I'd like to tell you a hair mask horror story.

One time, I did a coconut oil hair mask. It started off pretty well: I applied a thin slather, chilled out in my bathroom for 10 minutes, and then rinsed and went to bed. But when I woke up the next day, my hair was still slick with the coco and my pillow smelled like a virgin piña colada. So I showered, scrubbed furiously with shampoo, and toweled off—but my hair was still hopelessly greasy. I dunked my head in the kitchen sink and ran the water for five minutes to no avail. My roommates laughed at me. I was late for work. The scent of coconut lingered on my person for the next three days, until I was finally able to banish the last traces of the mask down the drain.

If you are in need of an effective hair treatment, maybe opt for Sachajuan Hair Repair instead—a low-commitment alternative. One 5-to-10 minute lather after shampooing is all you need...think of it like a conditioner, but with a little more power. After your rinse (singular—hear that, coconut oil?) your hair feels better, softer, stronger, with some just-blown-out fluff that'll last you through the weekend. And the bottle looks so good, you'll keep it sitting in your bathroom even after it's empty. Right next to that full tub of coconut oil.

—Brennan Kilbane

Photographed by Tom Newton.

Good hair: hard to achieve, harder to sustain, but Editor Emily Ferber can help with that.