PURPOSE: To provide a water-based preshampoo-type hair treatment composition to be applied to the hair prior to the shampoo treatment, and capable of preventing the dissolution of proteins from the hair to the shampoo and improving the hair-protecting effect by adding a metallic salt as a component of the composition.

CONSTITUTION: The titled composition having excellent hair-protecting and hair- improving effect contains (based on the whole composition) 0.01W9wt%, preferably 0.1W2wt% one or more metallic salts selected from ferric chloride; chloride, p-phenolsulfonate or sulfate or zinc; chloride, sulfate, citrate, basic chloride, phenolsulfonate, β-naphtholdisulfonate or pyrrolidonecarboxylate of aluminum; allantoin dihydroxyaluminum; allantoin chlorophydroxyaluminum; potassium alum; lead acetate; and calcium chloride.