Cationic polymers have traditionally been used in shampoo formulations to impart conditioning properties to hair. In this study, commercial synthetic cationic polymers were investigated using coacervate formation, objective wet comb analysis, silicone deposition and panel studies to determine structure function properties with the goal of developing novel conditioning polymers. New polymers were synthesized and, based on criteria determined in the first part of the study, found to have marginal improvement over existing synthetic cationic conditioning polymers. A novel experimental polymer developed for a different industry was also investigated for conditioning properties. This polymer showed significant enhancement of silicone deposition over current commercial polymers, including cationic guar, even at significantly reduced silicone and polymer concentrations. The experimental polymer exhibited parity or improvement over benchmark polymers in panel studies, and similar performance to other synthetic polymers in objective wet comb studies.