The Ultimate Guide to Detangling and Preventing Breakage

Hair being knotty? Leave it to our detangling sprays, treatment hair masks, and conditioners to smooth out knots and make your detangling routine seamless.

Our #1 bestselling product Leave In Conditioner repairs dry ends, fights frizz, and leaves hair smooth and soft. Leave In Conditioner protects hair against heat damage up to 450°F/232°C and reduces breakage by 52% when used with heat. The do-it-all detangler now comes in Byredo's cult-favorite Mojave Ghost fragrance for a limited time only.

On days your hair is extra parched, reach for Fine to Medium Hair Treatment Masque and Thick Hair Treatment Masque. Got fine to medium hair? Our repairing mask instantly restores hydration, fights frizz, and strengthens fine to medium strands. Formulated with a nourishing blend of shea butter, panthenol, and hydrolyzed keratin, Fine to Medium Hair Treatment Masque leaves hair soft, shiny, and healthy without OUAI-ing it down.

For thick hair types, we whipped up a rich, buttery mask that restores moisture, fights frizz, repairs damage, and prevents breakage. Packed with a blend of illipe and shea butters, almond, olive, and macadamia oils plus hydrolyzed keratin, Thick Hair Treatment Masque leaves hair extra smooth, manageable, and shiny.

For everyday detangling sidekicks, keep your shower stocked with our FINE, MEDIUM, or THICK Hair Conditioners. These nourishing formulas are made with different ingredients to tackle your individual hair type's concerns, including dryness, frizz, breakage, and split ends.

Now that you know the players for a fuss-free detangling hair routine, keep reading for hacks on how to use our detangling sprays and anti-breakage products on the daily to prevent knots, frizz, and split ends.

Don't Want Buns

Always pulling your hair back with a scrunchie and into buns or braids can create stress for your hair and sometimes breakage. To add additional slip, spray OUAI & Byredo Leave In Conditioner or our OG Leave In Conditioner on your scrunchie to reduce friction. Before bed, wear a satin or silk scrunchie to avoid matted hair in the morning.

Customized Conditioners

Before you get your hair wet in the shower, detangle it with a wide-tooth comb like the OUAI Clear Comb. This not only helps eliminate tangles but it also stimulates the scalp and breaks up product residue and sebum sitting on your strands and scalp. After shampooing, apply our FINE, MEDIUM or THICK Hair Conditioner – each formula was customized to deliver the right amount of hydration for your unique hair type. Not sure what your hair type is? Take our Find Your OUAI Quiz and get matched with a routine and products for your hair.

Deep Hydration

When your hair needs deeper hydration, apply Fine to Medium Hair Treatment Masque or Thick Hair Treatment Masque (both work miracles for smoothing out knots and detangling). Reach for your wide-tooth comb again to help detangle and enable an even application from root to ends. After the shower, spray a-OUAI Leave In Conditioner.

Tangle-Free Curls

Curls have a mind of their own? Keep them in silky-smooth check with Curl Crème, a silicone-free curl styling cream that defines, hydrates, fights frizz, and adds shines to all hair types. Co-created with 150 curly members of the OUAI community, Curl Crème is infused with a blend of chia, linseed, coconut, and babassu oils to shape, condition and protect cross from humidity while maintaining your curls’ natural texture.

Curls Refresh Recipe

If you have 2a to c curls and they need a refresh, you also can dilute Leave In Conditioner in a water bottle to make a refresher spray. The recipe: 1 teaspoon of Leave In Conditioner mixed in water bottle. For 3a to 4c hair, spray Leave In Conditioner directly onto dry hair for hydration.

Post Shower

After you're out of the shower, try using an old cotton T-shirt or microfiber hair towel to wrap your strands. Anything else can be too harsh on your strands, which is a big no-no because when hair is wet it's more prone to breakage. Then grab your Leave In Conditioner bottle and spray directly onto your strands, combing through with your fingers or a wide-tooth comb.

Portion Control

To prevent from applying too much Leave In Conditioner on your hair (looking at you, oily hair types), you can spray some directly onto your comb before combing hair.

Tiny Tots

If you have little ones, spray Leave In Conditioner on damp or dry hair before bed to make detangling easier in the morning easier (especially before and after a beach or pool day).

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