In our annual Readers’ Choice Awards, there are always veteran winners that stick around year after year (after year), scattered amidst buzzy newcomers on the beauty-product scene. In 2025, however, hundreds of thousands of you made it clear that when it comes to your hair, right now you are relying only on consistent, tried-and-tested products and tools that you know will get the job done.
Every product on this list is a multiple Allure award winner, whether it’s taken home a Readers’ Choice Award, a Best of Beauty win, or both. Many may also be considered the crown jewel in their category, from the Ouai Leave In Conditioner and Color Wow Root Cover Up, to the Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer (the reason so many of us started ditching our round brush for good).
In this list, you have all the makings of a foolproof hair-care routine with products that have been recognized as the best of the best by Allure editors, by professional hairstylists, and, of course, by you.
Be sure to check out our other 2025 Readers’ Choice categories, like skin care and makeup, to see if your favorite products made the cut.
All the Winning Products:
- Favorite Hot Tool: Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer, $60
- Favorite Hair Tool: Tangle Teezer The Ultimate Detangler, $16
- Favorite Shampoo: Olaplex No. 4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo, $32
- Favorite Conditioner: Olaplex No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner, $32
- Favorite Hair Treatment: K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask, $75
- Favorite Leave-In Conditioner: Ouai Leave-In Conditioner, $30
- Favorite Hair Oil: Moroccanoil Treatment Original, $35
- Favorite Dry Shampoo: Batiste Dry Shampoo Original, $13
- Favorite Curl Definer: Ouai Curl Crème, $32
- Favorite Volumizer: Living Proof Full Dry Volume & Texture Spray, $36
- Favorite Hair Color: Color Wow Root Cover Up, $35
Readers’ Choice Awards: Hair
HOT TOOL: Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer
Styling your hair using a round brush and a blow-dryer is so last decade—and you have the Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer to thank for that. A detangler and high-powered hot tool in one, Revlon arguably kicked off the blow-dryer brush craze in 2016 with its intuitive design and under-$100 price point. The brush head features a mix of tufted bristles and nylon pins that, when combined with the steady airflow, three temperature settings, and lightweight design, make easy work of achieving a full-bodied blowout at home. Plus, the tool’s virality means there’s no lack of TikTok tutorials in case you’re looking for some styling guidance.
HAIR TOOL: Tangle Teezer The Ultimate Detangler
If you love the Tangle Teezer, you’re in good company. Allure editors and beauty legends, like Pat McGrath, have all been known to keep a Tangle Teezer in their hair-care kit. Sure, there are chicer-looking brushes out there, but we haven’t met one that is so efficient at detangling both wet and dry hair. Made with two rows of flexible plastic teeth—one row shorter than the other—the Tangle Teezer The Ultimate Detangler gently glides through knots without yanking or ripping, which can cause strands (especially if they’re fragile and bleach-damaged) to snap. “It gets out knots in a fraction of the time,” says deputy beauty director Elizabeth Siegel (whose fine, wavy hair falls halfway down her back). “And I don’t think I—or my kids—have winced once since using it, which is nothing short of amazing.” (Her two-year-old daughter and five-year-old son concur.)
SHAMPOO: Olaplex No. 4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo
You don’t have to have damaged hair to reap the benefits of Olaplex No. 4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo. The souped-up sudser is just really good at maintaining the look and health of your hair on a daily basis. The bond-maintenance formula takes care of damage at the molecular level using the brand’s tongue twister of a hero ingredient: bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate. The chemical compound relinks broken disulfide bonds in the hair, creating softer, healthier, and shinier hair even as the coconut oil-derived surfactants gently wash away sweat, oil, and product buildup.
CONDITIONER: Olaplex No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner
Blonde or brunette, balayage or baby lights, chemical or heat damage, whatever your current follicular profile, Olaplex No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner’s got your back (or, err, your ponytail?). The bond-boosting, intensely hydrating formula doesn’t gloss over damage …although it does leave your hair ridiculously glossy. Like its shampoo counterpart, this repeat Readers’ Choice Award winner repairs hair from the inside out while humectants like panthenol and glycerin keep strands hydrated and silky smooth. Kassidy Silva, director of social media and one of the estimated 2% of humans with naturally red hair, is a longtime fan. “My hair is usually the first and last thing everyone notices about me, so keeping it healthy is the top priority of my beauty routine,” she says. “I reach for this conditioner to keep it shiny, soft, and strong.”
