Curly hair science: product update

Two months ago I asked Instagram for some curly hair styling product recommendations. I was in a rut after trying to replace all my old DevaCurl products the year before, but not ever falling in love with the replacements. If there’s one thing the internet comes through for, it’s hair, so I bought many mini sizes and tried lots of your recs and was just… not blown away by any of them! But then realized I was way overdue for a haircut and that probably wasn’t giving any of these products a fair shake. So I waited until I got a (very good) new cut (curly curtain bangs! aka The Gradual Chris Fleming) and tried again, plus I added the products my stylist used into the mix. Anything for hair science!

First, about my hair and my preferences: I have a lot of very thick 2C/3A hair. With curly hair, you have to either prioritize volume or definition, and as I am the first woman in five generations of my family not to be born in Texas, I’m always going to choose volume – although I of course want some definition. I’d rather have big, bouncy, tousled curls that you can touch over shiny, super-defined curls that stay close to my head. I like a little movement in there. My styling goal is to be as low maintenance as possible, and in the past I would just add products, scrunch, and let it air dry. Last year I finally bought a decent diffuser and now it’s actually easier to diffuse it until 50% dry, especially in the colder months. (I use the $22 Black Orchid stuck on the end of my $40 hairdryer; thank you to my stylist for talking me out of the so-not-worth-it $175 DevaCurl dryer and diffuser combo.) If I was trying to look Extra Nice I’d take the time to separate it into sections and use the Denman brush method before diffusing, which I have to admit really made a difference and produced beautiful ringlets, but I don’t have the patience for that most days, especially in the summer. (There are a million YouTube videos highlighting this process but I was personally convinced to give it a try by a video from the gorgeous 20-year-old Australian dancer Jayme Jo; yes this is exactly like when I was 22 and hoped coloring my hair at home would give me the entire face of the woman on the box of dye.) With my new cut it actually looks better if I just scrunch and diffuse instead of Denman brushing. Double score! Looking cuter by being lazy is my goal in life and it’s so rare I get to realize it.

So here’s the rundown on all the products I tried:

Curlsmith Defining Styling Soufflé: This smells good, but I found the gel too sticky and didn’t scrunch out well after my hair dried, leaving me with the dreaded crunchy curls. Sidenote: why is this called a soufflé? Is there egg in it? It has a giant VEGAN stamp on it so I’m guessing not. Weird flex, Curlsmith.

Curlsmith Hold Me Softly Style Balm: Also smells nice. Gets “Tiny Dancer” in my head. So far so good! I originally paired it with the Curlsmith Soufflé and wasn’t impressed but I tried again with the Curlsmith Hydro Style Flexi Jelly Styling Gel (can someone please change these names! I’m a serious hair scientist!) and it was better, but still not amazing. The Jelly did the heavy lifting with this combo. To be fair, it’s a light hold offering soft, loose definition, which is technically what I want; I just needed a bit more. Not its fault! Someone else should try this!

Curlsmith Weightless Air Dry Cream: This was the one I had really high hopes for because I’m lazy, and the idea of a one-and-done hair product is always shining just out of reach. Sadly this did nothing special for me, BUT I think it might be great for frizz on someone with not as much hair. My hair can get to Hagrid levels and this just couldn’t tame it. If you have finer hair, give this a try.

Bumble and bumble Curl Anti-Humidity Gel-Oil: I got this as a free Sephora sample and would not have paid to try it. I’ve never had Bumble and bumble do anything amazing for my hair over the years so my expectations were basically on the floor. Also, a gel-oil? Are we just making stuff up now? I’m going to have breakfast-dessert before I head out on my unicorn-car to the fun-dentist. But I had to eat my words because I really liked this! It allowed for some volume a regular gel wouldn’t, and my curls were shiny, fat and bouncy, like a Christmas doll. Fucking Victorian Christmas doll hair, people! With the velvet cloak and the fur muff! It’s also nice for a next-day touch-up. I will buy this in the full size. Note: since this gives more volume than most gels, curls do not stay as tight and frizz-free for the next two days as with a more traditional gel, but that’s a bargain I’m fine with; ymmv.

Living Proof Curl Definer: I have to give props for the most straightforward name here. The product is literally Curl Definer: for curls. You can hear that typewriter carriage return. (Yes, I am 100.) Thank you for not making me transcribe another name like Bouncylicious Defunkified Hair Jism Gelée. Unfortunately, that’s the only nice thing I have to say about it. Why do all Living Proof products smell like bug spray? Is it the anti-humectant? Other anti-humectants don’t close up my throat this way! This scent is a little gentler but still Not Great, but it doesn’t matter because it didn’t do jack for me. For curls maybe, just not mine.

And now the products I bought after my haircut. First of all, I want to commend the stylist for not pushing these on me one bit; she told me what each one was as she used it, and then at the end lined them all up for me to take a photo and told me to just text her if I wanted to buy any so I could get her discount. Zero pressure! After seeing how they held up for a few days, I decided to buy four of the seven she used: Leaf & Flower CBD Instant Frizz Remedy, Leaf & Flower CBD 7 Minute Blowout, R+Co Ring Tone Ultra Defining Gel Creme, and R+Co Bio Dome Hair Purifier + Anti-Pollutant Spray.

I never would have looked twice at the Leaf & Flower ones if they were on a shelf in a store. First, they’re both sprays, and the mention of CBD in my hair product would inspire the j-o motion and an eye roll. I also would’ve dismissed anything for a blowout because… I’m not blowing it out. But it’s the heat styling that activates them, and I diffuse my hair on the warm setting, so it shortens styling time and provides heat protection. I could actually see the frizz disappear as I dried it! The frizz remedy recommends only using after every fifth wash but I’ve used it more often. It took a few tries to get the right amount applied because I’m used to raking as opposed to spraying. Bonus: they smell amazing.

Ring Tone is great. I don’t have a lot to say about it other than it’s a workhorse that ticks all the boxes I needed ticking. It gives volume but definition without weighing my hair down, it doesn’t give me that tacky build-up some products do, it has a clean, fresh scent, and my hair looks good the next day and the day after that, even if it rains. That’ll do, pig.

I bought the Bio Dome Hair purifier because I typically wash my hair just twice a week, but want a little something to make it smell fresh in between washes that isn’t dry shampoo. I find dry shampoo terrible on curly hair, and have looked all over the place for a good hair perfume, only they’re all scents I hate, cost too much money, and dry out my hair. But the Bio Dome is great for just removing scents from hair. Not like oh-I’m-sweaty-and-need-a-shower scents, but more like it’s Day Three and my hair smells kinda like my pillow. This stuff just refreshes without changing my hairstyle, and it doesn’t dampen it or make it feel tacky. It’s magic, basically? It also calls itself an “elegant mist,” and that’s a vibe I want more of.

Thank you for coming with me on this hair journey and thank you for all the product recommendations! There were some I didn’t get to just due to time and money, but I’m a fickle little cog in the capitalist machine so I’m sure I’ll try some more in the future.