Leave-in / Rich leave-in, heavy
Add it to your products. We’ll tell you if it’s ever recalled.
Manufacturer page: mondayhaircare.com
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
Lower cost than most leave-ins
$1.24/oz at 5.1 oz, less than 78% of the 749 leave-ins , which mostly run $1.31–5.50/oz. The cost less.
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.
Heavy butters and waxes in the first eight ingredients.
Conditioning agents sit high in the list, so this is a detangling formula.
Humectants near the top: binding water is one of its main jobs.
Oils sit high in the list: a softening, coating formula.
Protein high in the list: a strengthening formula, not a moisture one.
Water-insoluble silicones or waxes: a detergent wash is what removes them.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WaterAqua (Water) | solvent | The base everything else is dissolved in | Neutral |
| Dimethicone | silicone | Smooths the cuticle and adds shine | Buildup |
| Cetearyl Alcohol | fatty alcohol | Thickens and conditions (not a drying alcohol) | Softens |
| Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil | oil | Coats and softens the strand | Softens |
| Glycerin | humectant | Pulls water into the hair | Moisturizes |
| Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil | emollient | Softens and smooths the strand | Buildup |
| Laurdimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein | conditioning agent | Conditions and softens so hair combs through | Protein |
| Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil | oil | Coats and softens the strand | Softens |
| Hydrolyzed Keratin | film former | A supporting film former | Protein |
| FragranceParfum (Fragrance) | fragrance | The scent | Fragrance |
| Dimethiconol | silicone | A little smoothing and shine | Buildup |
| Isopropyl Alcohol | drying alcohol | A small amount, for fast drying | Drying |
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.
The most common conditioning silicone. It coats the strand for shine, slip, and frizz control, and needs a detergent (not just water) to wash out.
Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.
A surface film slows how quickly humidity reaches the cortex, which is what limits swelling-driven frizz in damp air.
Lays a smooth film along the cuticle, which lowers combing friction and flattens the surface irregularities that read as frizz.
Dimethicone does not disperse in water. On a routine that skips detergent it stays on the hair and accumulates wash after wash.
A waxy fatty alcohol - nothing like drying alcohol. It gives conditioners their body and leaves a soft, smoothing film on the hair.
Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this 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.
Near the top of a conditioner it is doing most of the conditioning, and most of the weighting, at the same time.
One of the few oils small enough to move into the strand, which is why it is used for pre-wash treatments. It can feel heavy or stiff on protein-sensitive hair.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
Because it penetrates rather than sits on top, it works on hair that loses water through a worn cuticle instead of only slowing evaporation from the surface the way a non-penetrating oil does.
A thin oil layer lowers friction between strands and flattens the raised cuticle that scatters light and catches on its neighbours.
The exception to the class read: lauric acid is small and linear enough to enter the shaft rather than only coat it, and in comparison testing coconut oil was the one that reduced protein loss from washing on both undamaged and damaged hair.
Glycerin, also called glycerol, attracts moisture and mixes completely with water.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
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.
Not chemically an oil: about 97% of it is liquid wax esters, which is why it resists going rancid and sits close to the scalp's own sebum. It smooths without a heavy finish.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
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.
A wax holds by staying solid on the strand, which gives grip and separation rather than a set film that cracks.
A protein given a positive charge so it deposits where hair is damaged. It conditions and adds temporary firmness in one ingredient.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
Argan oil. A medium-weight oil used for shine and softness on the outside of the strand.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
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.
Near the top of a list an oil is weight before it is anything else, and fine hair shows that first at the roots.
A firm plant butter used for sealing and hold in heavier styling creams.
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.
Fragments of the same protein hair is made of. They fill gaps on damaged strands and make hair feel firmer for a few washes.
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.
Size decides where it goes. In fibre testing, fractions around 221 and 2,577 Da reached the cortex while a 75,440 Da fraction stayed on the surface. A label prints the name, never the size, so a protein line is a claim about the ingredient rather than about the depth.
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.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
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.
A workhorse emulsifier that holds oil and water together in a cream.
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.
