The story usually told is that modern conditioner began at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, where the Edouard Pinaud company showed a Brilliantine meant to soften men's hair and moustaches. Wikipedia flags that claim as needing a citation, so I hold it loosely. I still like it. Picture a fair full of steam engines and moving pavements, and in one corner a perfumer trying to make a moustache behave. Softness was always the point.

Here is what a conditioner moisturizing enough for dry hair actually does, in plain words. Cationic ingredients such as cetrimonium chloride cling to hair, which carries a slight negative charge, and flatten the cuticle so strands slide past each other and lose their static. Fatty alcohols like cetyl and stearyl add slip and body. Humectants hold water, glycerol being the classic one, and panthenol is one that has been shown to penetrate the fibre. So when a label says hydrating, look at the first few ingredients instead of the word.

The trick is to begin with the rinse-out, the step that does the most work for the least effort. The American Academy of Dermatology says to condition after every wash, to the ends only if your hair is fine or straight, and along the whole length if it is dry or curly. Moroccanoil's Hydrating Conditioner with Argan Oil is the one to grab if you want the argan-oil route. Gisou's Honey Gloss Ceramide Therapy Hydrating Conditioner adds ceramides to the mix. Crown Affair's Hydrating Conditioner for dry, damaged hair has a plain, clear job, and Oribe's Supershine Hydrating Conditioner is the glossy choice for when you want hair to shine on a Tuesday. Living Proof, Briogeo, Verb and Virtue fill in the rest.

A rinse-out works in a couple of minutes, and a deep conditioner wants twenty to thirty, so save it for a shower where you have nowhere to be. Warmth helps, which is why a shower cap or a warm towel over your hair is a good move.

Fenty Beauty's The Richer One Moisture Repair Deep Conditioner has a name that tells you exactly what it wants to be. Melanin Haircare's Plumping Deep Conditioner and adwoa beauty's Baomint Deep Conditioning Treatment are the two I would look at first for textured hair, and both suit a wash day that already takes a while. amika's Soulstruck Nourishing Dry Hair Treatment Mask and Act+Acre's Restorative Deep Conditioning Hair Mask for Dry + Damaged Hair are the ones I would give to a friend with bleached ends.

RŌZ's Foundation Hydrating & Reparative Hair Mask and Vegamour's HYDR-8 Deep Moisture Repair Mask are the more serious jars in the group. Ebb Ocean Club's Instant Slip & Shine Deep Treatment Repair Hair Mask is the one that names its promise in the title, and slip is a good thing to want.

A pairing I like: use a mask in place of your usual rinse-out once a week, not on top of it. Two heavy products in one shower just leave hair flat.

What I would skip: a rich mask on fine hair that feels limp by day two. Keep it to the ends, or move to a lighter formula.

Apply a leave-in to damp hair, in the smallest amount that works. The film it forms is light, and some also add heat protection. Begin with a pea-sized dollop, work it from mid-lengths to ends, and add more only if hair still feels rough.

Crown Affair's Leave-In Conditioner and Act+Acre's Cold Processed Leave-in Conditioner work as everyday leave-ins. Oribe's Supershine Moisturizing Leave-In Hair Cream for Dry Hair is a richer cream that suits thick or coarse strands, and Mizani's 25 Miracle Leave-In Cream is the one for textured hair. Emi Jay's Heavenly Hair Milk is a vanilla leave-in conditioner and hair serum in one, so it doubles as a finishing touch.

Curl types get their own picks. Kérastase's Curl Manifesto Hydrating Leave-In Cream and L'Oréal Professionnel's Curl Expression Moisturizing Leave-In Cream are made for curly hair. Moroccanoil's Overnight Hydrating Leave-in Hair Mask Treatment Serum is the sleep-in option, and the AAD suggests combing thick or curly hair in the shower before you rinse, with a wide-tooth comb from the ends upward.

What I would skip: a leave-in cream on the roots. It sits on the scalp and hair looks greasy by lunch.

Put a little cream on damp hair, then a heat protectant before the blow-dryer. The AAD recommends both, with low to medium heat.

A shampoo that strips everything undoes the softness you are trying to build, so pick one that behaves the way your conditioner does. Look for the ones labeled hydrating or moisturizing and skip anything clarifying for now.

Moroccanoil's Hydrating Shampoo with Argan Oil and Gisou's Honey Gloss Ceramide Therapy Hydrating Shampoo are the natural pairs for the conditioners in the first grid. Crown Affair's Hydrating Shampoo for dry, damaged hair sits with its conditioner, and Living Proof's Perfect hair Day (PhD) Hydrating Shampoo and Virtue's Hydrating Recovery Shampoo do the same. Oribe's Supershine Hydrating Shampoo matches the Supershine conditioner, which is the tidy way to do it.

adwoa beauty's Baomint Moisturizing Shampoo and Sienna Naturals' Hydrating H.A.P.I Shampoo are my picks to try for curls and coils. Matching shampoo to conditioner is optional, but I like it because it keeps the routine easy to remember, and easy routines are the ones that last. Wash, condition, comb through, rinse.

What I would skip: washing dry hair every single day. Every other day, or twice a week if your scalp allows, is kinder.

Most people, in my experience, do better with fewer steps than the shelf suggests. One good rinse-out conditioner, one mask for when hair is tired, and a leave-in only if your hair asks for it. The rest is just habit, and habits stick when they are short.

So start with the conditioner, and give it a month before you change anything. Notice how your hair feels when it dries, not just when it is wet. Pinaud wanted a moustache to behave. You are asking for something similar, and a little more slip in the shower will get you most of the way there. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Biolage Shampoo, Masks And Leave-Ins and Low Porosity Hair Products.

Rinse-out chemistry has changed lately, so I compared the best hair conditioner picks for slip, bond care and acid formulas.