Sizes & containers
8.45 fl oz (250 ml) · $48 at one store · UPC 09339341035992
Conditioner / Everyday rinse-out, detangling
Add it to your products. We’ll tell you if it’s ever recalled.
Scent:
The ingredient list declares fragrance. What it smells of is not stated, and we do not guess.
Strength: Strong
Manufacturer page: kevinmurphy.com.au
Personal fit
Complete the consultation to see how well this product fits your hair and your goals. With 6,000+ products in our library, we can match you to the right ones.
$49 with 60 days of follow-up questions and plan updates
$99 with 12 months. Pay once; the year renews only if you choose.
The rest of what your plan weighs on this product.
The consultation builds your hair profile, checks every factor in this table against it, and tells you where this product fits or what to use instead.
Start your consultation$49 once, with 60 days of follow-up questions and plan updates. Nothing renews, and you never have to buy a product.
Your avoid-list
Same job for less elsewhere
$5.68/oz at 8.45 oz, more than 93% of the 1119 conditioners , which mostly run $0.94–3.41/oz.
Great for
Maybe skip if
What the formula actually does
Each row says where it comes from: F means we derived it from this product’s own ingredient list, S means it is a claim the brand makes that the formula neither confirms nor contradicts.
Conditioning agents sit high in the list, so this is a detangling formula.
Oils are present, but low enough to be a finishing touch.
Middle of the range: noticeable on fine hair, light on coarse hair.
Humectants near the top: binding water is one of its main jobs.
Protein appears, low enough to be a supporting ingredient.
Water-insoluble silicones or waxes: a detergent wash is what removes them.
No chelating agent in the list.
Fragrance is listed; it sits below the working ingredients.
Ingredients that matter
The workhorse ingredients, plus anything lower down that changes a decision. The chips name what an ingredient does. They are not safety scores, and no ingredient here is rated good or bad on its own.
| Ingredient | What it does | Why it matters | Chip |
|---|---|---|---|
| WaterWater (Aqua) (Eau) | solvent | The base everything else is dissolved in | Neutral |
| Cetearyl Alcohol | fatty alcohol | Thickens and conditions (not a drying alcohol) | Softens |
| Glycerin | humectant | Pulls water into the hair | Moisturizes |
| Behentrimonium Chloride | conditioning agent | Conditions and softens so hair combs through | Detangles |
| Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice | humectant | Pulls water into the hair | Moisturizes |
| Amodimethicone | silicone | Smooths the cuticle and adds shine | Buildup |
| Panthenol | humectant | Pulls water into the hair | Detangles |
| Acronychia Acidula Fruit Extract | botanical extract | A plant extract, there as much for marketing as for function | Neutral |
| Rice Amino Acids | amino acid | A trace of amino acids | Protein |
| Hydrolyzed Pea Protein | film former | A supporting film former | Protein |
| Bromelain | active | A secondary active | Active |
| Papain | active | A secondary active | Active |
In the US, ingredients above 1% are listed from most to least. Below 1% they can appear in any order. Each note keeps three things apart: what the ingredient generally does, its role in this type of product, and what its position can tell you.
The base of almost every rinse-off and cream hair product. It carries everything else and is normally the first ingredient on the label.
Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.
A waxy fatty alcohol - nothing like drying alcohol. It gives conditioners their body and leaves a soft, smoothing film on the hair.
In conditioner, cetearyl alcohol gives the emulsion its creamy structure and helps it spread evenly through the hair. Its emollient layer adds slip and a smoother feel.
Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.
May suit dry, coarse, or high-porosity hair that benefits from added slip and a more substantial conditioning film.
Deposits with the cationic conditioners and helps them lie flat along the strand, which is where the detangling actually comes from.
Consider if hair is fine or easily flattened: a formula built heavily around fatty alcohols can feel richer than a lightweight conditioner.
Glycerin, also called glycerol, attracts moisture and mixes completely with water.
Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.
High-porosity hair loses water fast; a humectant holds some of it in place for longer than the wash itself would.
Binds water into the outer layers of the strand, and water is what makes dry hair flexible again rather than brittle.
Water moves both ways. Measured across concentrations, glycerin solutions give water up in some conditions and take it from the air in others. What it does for you depends on how much of it is there and on the air around it.
A positively charged conditioning agent that binds to damaged, negatively charged spots on the hair. It is the main detangling ingredient in most rinse-out conditioners.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
Electrokinetic measurement puts the C22 quat ahead of the C16 ones for deposition: the longer chain adds van der Waals stabilisation on top of the charge binding. That extra deposit is what coarse hair usually needs to comb through.
A cationic conditioning agent: it binds to the damaged, negatively charged parts of the cuticle and lowers combing friction there.
Substantive by design. A routine with no detergent wash gives it nothing to leave with.
Aloe gel, used for light moisture and slip. High in the list it also contributes a little natural hold.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
Gums thicken and set soft, which gives definition that bends rather than a rigid cast.
