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Good-for-your-hair ingredients like quinoa extract and keratin amino acids also help strengthen hair. This gel is basically all aloe, water, and honey, making it a hydrating, lightweight, defining dream for low-porosity curls (not sure WTF your hair porosity is? Uh, take this quiz immediately pls). It's best for medium-to-thick curls, so if your hair is easily weighed down like mine, don't go overboard on the application. Color safe shampoo and conditioners can help with that, and this shampoo from Monday makes for a great first shower step. With amino acids and vitamin E that support hair protein health, Redway says this shampoo will help your strands shine. While hair oiling is generally safe, there are some potential risks to keep in mind.
What's the difference between a curling iron and a curling wand?
10 Best Hair Gels for Men to Buy in 2024 - Men's Health
10 Best Hair Gels for Men to Buy in 2024.
Posted: Wed, 15 Feb 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
A pro tip when shopping for curl creams is to look for moisture-boosting ingredients, along with additions like film formers which will help stretched-out or limp curls to recoil. Cosmetic chemist Ginger King previously explained to Allure that film formers are polymers (either synthetic- or starch-based) that help to shape each hair strand. Their products are simple, pared down, free of all the blah stuff (like silicones, sulfates, mineral oils), and exactly what I would make if I could formulate my own products. This all-in-one styler that's basically a happy medium between a leave-in conditioner and a curl cream, using moringa oil and shea butter to lightly moisturize, define, and ~enhance~ your curls. A curl cream and gel combo, this Garnier formula is top-rated at Walmart. "Other products left my hair very stiff, but I love how this tames my curls and leaves them feeling soft."
Best for Biracial Hair: Miss Jessie's Multicultural Curls
A tester said it made bleached hair feel "softer and more manageable." The cream formula is best for medium to thick hair. If you like the hydration that cream gives you and the hold of a gel, then this formula will give you the best of both worlds. Ideal for very parched curls, it’s made with softening butters (mango seed and murumuru seed) and oils (coconut and castor) to impart long-lasting hydration and definition.
Drybar Mixologist Interchangeable Styling Iron
Katie Berohn is the Beauty Assistant at Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day and Prevention magazines, all part of the Hearst Lifestyle Group. She graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, with a major in journalism and minor in technology, arts, and media, and earned her Master’s Degree at NYU’s Graduate Program of Magazine Journalism. In addition, Katie has held editorial internships at Denver Life Magazine, Yoga Journal, and Cosmopolitan, a digital editorial internship at New York Magazine’s The Cut, a social good fellowship at Mashable, and has freelanced for HelloGiggles.
Shea Butter Exfoliating Body Wash

With so many variations and kinds of gels available in the market — each uniquely formulated to cater to different curl patterns — it could be difficult to find the perfect one (or two, or three) for you. To avoid shrinkage on tighter curls, hairstylist and natural hair expert Ro Morgan recommends this gel custard formula. "It's great on all hair types but I love the shine and elongation it supplies to tighter coils and curls," he tells InStyle. "When applied to hair sections from roots to the ends, the result is beautifully defined curls. The honey ingredient locks in moisture — resulting in strong hold without the crunchy feeling."
Beachwaver PRO Curling Iron
"This is the only one that holds the curls in place the longest and feels the softest." Reviewers praise this product for taming frizz, defining curls, and adding tons of moisture back into their hair. This product is a must if you live in a more humid climate — reviewers say their hair kept its shape no matter how much humidity they had to put it through. If you legit cannot get a gel cast to save your life (it's an art! I still struggle! Help!) try this strong-hold gel. It'll clump your curls to help protect them against frizz and humidity while you diffuse or air-dry.
BEST CURLING IRON FOR FINE HAIR
“It feels featherlight, gave my hair bounce and tamed flyaways,” a tester says. It's alcohol-free, so it won't dry your hair out, and you can use it on damp or dry hair. Hair gloss, which offers a dose of temporary color and added shine to your mane. Tons of celebrities are going red, but Redway says you don't have to dye your whole head to get in on this color trend. Plus, this new Revlon product is available in 10 shades, so you can refresh your hair no matter the color. According to the brand, this gloss leaves hair twice as shiny and four times stronger than untreated hair, and lasts up to 28 washes.
Best for Air Drying: Biolage Styling Curl Defining Elixir
While we did have to watch a tutorial video to get the curling process right, it was a breeze to assemble. Once the curler was secure—doing so took about five minutes—our hair stayed in place and looked really nice the next morning. The rollers themselves are soft and spongey, so we found them pleasant to sleep in—they’d squish down against our pillow. If you’re not into the tight ringlet look, rest assured that they fall after a few hours, giving way to looser, but still voluminous, curls. One tester brought this heatless curler on a trip in a carry-on and loved how compact it was when folded up. It took up as much space as a pair of socks and garnered results that rivaled a hot tool.
Our top picks for curly hair products in 2024:
"Amazing at enhancing waves and actually moisturizing and making my hair softer," an Ulta reviewer reported. In Beauty Lab tests, this serum scored high for fighting frizz in humid conditions, and our testers were impressed with its performance — even in Florida humidity. Among the top performers from the GH Beauty Lab's hair mousse test, this pick scored highly for adding volume that lasted for hours and withstood various humidity levels. The winner of GH's deep conditioning hair mask test, this pick was super hydrating without being greasy and earned a perfect score for its ability to condition hair and prevent damage in the Lab's wet-combing test.
When the time came to remove the heatless rod, our hair fell right off without any tension, all thanks to the soft silk material that offered a nice, easy slip. Just know that it’s filled with water-insoluble silicones—which is exactly why it’s so effective—so you’ll want to clarify once a month with a sulfate-based clarifying shampoo to strip away any silicone build-up. But for me, especially in the summer months, it’s so worth it when I want sleeker, smoother curls. A past GH Beauty Awards winner, this budget-friendly conditioning treatment prevents breakage by strengthening hair with almond and protein. The brand also claims it can protect against heat up to 450º which further prevents breakage.
While the Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab hasn’t formally tested curl creams, Beauty Lab scientists are constantly testing the newest haircare and styling products, including leave-in conditioners, styling sprays, mousses and more. We used our decades of expertise, along with input from hair professional and editor recommendations and customer reviews to formulate the list. Perfect for fine hair, Dove's patented Fiber Actives plump up strands while adding hydration to curls and waves with softening jojoba and coconut oils, glycerin, and shea butter. She recommends a clean formula free of alcohol, which can cause dryness—remember that dry hair equals frizz, which is what we’re trying to fight here. And look for a gel that does not contain sulfates, silicones, and parabens. Instead, a light-hold formula is suitable for most wavy and curly hair textures.
Although the Shark looked intimidating, we got the hang of it quickly and were styling our hair like pros within minutes. While the tool does heat up, it never reached a temperature that scorched our hair or scalp, instead producing a lasting curl that required few, if any, touch-ups. We were never able to master a tight ringlet; we’d compare our final look as model off-duty beach waves, which is perfectly fine by us. Folks looking for fine hair products to give texture and volume, meet the Invisibobble Heatless Curling Set. While you definitely need to secure the hair tightly, the silky material of the headband ensures that the process is relatively damage-free.