Award-winning formulation
A sales or award claim. It says nothing about what is in the bottle.
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Popularity, not performance.
Conditioner / Everyday rinse-out, detangling
Scent:
The ingredient list declares fragrance. What it smells of is not stated, and we do not guess.
“Subtle gardenia scent” — Brand page
Manufacturer page: mondayhaircare.com
Personal fit
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The rest of what your plan weighs on this product.
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Your avoid-list
Lower cost than most conditioners
$0.62/oz at 12 oz — less than 85% of the 689 conditioners , which mostly run $0.91–3.10/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.
Conditioning agents sit high in the list — this is a detangling formula.
Oils sit high in the list — a softening, coating formula.
Middle of the range — noticeable on fine hair, light on coarse hair.
Humectants near the top — water-binding is a headline mechanism here.
Protein high in the list — a strengthening formula, not a moisture one.
Water-insoluble silicones or waxes: a detergent wash is what removes them.
Chelators are present — they bind hard-water and pool minerals.
Fragrance is listed; it sits below the working ingredients.
Ingredients that matter
The workhorse ingredients plus anything lower down that changes a decision. These 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 |
| Cetearyl Alcohol | fatty alcohol | Thickens and conditions — not a drying alcohol | Softens |
| Dimethicone | silicone | Smooths the cuticle and adds shine | Buildup |
| Behentrimonium Chloride | conditioning agent | Conditions and softens — this is what makes it comb through | Detangles |
| Glycerin | humectant | Pulls water into the hair | Moisturizes |
| Dimethiconol | silicone | Smooths the cuticle and adds shine | Buildup |
| Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein | film former | Lays down the film that holds a shape | Protein |
| Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil | oil | Coats and softens the strand | Softens |
| Isopropyl Alcohol | drying alcohol | A small amount, for fast drying | Drying |
| Salicylic Acid | active | A secondary active | Active |
| Ethylhexylglycerin | preservative | Keeps the product from spoiling | Softens |
| Phenoxyethanol | preservative | Keeps the product from spoiling | Stabilizes |
US labelling rules put ingredients above 1% in descending order of amount; below 1% they may be listed in any order. Annotations keep three readings separate: the ingredient's general function, its role in this product type, and what its position can support.
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.
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 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.
A small water-loving molecule that draws moisture into the hair and holds it there. It is the most common softening ingredient in conditioners and leave-ins.
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.
A high-shine silicone often paired with dimethicone for a smoother, glossier finish.
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.
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.
Wheat protein broken into fragments small enough to cling to the hair. It adds temporary strength and body; too much can feel stiff.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
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 rich oil used in masks and heavier creams for softness on coarse or dry hair.
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 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.
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.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
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.
A gentle conditioning agent activated by the acid in the formula. It smooths the cuticle without much build-up.
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.
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.
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 cellulose thickener that gives gels and conditioners their body and adds a soft, flexible film.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
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 keeps flyaways lying down without stiffness.
Gum films stay soft. A style that needs firm fixation usually wants a synthetic polymer doing the holding.
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 strong detergent used mainly in clarifying and deep-cleansing shampoos.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Cleansing is what lifts deposited films off the strand. How completely depends on which detergent it is and how high on the list it sits.
Every detergent removes some sebum along with the product it is there to wash out. Which detergent it is matters more than that there is one.
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.
A mild coconut-derived co-cleanser that boosts foam and softens the effect of stronger detergents. It appears in most shampoos, gentle or not.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Mild cleansing leaves more surface lubrication in place on hair that dries out quickly.
The mildest detergents are also the least complete: a routine that deposits films needs something stronger periodically.
Among the mildest detergents in use — it is what baby shampoos are built on — but it is almost always the second detergent in a formula. How much a wash strips is still decided by the primary detergent listed above it.
A conditioning polymer made from guar bean gum. It deposits during rinsing, which is why sulfate shampoos can still leave hair soft.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Gums thicken and set soft, which gives definition that bends rather than a rigid cast.
Cationic conditioners bind to the negatively charged damaged cuticle, laying it flat and cutting the friction that causes combing breakage.
A styling polymer dries into a film across the strands, which is what makes a shape hold instead of relax.
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.
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.
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.
This product is an over-the-counter drug as well as a cosmetic. It treats a cosmetic scalp condition; it does not diagnose or treat disease.
Ingredient list captured 2026-09-05. Formulas change — check the package in your hand when an ingredient matters to you.
Price · 12 oz
Priced above the products that do the same job. Stores sell it above the $7 line; products that do this job typically go for about $9 at this size.
12 ozmost listedBest per ounce
1.69 oz
3.04 oz
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
This formula covers the systems a conditioner is built around, and it costs less per ounce than most of the conditioners we have researched.
The formula score is completeness for the job: the share of the systems this product type is normally built around that we can find in this list, weighted. It is not efficacy, not quality, and it never compares across product types.
Does the same job
Same derived functions — what it cleans, conditions, coats or holds — at a lower cost per ounce. Scent, texture and where you buy it can still differ.
See more alternatives in the product library
These are functional neighbours, not personal recommendations — they are close on formula, not chosen for anyone. Get the one that fits your hair, routine, and budget



Final decision
Soft, over-stretchy hair — 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 only mark one supported, partly supported, or conflicting when the ingredient list actually speaks to it; everything else stays "stated by the brand", which is not a criticism — most claims simply cannot be read off a label.
Award-winning formulation
A sales or award claim. It says nothing about what is in the bottle.
—
Popularity, not performance.
No sulfates or parabens
No sulfate detergents appear in the ingredient list.
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Gentler on colour and coils.
Certified cruelty-free
Our researched record has this brand as cruelty-free.
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Matches our researched record.
Dermatologically tested
A brand-run study. We report it as stated and do not repeat the number as fact.
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Only the brand’s testing shows this.
Recyclable bottles
This is a marketing claim; an ingredient list cannot speak to it.
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Can’t be confirmed from label.
Subtle gardenia scent
This is a marketing claim; an ingredient list cannot speak to it.
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Can’t be confirmed from label.
Wheat Protein locks in moisture and helps prevent frizz; Avocado Oil creates a protective barrier
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 marketing. If the list doesn't speak to a claim, we don't assume.
Reviewers
Recurring themes our researchers wrote in their own words from sourced reviews. We do not store or scrape star ratings.
Many reviewers say the conditioner leaves hair feeling soft with a shine they like, and several call out the gardenia scent by name.
A recurring complaint is that the conditioner leaves hair feeling oily or is difficult to rinse out completely.
Multiple reviewers note it performs better on fine or frizzy hair than on thick hair, where results are more mixed.
Several reviewers report it tames frizz well in a lightweight formula that doesn't weigh hair down.