8 Truly Great Editor-Approved Budget Hair Masks to Use with Abandon
As an avid consumer of internet content, I read a lot about the importance of self-care. They—the authorities on this sort of thing—say that I need to eat a big salad filled with colorful vegetables, embark on a long walk alone while listening to an inspirational podcast, meditate, fly a kite, take deep restorative breaths, buy some flowers for myself, write in a journal, sit under a tree.…
I get it. Self-care is essential. But I’m also confused, because for as long as I remember, my idea of self-care has revolved around one thing and one thing alone: a hair mask. To be more specific, my self-care routine has always consisted of a long, hot shower or bath and half a bottle of red wine followed by a movie selected from the list of “Mind-Bending Psychological Thrillers” Netflix generates for me, a deep-conditioning mask, and the other half of that bottle.
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Sadly, I don’t get the opportunity to engage in self-care as often as I’d like, and my budget is partly to blame. Not because my Netflix subscription is too expensive to keep up (though if they keep raising the price, it’s only a matter of time), but because when I’m regularly slathering on enough deep conditioner to completely saturate my hair root to tip, I start going through those jars and bottles at an alarming rate.
And that, I realize now, is why the best cheap conditioners are not to be underestimated. In fact, they’ve got everything going for them—the right ingredients and the right results at the most righteous price. You can pile them on your head by the handful and reap the benefits of all that softness, shine, and self-care without the guilt (and self-loathing) that comes with using half a tub of Kérastase in one go.
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Our editors chose their top picks for budget hair masks that get the job done and then some, and save you some cash so you can in turn spend it on your next salon-size bottle of cheap deep conditioner that pairs perfectly with a $9 cab sav and the first season of “Hannibal.” Relax and take notes, and don’t even worry about that whole kite-flying thing.
