hannah Brooks across coloured, fine and over-styled hair.
The method · In full
Four weeks, three hair types.
Every conditioner in this ranking ran a four-week daily-wear panel with the Glow hair desk. Three hair types — bleached coloured Type 2A, cotton-fine Type 1B, dry coily Type 4A — were measured at the rinse, the towel-off, the air-dry, the blowdry. The detangle test was repeated daily.
Each conditioner was paired with its matched shampoo where possible. Olaplex No.5 with No.4. Kérastase Le Conditionneur with Le Bain. Living Proof PhD pair. Briogeo DDR pair. R+Co Atlantis pair. The result on a matched pair was scored separately from the result on a mixed pair — the matched bond-pair scored higher every cycle.
Olaplex at $49 was judged on the same five-axis rubric as Kérastase at $66. A salon-only formula does not get a category-winning seat unless it earns a stockist a buyer can walk into — Adore Beauty, MECCA, the salon counters.
PR samples are accepted and disclosed. They carry no influence on rank or inclusion. Affiliate links may appear and never determine placement. Retailer links are tagged rel="nofollow sponsored noopener" and routed through our /out/ wrapper. Full method at The Glow Standard.
The questions · Asked most
Conditioner, answered.
What is the best conditioner in Australia?
Olaplex No.5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner at AU$49 from MECCA. Glow Score 9.0/10 — #1 in The Glow's 2026 Conditioner Index. Kérastase Elixir Ultime Le Conditionneur (8.9) is the premium runner-up at $66 from Adore Beauty.
Is Olaplex No.5 worth it?
Yes at AU$49 for coloured or chemically-treated hair. The patented bond chemistry pairs with the No.4 shampoo for the strongest daily routine in the test. On virgin hair the case thins; Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! at $50 is a credible swap.
Which conditioner is best for coloured hair?
Olaplex No.5 (Glow 9.0) — sulphate-free, bond-safe, the daily partner to No.4. Kérastase Elixir Ultime Le Conditionneur (8.9) is the salon-luxury swap. Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! (8.6) is the clean-formulation alternative.
What is the best conditioner for fine hair?
Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Conditioner at AU$44 from MECCA. Glow Score 8.7/10. Conditions without coating — the patented Healthy Hair Molecule is the formula tweak that protects the root volume.
Should I match conditioner to shampoo?
Yes for the bond-repair pair — Olaplex No.4 and No.5 are designed to run together and the panel result is measurably stronger paired than mixed. For non-patented formulas, brand-matching is preference not science.
Olaplex No.5 vs Kérastase Elixir Ultime — which is better?
Olaplex No.5 (Glow 9.0) wins on bond chemistry and on price. Kérastase Elixir Ultime (8.9) wins on shine premium and salon scent. Olaplex is the daily; Kérastase is the wash before the event.
Where to buy these conditioners in Australia?
MECCA stocks Olaplex, Briogeo and Living Proof nationally. Adore Beauty carries Kérastase and R+Co. The five winners sit between $44 and $66 — no chemist-shelf entries cleared the rubric this cycle.
Is conditioner necessary every wash?
For coloured, dry, curly, coily or chemically-treated hair, yes. For oily fine hair, condition mid-lengths and ends only and skip the root. All five ranked conditioners can run daily — the Olaplex pair are designed for it.
The field note · On conditioner
Why the matched pair wins.
The salon-counter pitch on matched pairs is usually marketing — the conditioner that comes in the same box as the shampoo is rarely better than a swap to a brand that does the conditioner better. That pitch breaks for Olaplex No.4 and No.5. The bond-bridging chemistry runs across the wash; the conditioner step finishes what the wash started; the panel result is measurably stronger paired than mixed. The matched pair earns its $98.
Kérastase Elixir Ultime sits second because the shine premium is still real — the five oils in the Le Conditionneur are the same five that built the salon brand's reputation. For the wedding-day blowdry, the colour desk uses the Kérastase pair, not the Olaplex pair. For the daily wash on a Tuesday, it is the Olaplex pair every cycle.
The three brands stripped to the list — Aveda, Pureology, Davines — all cleared the rubric. Aveda holds the cleanest ingredient list among the conditioners we tested; Pureology holds the salon-shelf colour-care default; Davines holds the Italian formula provenance. They lost on photographic ranking because none of them carry the patented chemistry that Olaplex earned its 9.0 with, and none of them carry the sensorial premium Kérastase earned its 8.9 with. Five winners, three honourable mentions, average Glow Score 8.74.