Top 5 Curly Girl Method Safe Picks at Adore Beauty
I’m the Digital Product Lead at Adore Beauty who oversees the digital experience on our website and app. I'm a curly girl advocate who loves to thrift the most outrageous things I can get my hands on and a mum of two young boys and a cheeky Choc lab.
Welcome, my Curly Hair Girlies (and non-girlies). If you’re anything like me, your relationship with your natural curly hair is a complex one, usually leaning toward “FML, I hate my hair.”
As a curly girl who grew up in the ’90s when dead straight hair was the vibe, I battled my natural curls for most of my life, until about seven years ago when I got sick of fighting a losing battle with summer humidity and declared it was going to be a #summerofnaturalhair.
Since then, I’ve become a convert to the Curly Girl Method to keep my hair healthy, hydrated, and defined.
Do I miss straight hair, Mary? Yes, all the time (thanks deep-seeded adolescent trauma!), but have I learned to love my curly hair and get the best out of it? Also yes.
So if you’re early in your natural or curly hair journey and don’t know where to start, or you just want to try amazing new curly hair products for the definition and bounce you’ve been missing, this one is for you.
Kevin Murphy’s Killer Curls Trio.
Shampoo: KEVIN.MURPHY KILLER.CURLS WASH
Conditioner: KEVIN.MURPHY KILLER.CURLS RINSE
Curl Cream: KEVIN.MURPHY KILLER.TWIRLS
Ok, so this is technically three products, but I wanted to start strong and give you an easy one-stop-shop routine that is a personal favourite.
This shampoo for curly hair is really good at giving you that clean scalp feeling without taking away too much hydration - which is a must for dry, curly hair.
Plus, it creates a great lather which is very rare when it comes to curly girl safe products as this is usually achieved with sulfates, which are usually no-go as sulfates can dry out curly hair.
The Kevin Murphy curly hair conditioner is then super thick and lush and injects a lot of moisture into the hair and helps keep it hydrated and soft.
But the magic here is in the Killer Twirls cream. My god it’s good.
A big goal of mine with my curls is maximising length and stopping shrinkage.
This curl cream is PHENOMENAL for giving you defined curls with a little bit of weight to give you as much length as possible. Every time I come back to it, I’m amazed all over again with the results.
Easily one of the best curly hair products in my opinion.
The only downside here is that I’ve already gone through three packs of the cream in a year.
If I could ask the brand to make any change it’d be the size offered - I need it in the 250ml size so I don’t have to stock it up as much!
TL;DR Great complete curly girl hair routine to maximise length and limit shrinkage.
The Nak Hair ORI lab Curl Shampoo and Conditioner.
Conditioner: NAK Hair ORI Lab Curl Condition 300ml
I know, I’ve done it again. But if anything this article is offering you MORE value than originally promised.
I’ve been using these top curly hair products for the last few months and have been absolutely loving them sick.
Again, the shampoo gives you a great lather without the dreaded sulfates and the conditioner is super thick and rich and hydrating.
The added magic with this duo for me is that they include rice protein.
If stronger, longer curly hair is a goal of yours, then these are the ticket as rice protein can really help you to create shine, definition, strength, and restore your curl pattern.
So that’s a tick, tick, tick and tick for me.
TL;DR Hydrating shampoo and conditioner duo to help grow and strengthen your curly hair.
AVEDA Be Curly Advanced Coil Definer Gel.
It only took me three tries, but I did it, I restricted myself to one product: AVEDA Be Curly Advanced Coil Definer Gel 250ml. (The above photo is straight after using Aveda, but for the full effect I use a Davroe oil as well, which you will see in the next product).
I did the hard yards for this one. I tried about five curly hair gels at Adore Beauty to find this beauty.
If you are looking for a classic scrunch out the crunch (SOTC) gel then this is *chefs kiss*.
It doesn’t get tacky/sticky or knotty, which can sometimes happen with the wrong gel for your hair, and gives you definition and shine and LASTS. Even in humidity.
One of the best products for curly, frizzy hair - I first trialled this baby when Melbourne had a three-day high humidity streak and it did.not.frizz.
And did I mention the shine?? GLOSSY fabulousness for multiple days. Which is rare.
So if you have 3C hair like me, then this is the one.
TL;DR My go-to classic crunchy gel that’ll give you ultra bounce and definition and SHINE ✨
Davroe CURLiCUE Hydrating Hair Oil.
Davroe CURLiCUE Hydrating Hair Oil 50ml is a fabulous multi-purpose curly girl oil. I’ve used it to help:
- SOTC (with the above gel) to help separate the curl clumps without adding frizz, but giving volume.
- Hydrate frizz a few days into a curly hair set when I did not have the time or energy to reset it.
- Tame frizz when I’ve straightened my hair without making it curly again (as the product doesn’t have water in it to reset it). As I’ve said I’m a curly hair advocate, but variety is the spice of life and I limit myself to doing it like 3-4 times a year to limit damage but still see my old friend ‘Straight-hair Mary’.
TL;DR Fabulous multi-purpose curly hair oil that’ll hydrate and limit frizz
Pure Curly Girly Foam.
Not bothered to add a gel and then have to break a cast after, but still looking for as much shine and definition as you can get?
Then Pure Curly Girly Foam 200g is the one. Pure is a little-known brand that offers you bang for buck with the quality of their products. A certified organic product, this foam is not what you expect when you hear the term ‘foam’.
When I first pumped it out of the container I was expecting it to expand like a classic mouse, but it stays as a liquid foam consistency which makes it easy to evenly distribute throughout your hair.
It gives you definition and frizz-control without it feeling crunchy. It also keeps/holds definition and shape for a couple of days without a refresh, which for a busy mum of two young boys is a God-send.
TL;DR Great option for those who want the definition and shine of a gel, but without the crunch.
I discuss all these products and MORE in the video below:
If this still isn't enough curly goodness for you, check out the below articles:
