The best hair glosses are like a hair salon in a bottle. Shine-boosting, smoothing, softening, and strengthening are just a few of these formulas’ superpowers, accessible to you from the comfort of your own shower. Some glosses are clear and designed solely to add luster, while others are tinted, meant to enhance the vibrancy of color-treated hair and stretch out time in between trips to the colorist (read: save you some cash). Often, they’re armed with thoughtful botanical blends, skin-loving ingredients, and sometimes even fabulous scents.
So if you’re looking to ward off dullness, double down on conditioning, protect from heat-styling, or refresh color-treated hair, you’ve come to the right place. Below, we’ve rounded up the best hair glosses available online and IRL, vetted by editors and stylists, to give your in-salon treatments a run for their money.
Our Top Picks
Frequently Asked Questions
Best Overall: Ouai Hair Gloss
Why it’s worth it: Ouai’s Hair Gloss is an in-shower treatment that slips right into your routine and more than pulls its weight. After shampooing, step away from your showerhead, section your hair into four bunches, and apply a pea-to-dime-sized drop of product to each (depending on your hair length), working it in from the ends and up to the mid-lengths. Avoid the water for five minutes while you let the formula soak into your strands, leaving behind noticeably silkier hair.
What sets the gloss apart, though, is that heat-styling hair afterward can actually amplify its results rather than dull them. You don’t need a separate heat protectant, either, since the formula fends off damage up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. And did we mention it smells incredible? This stuff is scented with Ouai’s North Bondi Eau de Parfum (white musk and beachy florals), doubling as a hair perfume.
“I used to be blonde, which is kind of crazy to think about now, but even though I’m back to my natural color, my hair still feels a little dry and brittle from all the bleach. I’ve been using the Ouai Hair Gloss in the shower, and it makes such a difference. It only takes five minutes, and my hair feels so much smoother and shinier afterward. Plus, there’s no pigment, so I don’t have to stress about it staining my towels or sheets.”
Tester feedback from contributing commerce writer Annie Blackman
“The results are most evident when I blow dry my hair right after using the gloss, but I can still see the sleekness and vibrancy it gives to my air-dried, wavy hair. I don’t blow dry very often, but since the gloss’s first squeeze, I have yet to blow dry without it. Having a trusty, shine-forward protectant makes me feel better about using heat and helps to gently perfume my ‘do. An extra five minutes, it is.”
Key ingredients: sugar beets, rice water, hyaluronic acid
Shades: clear
Who it’s for: People who regularly blow-dry or otherwise heat-style their hair
Best for Smoothing: Oribe Mirror Rinse Glass Hair Treatment
Why it’s worth it: The brightening, softening, and super glossy Oribe Mirror Rinse Glass Hair Treatment sits weightlessly on strands, smoothing the cuticle to create a light-reflecting finish that makes you look straight out of a shampoo commercial. Use it after shampooing—first, squeezing out excess water, then applying from mid-lengths to ends in place of conditioner. If your hair is especially thick or coarse, feel free to layer it on after your usual conditioner. Let it sit for just a minute (short and sweet!) and use it weekly. Inside every bottle: Oribe’s signature blend of watermelon, lychee, and edelweiss flower, working overtime to hydrate and protect against oxidative stress.
“If you’ve always wanted those long, glossy waves that sit, well, as smooth as glass, this is the one product you need in your arsenal. Thank me later.”
Key ingredients: watermelon, lychee, and edelweiss flower
Shades: clear
Who it’s for: everyone
Best Tinted: DpHue Gloss+
Why it’s worth it: DpHue’s Gloss+ is a “demi-permanent color and deep-conditioning treatment that provides killer nourishment and color,” says New York City- and Ohio-based hairstylist Mia Santiago. Choose from 12 shades to enhance your hue (natural or otherwise) —or mix any with Sheer, an unpigmented iteration you can use to dilute the Gloss+’s color—and leave it on for anywhere from three to 20 minutes, depending on your desired intensity. Thanks to ingredients like moisturizing ethylhexylglycerin, a synthetic form of glycerin, and gloss-imparting dimethicone, this deep-conditioning treatment leaves your hair shiny and pigment-boosted for days.
But, because of the semi-permanence of it all, know that this formula is more for upkeep than a one-and-done dye. “You should apply Gloss+ about every three to six weeks, but know that after every wash and hot tool use, the semi-permanent color will fade a little,” suggests Lorena M. Valdes, a hair colorist at Maxine Salon in Chicago.
Tester feedback from senior news editor Nicola Dall’Asen
“I’ve kept my hair dyed pitch-black for the past year, and DpHue’s Gloss+ is the reason I almost never need to tread back to the salon for refreshes or root touch-ups. The shade Black has green undertones, so it eliminates any underlying redness from my natural brunette hair but doesn’t have the blueness that most black glosses and dyes do, something I’ve found hard to avoid. And thanks to its intense pigment, I only need to use it every once every couple of months.”
