have improved hair care benefits while maintaining excellent in use characteristics the compositions contain a first cationic surfactant such as behenyl trimethyl ammonium chloride ditallow dimethyl ammonium chloride dicetyl dimethyl ammonium chloride distearyl ammonium chloride tricetyl methyl ammonium chloride and mixtures thereof and a second hydrophilically substituted cationic surfactant such as cocamidopropyl n 2 hydroxyethylcarbamoylmethyldimethylammonium chloride although formulations of the invention are based principally on cationic surfactant and generally contain no anionic or amphoteric surfactant they provide an acceptable level of cleaning and lathering whilst still conveying the wet slippy feel desired by consumers in connection with conventional hair conditioners application_number US 73765200 A description as used herein the term hydrocarbyl chain means an alkyl or alkenyl chain reference herein in the general formulas ii to vi to the number of carbon atoms in the hydrocarbyl chain means the total number of carbon atoms including if present those in any substituent groups on the hydrocarbyl chain and those in any linkage groups in the hydrocarbyl chain as will be evident from this definition a substituent group containing carbon atoms may be viewed as a branching of the hydrocarbyl chain and thus may be referred to as a linkage in the hydrocarbyl chain this does not effect the calculation of the total number of carbon atoms in the hydrocarbyl chain for the avoidance of doubt the cationic surfactant ii only relates to monomeric quaternary ammonium compound i e only contains a sungle quaternary nitrogen atom the hair treatment composition of the present invention comprises as a first essential component a cationic surfactant i corresponding to the general formula i as described above a cationic surfactants containing one alkyl chain having.