This conditioner is formulated specifically for color-treated hair — anyone maintaining a fresh color service who wants to slow fade and keep tone and vibrancy consistent between salon visits. Because it's sulfate-free, it also suits people who've been advised to avoid sulfate cleansers to protect color or a sensitive scalp.

Redken markets it across hair types and lengths, provided the hair is color-treated; it isn't formulated around a specific texture like curly or coarse hair.

Color fades for a few reasons at once — porous, damaged hair leaks pigment faster, sulfates strip it during washing, and pH swings open the cuticle and let color molecules escape. Color Extend Magnetics Conditioner is built to address more than one of those at a time: it's sulfate-free by default, its acidic pH helps keep the cuticle closed after the alkaline environment of a color service, and its amino-ion technology is specifically designed to attract to and seal color pigment inside the hair rather than just smoothing the surface.

The three-protein RCT Complex is the other half of the equation — treating the root, core, and tip differently means it's not one blanket conditioning agent, but a formula aimed at the different kinds of damage color-treated hair tends to show at each part of the strand.

Use in place of a regular conditioner, ideally alongside Redken's Color Extend Magnetics shampoo.

• Apply after shampooing, focusing on mid-lengths and ends
• Distribute evenly through the hair
• Rinse thoroughly

On the plus side:

• Sulfate-free, so it won't strip color the way a sulfate cleanser can
• Purpose-built for color-treated hair rather than a general conditioner repurposed for color
• Amino-ion technology designed to seal color inside the cuticle rather than just coat the hair surface
• Detangles and adds slip, useful on longer or color-processed, more fragile hair

Worth weighing before buying:

• Premium price point relative to mass-market color-care conditioners
• Formulated to work best as part of the full Color Extend Magnetics system (with the matching shampoo), so using it alone may underdeliver on the full color-retention claim
• Contains fragrance and a few common allergens (linalool, limonene, benzyl alcohol), worth checking for sensitive scalps