When I first decided to grow my hair long — and whew, those 18 months have really flown by — little did I know how much experimenting I'd have to do before I figured out a routine that would work for my wavy/curly hair. Conditioner is easily the thing I use the most of, and I've tried just about every recommended one around.

My favorite? Yes to Carrots conditioner. This stuff is awesome. It's gentle, silicone-free, smells great (not like carrots!), hydrates nicely without being heavy, and as far as I can tell, it's suitable for any hair type. For example, it definitely works well with my fine curly hair, but my wife and her younger siblings (who sometimes stay the night with us) always rave about this stuff when they use it on their thick straight hair. I don't have first-hand experience with this conditioner on kinky/coily hair, but I've heard only good things in that regard online.

I've used this stuff for typical conditioning, for co-washing (i.e. washing with conditioner alone), and for making a DIY leave-in spray, and it works well in every case. This is my "holy grail" product, and I hope they never discontinue it.

A pack of two 16.9-ounce bottles is $18 on Amazon.