Key ingredients: ethylhexylglycerin, dimethicone
Shades: 12
Who it’s for: all hair types
Best Shine-Boosting: Kérastase Chroma Absolu Soin Acide Chroma Gloss
Why it’s worth it: According to Devin Toth, a New York City-based hairstylist, Kérastase’s Chroma Absolu Soin Acide Chroma Gloss is a high-shine hair gloss that strengthens and seals the surface of the hair fiber to protect color and leave a high-shine finish. To do this, amino acids, lactic acid, and tartaric acid work together to penetrate the hair cuticle and guard against color fading. “This gloss will extend the life of your post-salon hair color,” says Toth. “When the formula mixes with water, it transforms into a luxurious, creamy texture that fully coats and protects the hair.” It also cuts down on frizz and repairs damage from past dye jobs, and gets the job in one to two minutes.
Tester feedback from commerce editor Sarah Han
“My hair gets the short end of the stick when it comes to my otherwise extensive beauty routines but I’m determined to give it more love—that’s where Kérastase’s gloss comes in. The exfoliating acids help heal my hair, preserve my brown ‘money pieces,’ and boost shine. Best of all, it only takes two minutes to work its magic. (I’m impatient, what can I say?)”
Key ingredients: amino acids, lactic acid, tartaric acid
Shades: clear
Who it’s for: everyone, including damaged hair types
Best Mask: Moroccanoil High Shine Gloss Mask
Why it’s worth it: No matter how dry and brittle your hair feels, Moroccanoil’s High Shine Gloss Mask will leave your hair feeling like straight-up silk. Like all of the brand’s products, the key moisturizing ingredient in this deep-conditioning gloss is argan oil, a hardworking emollient known for its moisture-boosting properties and barely-there, grease-free feel on hair. To boost overall hair health, your strands will also be treated to a strand-fortifying amino acid blend and moisture-sealing apricot kernel oil.
Tester feedback from Blackman
“Usually, I stick with in-shower treatments if I’m doing a gloss, but Moroccanoil’s High Shine Gloss Mask was worth turning the showerhead off for a few minutes to go through the motions. Once I towel dried my hair, I went in with a generous amount of product, combed through with my fingers, and let it sit for around six minutes while I listened to NPR from my phone. When I returned to the shower to rinse, my strands were noticeably softer, and then once I was out, they were way easier to brush. After using a blow dryer brush, my hair looked and felt pretty dang good—right?”
Key ingredients: argan oil, amino acids, apricot kernel oil
Shades: 8
Who it’s for: dry hair, thick hair
More hair glosses we love:
- If you’re struggling with dull hair, Living Proof’s Perfect Hair Day High-Shine Gloss can make a world of difference. Whether your current color is natural or salon-made, this intensive formula of conditioning ingredients like jojoba esters, glycerin, triglycerides, and sodium hyaluronate works to plump and smooth each strand, leaving your hair shinier than you found it.
- A kit that covers all the bases, the in-shower, water-based Kristin Ess Signature Hair Gloss comes with an activator and toner, which you mix to help your color stay fresh and healthy-looking between salon appointments. On top of its rich color payoff, this formula is designed to protect hair against hard water and environmental damage. You have eight shades to pick from
- Bleach-burdened hair can benefit from this conditioning cocktail behind R+Co Gemstone Ultra Shine Glossing Treatment. It contains a hefty dose of moisture-retaining guava butter, but the true heroes in the formula are vitamins C and E. You’re probably familiar with these antioxidants from your skin-care routine, but here, they work overtime to boost the shine of your strands, prevent environmental damage, and improve malleability.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a hair gloss?
According to Toth, hair glosses are products that deposit a lasting amount of concentrated shine and sometimes pigment to make your hair look smoother, softer, and more lustrous. Glosses work by sealing and smoothing the surface of the cuticle layer by filling abrasions, according to cosmetic chemist Erica Douglas. This allows the hair’s surface to better reflect light, light, creating that super-shiny, shampoo-commercial look.
Which hair types are hair glosses best for?
Hair glosses are pretty versatile, meaning that although different products offer various perks, most glosses work on many types of hair. Still, Rachel Bodt, a New York City colorist, suggests scanning the ingredients list before applying. “One of the most important things to look for is something that is ammonia-free and free of any peroxide, as these will shift your natural color and can damage [hair],” she explains.
Many at-home formulas, especially clear glosses, are enriched with conditioning ingredients like squalane and jojoba oil to neutralize any dryness, making them a good fit across the board, but tinted glosses often have formulas closer to dyes than run of the mill conditioners, so it’s a good idea to check in with your colorist before using one.
How should I use a hair gloss?
Long story short: Follow the instructions. Colissa Nole, a Missouri-based colorist and hairstylist, tells Allure that, when instructions are not followed properly, issues like “color banding, uneven application, uneven finished product, chemical reactions, hot roots, undesired tone, overprocessing, under-processing, and chemical dryness” are all risks with at-home dyes.
Meet the experts
How we test and review products
We always enlist a range of testers for our makeup vertical, but hair-care products and tools are another story. While there are certainly products that can be used across different hair textures, lengths, curl patterns, thicknesses, colors (natural and unnatural), and needs, hair products are often created with specific consumers in mind. Many are created in order to address a concern (dandruff, breakage, brittleness) or to work most effectively for a specific hair type (4C curls, wavy hair, gray hair). You wouldn’t want to pick up a purple shampoo that’s only been reviewed by someone with, say, auburn hair, or a diffuser that’s never been tested by anyone with curls—right?