HAIR TREATMENT: K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask
There’s a lot of hype and viral buzz surrounding the K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask, and according to brand devotees and Allure readers, it’s all warranted. The bond-building treatment is life-changing (or at least hair-changing) when you want to repair chemical damage. Applied after shampoo and in place of conditioner, the Repair Hair Mask uses peptides and dicaprylyl ether (a superlight, silky emollient and silicone alternative that’s easily absorbed into the hair shaft) to restore softness and shine and make hair more manageable.
LEAVE-IN: Ouai Leave-In Conditioner
One of the brand’s all-time best sellers, “I personally go through two bottles of the Ouai Leave-In Conditioner a year, every year, since it launched in 2018,” says Allure contributor Sophia Panych. This leave-in does a lot and does a lot really, really well, all while smelling glorious (it features the brand’s musky, citrusy North Bondi scent). The formula blends tamarind seed extract, vitamin E, panthenol, and hydrolyzed proteins to fight frizz, detangle strands, boost shine, soften split ends, and protect against high temps—and that’s just on wet hair. On dry hair, it brings thirsty strands back to life, either as a lightweight finishing mist or a hydration boost for parched curls.
HAIR OIL: Moroccanoil Treatment Original
Immediately recognizable from both a visual and olfactory perspective (we’d know that sweet, ambery, spicy scent anywhere), the Moroccanoil Treatment Original is the secret behind Allure readers’ glossiest styles. With its concentrated blend of argan oil and linseed extract, the silky elixir targets concerns like dryness and frizz, with one bottle lasting you a very long time. A few drops is all you need to quiet flyaways, boost shine, and maintain softness.
DRY SHAMPOO: Batiste Dry Shampoo Original
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” said the person at Batiste, who’s responsible for keeping its rice starch-based dry shampoo formula a classic since the early aughts. In fact, its unmatched ability to refresh roots and boost volume is worthy of devotion from more than a few of our editors. “One of the first articles I wrote for Allure was to profess my love for this drugstore dry shampoo, and I stand by every word in that gushing review,” says content director Kara McGrath. “I’ve tried plenty of others in the five years since then, but none have quite the oil-absorbing power of my beloved Batiste Dry Shampoo Original.”
CURL DEFINER: Ouai Curl Crème
It took two years and almost 200 members of Ouai’s curly-haired fan base to create the Ouai Curl Crème. The goal? To ensure the final product worked for every curl type and pattern and could be incorporated in any styling routine, whether that’s air-drying, cocktailing with other gels or mousses, or plopping with a diffuser. In the end, Ouai landed on a formula that pleased everyone across the texture spectrum—one that forgoes silicones for a litany of oils: linseed and chia to define shape, babassu, coconut, and soybean to add moisture and shine. The crowdsourcing certainly paid off. Thousands of Allure readers now swear by this does-it-all cream to style their curls and coils.
VOLUMIZER: Living Proof Full Dry Volume & Texture Spray
Whether your definition of hair goals is Dolly Parton or the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Living Proof Full Dry Volume & Texture Spray is going to help you achieve it—no singing lessons or high kicks required. Spritzed onto dry hair, the heat-protecting, oil-absorbing mist adds incredible bounce and body to even the finest, flattest hair. It does so with lightweight polymers that nestle into the spaces between individual hair fibers, adding oomph without adding tangles or tackiness. Allure readers love that the volume this formula delivers lasts, but also that if you want a late-day boost, you can spray in more without weighing strands down.
HAIR COLOR: Color Wow Root Cover Up
Not to bring the mood down, but as the “recession hair” phenomenon takes hold, we’re all trying to find ways to extend the time between color appointments. The product that will help you do that? The multiple award-winning Color Wow Root Cover Up (we’re talking 10 Best of Beauty honors). By what appears to be magic, but is actually a blend of zinc and oxides, the mineral-based powder conceals grays and camouflages regrowth. Then it stays put until you shampoo, meaning you don’t have to worry about color-bleeding when getting stuck in the rain or going for a swim—something executive beauty director Jenny Bailly, a longtime fan of the product, can confidently and enthusiastically confirm.