Hydration with no oil attached, so it adds very little weight even high on a list.
Aloe is mostly water carrying sugars that bind more of it, which is why it turns up as the base of moisture-first formulas.
A silicone modified to stick where hair is damaged, so it smooths selectively instead of coating everything. It resists rinsing more than plain dimethicone.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
A surface film slows how quickly humidity reaches the cortex, which is what limits swelling-driven frizz in damp air.
Amino-functional silicone carries a positive charge, so it binds where the cuticle is worn rather than coating evenly. Damaged areas get most of it.
Film formers are what hold a style: they dry into a connected film across the strands so the shape resists movement.
Provitamin B5. It draws in water and penetrates the strand a little, which is why it is the standard ingredient for softness and shine claims.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
It hydrates without adding oil or a film, which is the combination fine hair usually needs.
Deposits a lubricating layer that makes combing easier, which is most of what stops mechanical damage adding to frizz.
A humectant that also penetrates the cuticle, so it holds water inside the strand rather than only on the surface.
An extract from the fruit of Acronychia Acidula. Plant extracts are used across a wide range of levels, and label order is the best guide to how much is here.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
A rich, solid plant butter used for heavy conditioning on coarse or dry hair. High in the list it makes a product decidedly heavy.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
Coarse, porous hair loses water quickly and can carry the weight; a butter slows that loss more than a thin oil does.
Emollients fill and smooth the surface of the strand, which lowers the friction that lifts the cuticle and reads as roughness.
A solid fat melts onto the strand at body temperature and stays there, which is the heaviest surface moisture-holding a formula can offer.
A light oil used for shine and slip, often alongside rice-derived proteins.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
Coats the surface and slows water leaving the strand, which is usually what coarse hair that dries out fast is missing.
A thin oil layer lowers friction between strands and flattens the raised cuticle that scatters light and catches on its neighbours.
An amino acid of the kind hair protein is built from. Small enough to sit inside the cuticle, and used for water binding rather than strength.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
Amino acids are the smallest protein fraction and bind water as well, so they add far less stiffness than a hydrolysed protein does.
A humectant follows the air: it holds water in humid conditions and can give it up in very dry ones. Climate decides what it does more than the label does.
The lightest option in the protein family, but still protein — worth watching if protein reliably stiffens your hair.
A plant protein used for strength claims in vegan formulas.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
Filling surface gaps evens out the cuticle, which is part of what makes damaged hair comb and reflect light more like undamaged hair.
Film formers are what hold a style: they dry into a connected film across the strands so the shape resists movement.
Hydrolysed fragments are small enough to sit in the gaps of a worn cuticle for a wash or two, temporarily restoring stiffness and cutting breakage in combing.
A protein given a positive charge so it deposits where hair is damaged. It conditions and adds temporary firmness in one ingredient.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
A cationic conditioning agent: it binds to the damaged, negatively charged parts of the cuticle and lowers combing friction there.
Film formers are what hold a style: they dry into a connected film across the strands so the shape resists movement.
Hydrolysed fragments are small enough to sit in the gaps of a worn cuticle for a wash or two, temporarily restoring stiffness and cutting breakage in combing.
A light, dry-feeling ester that spreads other ingredients and softens without a greasy finish.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
A light emollient: it softens the surface with noticeably less weight than an oil or a butter.
Spreads thin and lowers friction between strands without the heaviness of a fixed oil.
A thickening polymer that gives creams and curl products their bounce and helps them cling to the strand.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
Cationic polymers hold a curl loosely and stay soft, which is why they turn up in definition products rather than firm-hold ones.
A cationic polymer stays on the hair through rinsing, which is what keeps static and combing friction down after the wash.
Film formers are what hold a style: they dry into a connected film across the strands so the shape resists movement.
A conditioning silicone that binds where hair is damaged, for smoothing and heat protection.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
A surface film slows how quickly humidity reaches the cortex, which is what limits swelling-driven frizz in damp air.
Amino-functional silicone carries a positive charge, so it binds where the cuticle is worn rather than coating evenly. Damaged areas get most of it.
Film formers are what hold a style: they dry into a connected film across the strands so the shape resists movement.
A hold polymer that sets with some flexibility and washes out with water.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
A set polymer film is a physical barrier to humidity, so a style keeps its shape longer in damp conditions.
Synthetic film formers dry into a continuous film, which is what holds a shape against movement and against humid air.
Some acrylate copolymers rinse with water and some need a detergent; the label alone does not say which one a formula used.
A coconut-derived thickener that stabilises shampoo foam and gives the liquid its body.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
Mild cleansing leaves more surface lubrication in place on hair that dries out quickly.
A sugar-derived non-ionic detergent, among the gentlest in use. It cleanses with little foam of its own and little sebum removal.
Gentle cleansing leaves water-insoluble deposits largely in place; they come off with a stronger wash, not this one.
A starch fragment that soaks up oil and water, which is what puts it in dry shampoos. It also carries spray-dried plant extracts and leaves a light film.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
Takes up oil at the root, which is where fine hair goes flat first.