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 high-shine silicone often paired with dimethicone for a smoother, glossier finish.
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 surface film slows how quickly humidity reaches the cortex, which is what limits swelling-driven frizz in damp air.
Lays a smooth film along the cuticle, which lowers combing friction and flattens the surface irregularities that read as frizz.
A cellulose thickener that gives gels and conditioners their body and adds a soft, flexible film.
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 polysaccharide film stays softer than a synthetic one as it dries, which is what leaves a curl defined but still able to move.
A soft film binds neighbouring strands together, which is most of what helps flyaways lie down.
Gum films stay soft. A style that needs firm fixation usually wants a synthetic polymer doing the holding.
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.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Evaporates on contact, which is how a spray sets almost instantly and leaves no weight behind it.
A cellulose thickener with a fatty tail, so it thickens and leaves a conditioning film at once.
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 polysaccharide film stays softer than a synthetic one as it dries, which is what leaves a curl defined but still able to move.
A soft film binds neighbouring strands together, which is most of what helps flyaways lie down.
Gum films stay soft. A style that needs firm fixation usually wants a synthetic polymer doing the holding.
A fine starch that absorbs oil and leaves a dry, grippy feel.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Adds grip and body with no oil attached, which is what lifts fine hair at the root instead of weighing it down.
Starch gives texture and grip rather than a set film; firm hold usually needs a polymer alongside it.
A thickening polymer that gives creams and curl products their bounce and helps them cling to the strand.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
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.
Grabs metal ions from hard water so they cannot dull the hair or destabilise the formula.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Binds the calcium and magnesium in hard water, which is what stops mineral deposits accumulating on the strand wash after wash.
Copper and iron carried in tap water deposit on the strand and read as a dull, warm cast on gray or light hair. A chelator holds those metals in solution so the wash carries them off.
A branched hydrocarbon of the stated chain length. It spreads other ingredients thinly and evaporates, leaving the hair without added weight.
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 buffering salt that keeps pH stable as the product ages.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
pH adjusters are how a formula is brought to a chosen acidity, and an acidic formula keeps the cuticle lying flatter than an alkaline one. Which way this one moves the pH depends on the formula, and the finished pH is not on the label.
A fine mineral powder that absorbs oil and adds grip. It is what makes texture powders and matte pastes feel dry to the touch.
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 dry powder takes up oil and adds friction between strands, which is most of what root lift in fine hair actually is.
A treated silica powder that thickens oils and gives a dry, matte feel.
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 dry powder takes up oil and adds friction between strands, which is most of what root lift in fine hair actually is.
A buffering salt used to hold the formula at a steady pH.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
pH adjusters are how a formula is brought to a chosen acidity, and an acidic formula keeps the cuticle lying flatter than an alkaline one. Which way this one moves the pH depends on the formula, and the finished pH is not on the label.
A rose-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.
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.
A citrus-smelling fragrance component that EU rules require to be named separately because some people react to 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.
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.
A floral fragrance component listed separately as a recognised contact 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.
A cold-pressed citrus oil used for a fresh scent; naturally high in limonene.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Essential oils are fragrance. Several carry constituents on the EU list of declared fragrance allergens, so a label with no fragrance line can still be a scented product.
A synthetic musk or woody-amber note used as a fragrance base.
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.
Ingredient list captured 2026-10-08. Formulas change, so check the package in your hand when an ingredient matters to you.
Price · 5.1 oz
Priced above the products that do the same job. Stores sell it above the $6 line; products that do this job typically go for about $7 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
It carries the working systems a leave-in needs and still sits in the lower part of the price range for leave-ins per ounce.
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
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
Soft, over-stretchy hair, looking for protein high in the formula and real detangling slip
Worth skipping for anyone sensitive to fragrance, curly-method routines, or hair that stiffens on protein
Nothing in our library matches it closely 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.
Heat protectant up to 450F
Heat protection is a performance claim; an ingredient list cannot confirm it.
Only lab testing can show this.
Dermatologically tested and pH balanced
A brand-run study. We report it as stated and do not repeat the number as fact.
—
Only the brand’s testing shows this.
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.
