This conditioner is aimed at people with color-treated hair — including lightened, permanent-color, or otherwise chemically processed hair — who want a daily conditioner formulated to slow color fade alongside routine conditioning. It suits any hair length and both fine and coarse textures, and works for at-home use as well as a step in a salon color-maintenance routine; it isn't a specialty treatment requiring professional mixing.

Where this conditioner differs from a standard color-safe conditioner is the delivery system: Joico's SmartRelease liposomes carry rosehip oil, arginine, and keratin and release them gradually rather than depositing everything in one pass, which is meant to keep conditioning happening even as the product is being rinsed out. Combined with African manketti and argan oils for the plant-oil component and hydrolyzed keratin for protein repair, it's built to address fading color and mechanical damage from styling in the same step, rather than needing a separate reconstructing treatment.

Shampoo with a color-safe shampoo (Joico recommends K-Pak Color Therapy Shampoo) and rinse. Apply the conditioner to clean, damp hair, concentrating on the mid-lengths and ends, and leave on for one to two minutes. Rinse thoroughly. For additional color protection, Joico suggests alternating a few times a week with K-Pak Color Therapy Luster Lock Glossing Oil.

The formula's strength is combining two things conditioners usually address separately — protein loss and color fade — through its SmartRelease liposome system, which keeps releasing rosehip oil, arginine, and keratin as the product works rather than coating the hair surface once. It's also free of sulfates, parabens, and gluten, per Joico. The limitations are that it does contain silicones, so it isn't an option for silicone-free routines, and Joico's headline claim of retaining over 82% of hair color after 18 washes is tied to using it alongside K-Pak Color Therapy Shampoo as a system — pairing it with an unrelated shampoo isn't how that figure was measured.