Film formers are what hold a style: they dry into a connected film across the strands so the shape resists movement.
How rigid the finish is depends on which polymer it is and what the formula pairs with it, not on there being one.
Fast-drying alcohol used to make sprays set quickly. In leave-on products it can leave hair feeling dry, especially in high position on the list.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
Evaporates on contact, which is how a spray sets almost instantly and leaves no weight behind it.
A fast-evaporating alcohol used as a solvent and to speed drying. Well down the list it is a processing aid; near the top it can leave hair feeling dry.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
Evaporates on contact, which is how a spray sets almost instantly and leaves no weight behind it.
A liquid fatty alcohol used for slip and to keep a formula fluid.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
The waxy solid that gives a conditioner its body. It deposits a soft lubricating layer, which is most of what makes hair feel smooth after rinsing.
Deposits with the cationic conditioners and helps them lie flat along the strand, which is where the detangling actually comes from.
A preservative booster that also adds a little softness. Almost always paired with phenoxyethanol.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Emollients fill and smooth the surface of the strand, which lowers the friction that lifts the cuticle and reads as roughness.
A positively charged conditioning agent. Damaged hair carries a negative charge, so it deposits where the damage is and makes wet hair comb through.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
A cationic conditioning agent: it binds to the damaged, negatively charged parts of the cuticle and lowers combing friction there.
The class that does the detangling in a conditioner. It deposits lubrication where the cuticle is worn.
Substantive by design. A routine with no detergent wash gives it nothing to leave with.
Used to bring the product to a slightly acidic pH, which helps the cuticle lie flat. It is almost always near the end of the list.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Holds hard-water minerals in solution so they rinse away instead of depositing on the hair.
The acid side of pH adjustment, and the reason it matters is measured: alkaline formulas raise the fibre's surface negative charge, increase friction between strands and lift the scales, while lower-pH ones do the reverse.
Where a warm cast comes from water minerals rather than from the hair itself, holding those metals in solution is what removes it.
An undisclosed blend of scent ingredients. Regulations let it stay unlisted, so a fragrance-free product is the only way to be certain what is not in it.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Declared fragrance. On a fragrance-sensitive routine this is the line that decides it, wherever it sits on the label.
A jasmine-like fragrance component named separately as a recognised allergen.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
One of the 26 scent components the EU requires to be named individually above a threshold. It is named because it is a known contact allergen, not because it is unusual.
Ingredient list captured 2026-09-24. Formulas change, so check the package in your hand when an ingredient matters to you.
Price · 8.45 oz
Priced above the products that do the same job. Stores sell it above the $14 line; products that do this job typically go for about $18 at this size.
Sorted by price per ounce. Dated observations from our research, not live prices. Direct store pages, no affiliate links. We don’t sell this product.
Formula
Sold through specialty beauty stores, and 6 products that do the same job cost less. Part of what you pay for is where it is sold.
The formula score measures completeness for the job: a weighted share of the systems this product type is usually built around that we find in this list. It does not rate how well the product works or its quality, and it never compares across product types.
Does the same job, for less
Formulas that do the same things (cleanse, condition, coat or hold) for less per ounce. Scent, texture and where you buy them can still differ.
See more alternatives in the product library
These products do a similar job. We haven’t matched them to you. Find the one that fits your hair, routine and budget
Final decision
People who want maximum slip who want real detangling slip and moisture that stays in
Worth skipping for anyone sensitive to fragrance, curly-method routines, or very dry or high-damage hair
CHI Argan Oil Conditioner for similar results at a lower price
We do not sell products or take placement fees. This page states what the formula and the prices show; the consultation is what matches it to a person.
Claims check
Claims are quoted from the brand. We mark a claim supported, partly supported or conflicting only when the ingredient list speaks to it. Everything else stays "stated by the brand". That isn’t a criticism: most claims can’t be checked from a label.
A repairing and nourishing conditioner that forms a protective layer that guards against colour loss
Humectants or rich emollients sit in the first eight ingredients.
Helps hair feel hydrated.
Anti-Breakage Technology works together to nourish and protect hair with added protective benefits against heat damage
Humectants or rich emollients sit in the first eight ingredients.
Helps hair feel hydrated.
We look at the first 10–15 ingredients and what they do in a formula, not at the marketing. If the list doesn't speak to a claim, we don't assume.
Reviewers
Themes that come up again and again in sourced reviews, written by our researchers in their own words. We don’t store or scrape star ratings.
Reviewers with fine hair say it adds fullness and body without weighing hair down.
fine hairUsed together with the matching wash, reviewers report reduced frizz to the point of skipping salon smoothing treatments.
used with Blow.Dry WashFragrance is repeatedly cited as a strong positive across reviews.
A portion of reviewers say the conditioner did not feel like it was doing much and did not justify the price point.
Some existing Kevin Murphy customers who normally like other KM products report this one specifically did not work for them.
existing Kevin Murphy customers
