Healthy Curls
Favorite Products
These are some highly recommended products. Except where noted otherwise, everything listed is available through curlmart.
Cleansers
Jessicurl Hair Cleansing Cream - I love how shiny and bouncy my curls are after I wash with this. It's a very low lather shampoo, and is available in 3 scents choices: unscented, lavender citrus, and island fantasy (a coconut blend). I like the lavender citrus the best, but there are trial sizes available for sale on the web site so you can decide what you like before ordering a full size bottle.
Jessicurl Linen Closet Private Label Shampoo (available here) - while it has a bit more lather than the Hair Cleansing Cream, this leaves my hair just as soft and shiny. Scented with coconut and lemongrass - yum! (NOTE: Jessicurl has a new shampoo coming out under her own label which is supposed to be similar to the Linen Closet Shampoo.)
Elucence Moisturizing Shampoo (contains one gentle sulfate) - wonderful lather, amazing peach scent, very moisturizing.
California Baby Shampoo, Calming Formula (available at Whole Foods and various other health food stores, mothernature, and californiababy) - love the lavender scent, and I think there's a little peppermint oil in it. Something in it makes my scalp tingle really nicely. Not much more lather than the jessicurl linen closet shampoo.
Conditioners
I have to take a moment here and praise Elucence Moisture Balancing Conditioner. It moisturizes and detangles beautifully, yet somehow never weighs my hair down.
Jessicurl's too shea! conditioner is incredible, and if I leave it on for a minute before I try to detangle it's much more effective. I use this almost every day. The shine it gives is unbelievable.
I use jessicurl's weekly deep treatment about once a week (or whenever I happen to remember - as my hair has gotten healthier I've been doing DTs less and less often). I tend to shampoo and do an ACV rinse just before doing the deep treatment, so I feel like I'm starting with a clean slate. Works great. My curls are always shiny and bouncy afterwards.
Styling products
Here's the area in which I've done the most experimenting. I rarely use the same product combination two days in a row - I have far too much fun experimenting with new products and looks. So while I've tried a lot of different products, the ones listed here are the ones I reach for the most often.
Jessicurl Rockin' Ringlets is a staple of mine. I use it underneath pretty much everything. I like how soft it makes my hair feel, and the scent lasts forever. Jessicurl Confident Coils Styling Solution pairs well with Rockin' Ringlets, but if you're tempted to try it remember that it's super concentrated, so a little goes a long way (not the case with Rockin' Ringlets, unfortunately!).
Aura Hypoallergenic Gel (available at Sally Beauty Supply) - very moisturizing, lots of shine, light hold but fabulous frizz-control.
Organic Root Stimulator (ORS) Lock and Twist Gel (available at Sally Beauty Supply in the ethnic haircare aisle) - a thick creamy product with very light hold that somehow dries weightless. The primary ingredient in this product is coconut milk, so you know that it's going to be moisturizing. I love how shiny my hair gets when I use this, and how well it defines my curls. I like it best used on dry hair to boost shine and control in the morning on days that I'm not wetting and re-styling, but I've recently started using it on wet hair to stretch out some other favorite products. I particularly like it mixed with A|G re:coil; it makes the re:coil much easier to distribute.
A|G Re:coil - an amazing curl enhancer. I love the ringlets I get when I use this. The magnesium sulfate in it is what enhances the curl, but it also can be drying, so I combine this with other products (like my LLL coco light, my ORS twist and lock, or lately, my Auntie Rhubarb Conditioning Gloss) for additional moisture. It's also the most expensive product in my arsenal ($28), so mixing it with something is good because it helps it last longer. Plus, the consistency is ridiculously thick, so trying to distribute it evenly without diluting it in another product is nearly impossible! The results are well worth the effort, though. This ranks high as one of my favorite products.
ABBA True Curls Curl Activating Tonic - nothing boosts curl in dry hair like this stuff. I like the lemongrass scent (as does my roommate, she always comments on it when I've used it) immensely, and as a late-day pick-me-up it can't be beat. Unfortunately, although I got my bottle free as a gift-with-purchase from curlmart, curlmart is not a distributor. I googled "ABBA True Curls" and found a number of online retailers, but can not vouch for reliability of any of them. However, this is what the bottle looks like, in case you find it somewhere and are wondering if you've found the right item or not.
Design by Andreas Viklund.