Hair care formulations are prepared which comprise a carrier and a functional amount of a cationic water soluble graft copolymer of a N,N-dialkyldiallyl ammonium halide on a substrate of cellulose, galactomannon gum or derivative thereof, wherein the graft copolymers are characterized by a nitrogen content within the range of 0.25 to 4.5%, and are prepared by a unique polymerization process.