The Best Hair Masks To Buy—And Which Ones To DIY
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Hair Masks For Growth, Hydration, & Volume
We tend to put our hair through a lot: Heat styling, drastic changes in season, color or bleach processing, and more. So it’s no surprise that sometimes we experience hair issues like split ends, brittle roots, dry scalps and flakes—just to name a few.
Luckily, regular hair care can mitigate most of these problems, and a good hair mask can make all the difference. For DIY hair masks—aka ones you can make at home with ingredients you may already have—we’ve found three recipes to support growth, restore shine, and combat dandruff.
Or, if you don’t have the time or the ingredients, consider the seven hair masks below to purchase. They’re made with natural, sustainable, and responsibly sourced ingredients—like organic shea butter and aloe vera—and a little will go a long way. Soothe, restore, and protect your strands all at once.
Hair care is more than just a mask—consider grabbing a natural or organic shampoo to ditch toxic chemicals, or natural hair oils and growth serums for your healthiest hair yet.
DIY Hair Masks
1. Egg Hair Mask
Best For | Hydration & growth
Ingredients | ½ cup coconut oil, ½ lemon, one egg
Eggs are a superfood when it comes to our hair: They’re packed with lecithin, biotin, and fatty acids, all of which instantly strengthen and moisturize our strands. We like this DIY recipe from Insider: Mix together one egg, one-half cup of melted coconut oil, and the juice from one-half of a lemon. Leave in your hair for 30 minutes, then rinse with shampoo and cold water (not hot, or you’ll risk scrambled eggs in your hair!).
2. Avocado Hair Mask
Best For | Dullness
Ingredients | One ripe avocado, one tbsp honey, one tbsp olive oil
Like eggs, avocados are full of vitamins, fatty acids, and biotin—plus, they’re perfect for adding shine to your luscious locks. Following this homemade recipe from Yahoo via PureWow, mash one avocado into a paste, and then mix in one tablespoon of honey and olive oil, respectively. Lather it on to your hair and focus on your ends rather than your roots. After 15-30 minutes, rinse and shampoo—and see the instant difference.
3. Apple Cider Vinegar & Tea Tree Hair Mask
Best For | Flakes & dandruff
Ingredients | ¼ cup hot water, ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, six drops of tea tree oil, five crushed aspirin tablets (optional)
Flakes, dandruff, and build-up don’t stand a chance with these two holy grail ingredients. The ACV kills yeast growth (the root cause of dandruff) and tea tree oil is an antibacterial and antifungal. Following this popular recipe from Cosmopolitan, combine all the above ingredients into a spray bottle, spray onto a dry scalp, and let sit for 20 minutes. Afterwards, shampoo and condition as normal.
Our Favorite Hair Masks
1. Briogeo
Standout Ingredients | Rosehip & almond oil, algae extract, B-vitamins
Price | $38 for 8 oz
What has thousands of positive reviews and has been named an Allure Readers’ Choice Award Winner five separate times? Briogeo’s Don’t Despair, Repair™ deep conditioning mask! Made with 97 percent naturally derived ingredients like avocado oil, ginseng root extract, and radish root, this mask will transform dry, damaged hair in just three uses. Go for the trial size first and be amazed.
2. Seed Phytonutrients
Standout Ingredients | Shea butter, carrot seed oil, oats, tagua seed powder
Price | $19 for 5 oz
Give your scalp the very deep clean it deserves with Seed Phyonutrients’ Scalp & Roots Oat Mask, using a few ingredients you don’t normally have lying around. This vegan treatment will not only exfoliate your scalp, but it will also remove hard water minerals and buildup, too. Plus, the carrot seed oil moisturizes your hair! Just a dab is all you need. Seed Phytonutrients ships to the US.
3. Shea Moisture
Standout Ingredients | Shea butter, manuka honey, black castor oil
Price | $3.59-$11.99 for 2-12 oz
Shea Moisture is a certified B Corp celebrating the power of certified organic shea butter. This inclusive brand offers affordable hair care for all hair, including Type One to Four curls—and formulas are free of parabens, sulfates, phthalates, and animal testing. The intensive masques—from Jamaican Black Castor Oil to Manuka Honey and Mafura Oil—will bring life back to limp curls in no time.
4. Innersense
Standout Ingredients | Linseed, monoi, coconut, & tamanu oils, quinoa, shea butter, fruit extracts
Price | $30 for 4 oz
Innersense is a certified B Corp started by two organic beauty experts; that’s why the entire line is made from clean, organic, and nontoxic ingredients. The Innersense Hydrating Mask is rich in nutrients and moisture, thanks to a whopping 14 oils, eight plant and fruit extracts, and certified organic shea butter. For hair that’s lost its luster, look no further than this rich, restorative mask.
5. EVOLVh
Standout Ingredients | Silk amino acids, mango fruit & soybean seed extract, fruit extracts
Price | $16–$48 for 2-34 oz
Since 2009, EVOLVh has led the clean beauty and hair movement, where every ingredient is considered for purity, safety, and environmental impact—even to this day. Its UltraRepair Reconstructing Masque will work to fix damage, from split ends to dehydration. (It’s packed with five times the concentration of amino acids than most other masks!) Grab the travel size or a full liter and see why it’s known as the “Straw to Silk” savior.
6. Alodia
Standout Ingredients | Avocado, peppermint, & basil oils, aloe vera juice, silk amino acids, honey
Ethics | Natural & sustainable ingredients, silicone-, fragrance-, & sulfate-free
Price | $18 for 12 oz
Doctor-developed and plant-powered, Alodia Hair Care creates organic solutions for natural hair. Many 4C hair types are often forgotten when it comes to treatments, but the team here goes the extra mile to ensure every coil will be good as new after use. The Nourish and Hydrate Deep Conditioning Masque contains a number of natural oils, silk amino acids, and aloe vera juice, meant to support both your scalp and your strands.
7. Paradoxx
Standout Ingredients | Coconut & avocado oils, vegan keratin, seaweed, root & seed extracts
Price | £15–£30 for 75-200ml
Hailing from the UK, Paradoxx is a plastic-free sustainable beauty company changing the haircare game. With a line of three hair masks (repair, moisture, and detox), you can target and fix all your hair woes with a 96+ percent natural formula. Say goodbye to dull hair, brittle ends, and frizz, thanks to these vegan-friendly, sustainable options. Paradoxx currently ships to the UK and Ireland.
The Good Trade editors endorse products we genuinely love. If you end up making a purchase through one of our affiliate links, we may earn a commission. Learn more here.
