20 Bomb Brands For Curly, Coily And Kinky Hair
If you’re currently embracing your natural hair, get ready to take notes, screenshot, or save for later – however you stockpile beauty recommendations. It’s no secret that curly hair requires rich formulas packed with moisturizing oils, replenishing omegas, and restorative acids to nourish the hair strands and enhance the curl pattern. However, finding products that are hydrating enough, rich enough, or big enough isn’t always easy, which is why great recommendations are SO important. Therefore, we’ve curated our ultimate list of hair care brands that cater to the needs of kinks, coils, and curls that’ll leave your hair looking and feeling its best.
1. Mielle
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Why we love Mielle: Like many haircare lines for natural hair, Mielle was founded from Monique Rodriguez’s kitchen. After struggling to find products to nourish her 3b and 3c locks, she began to make her own haircare products from natural, organic ingredients. Nine years later, the line is stocked full of hydrating formulas from deep conditioners to moisturizing milks.
Top product pick: Mielle’s Babassu & Mint Deep Conditioner, $14, is a savior for damaged hair as it provides an intense hit of hydration. The formula contains scalp boosting babassu, plus a trio of natural oils, fatty acids, and complex amino acids to seal in moisture and add definition to your curls. Check out the tutorial above for their tips on how to use the conditioner.
2. Kinky Curly
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Why we love Kinky Curly: Kinky Curly encourages and enables women to embrace their natural curl pattern with their hella-moisturizing, rich products. From detanglers to nighttime treatments, Kinky Curly recognizes the needs of textured hair and delivers formulas to help. The products are also free of mineral oil, parabens, and alcohol, which can wreak havoc on textured hair.
Top product pick: Unlike other foams, the award-winning Seriously Smooth Fast Dry Foam, $10, will dry and set your curls without a crunchy hold. Use it before rolling and twists for smooth, shiny twist outs.
3. Taliah Waajid
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Why we love Taliah Waajid: Beauty boss Taliah Waajid started her hair care line at the age of 14 after her mother forbade her from relaxing her hair. Now the brand is known for being one of the first haircare lines that cater not only to curls but to braids and locs.
Top product pick: The Curly Curl Cream, $8, works wonders on all curl types. The non-greasy cream will revitalize your curls, eliminate frizz, and add shine. The versatile formula can be used on wet or dry hair or for spiral sets, two-strand twists, and braid outs.
4. Ouidad
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Why we love Ouidad: Regardless of your curl concern, Ouidad will have a bomb product solution. Whether you’re looking to define your 3a curls or rejuvenate your scalp from a protective hairstyle, there’s something for everyone.
Top product pick: Ouidad’s Curl Recover Melt-Down Extreme Repair Mask, $44, is formulated with omega-rich Magura butter and Kalahari melon seed oil to lock in moisture and prevent future breakage. It’s a winter hair care essential!
5. Girl+Hair
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Why we love Girl+Hair: Taking care of your scalp and hair while in a protective style is just as important as when it’s not. Dermatologist Dr. Camille Verovic was well aware of this but struggled to find products that would maintain her hair while in any braided protective style. Eventually, she decided to fill this gap and Founded Girl+Hair, which provides product solutions to nourish your natural hair while in (or out) of a protective style.
Top product pick: The Under Hair Care On The Go Kit For Curly Hair, $20, includes three formulas to cleanse, nourish, and refresh your hair and scalp. The line harnesses some of the best hair care ingredients including growth-enhancing rice water and detoxifying apple cider vinegar to ensure your hair stays healthy and moisturized.
6. Briogeo
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Why we love Briogeo: Briogeo utilizes the powers of naturally-derived ingredients to create impactful, hydrating formulas. Founded from her kitchen and inspired by her beauty-guru grandmother, Nancy Twine understands the needs of textured hair and delivers impactful formulas for curly, kinky, and coily hair.
Top product pick: The Don’t Despair, Repair, and Curl Charisma line are our go-to. In particular, the Deep Conditioning Mask, $36, is amazing! Enriched with 95% natural ingredients including restorative rosehip oil and nourishing argan oil, it’ll leave your curls shiny, healthy, and lustrous.
7. Jane Carter Solution
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Why we love Jane Carter Solution: If you have sensitive skin, navigating the hair care world can be hella-difficult. Jane Carter offers the ultimate solution! After experiencing an allergic reaction to her store-bought beauty products she created a plant-based hair care line, which went on to create award-winning formulas.
Top product pick: The Condition & Sculpt Smoothing Curl Prep Gel, $11, will define and set your curls without leaving a greasy residue. The Curl Drench Cleansing Co-Wash, $4, is another one of our faves.
8. Shea Moisture
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Why we love Shea Moisture: Shea Moisture is the OG natural hair care brand; created in 1912 by Sofi Tucker in Sierra Leone. Now, the brand houses over 25 collections featuring all of our favorite hero ingredients, from hydrating castor oil and coconut oil to nourishing shea butter and manuka honey. On the website it also breaks it down into hair types, enabling you to find a formula suitable for your pattern.
Top product pick: If you have coily or kinky hair, the Jamaican Black Castor Strengthen & Restore Treatment Masque, $14, should be at the top of your shopping list. The ultra-rich mask is formulated with Jamaican black castor oil and shea butter to support hair elasticity, strengthen the follicle, and encourage growth while the peppermint extract stimulates and cleanses the scalp.
9. Oyin Handmade
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Why we love Oyin Handmade: Oyin Handmade ticks every box: the handmade products are made from natural, organic ingredients, plus it’s free of any chemicals and is cruelty-free. The name means honey (their key ingredient) in Yoruba, the native tongue to a region in Southwest Nigeria.
Top product pick: The Honey Hemp Detangling & Moisturizing Conditioner, $14, is a fave among the curly hair community thanks to its ultra-nourishing blend of hydrating ingredients like hemp seed oil and honey.
10. Camille Rose
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Why we love Camille Rose Naturals: Founder Janell Stephens began to create gentle and wholesome products in an attempt to develop a solution for her children’s chronic eczema. Upon the success of her formulas, she began the process of creating Camille Rose. The result? A product line that offers effective, clean formulas that nourish your scalp, hair, and body.
Top product pick: The Camille Rose Lavender Shaken Hair Spritzer, $12, is integral to our hair care routine as it cuts styling time in half. With just a couple of sprays, your tangles will be gone and your hair will smell delicious.
11. Hair Rules
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Why we love Hair Rules: Founded by celebrity hairstylist Anthony Dickey, this guru has worked with the iconic, Michelle Obama. After working for decades in the beauty industry, Antony opened the first texture laboratory and simultaneously started what he calls a ‘texture movement.’ Naturally, his hair care line celebrates and enhances every coil, curl, and kink.
Top product pick: Anthony is well aware of how damaging harsh shampoos can be for textured hair, which is what led him to create the No Suds Cleansing Cream, $33, a moisturizing sulfate-free cleanser that cleanses, condition, and detangles.
12. My Black Is Beautiful
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Why we love My Black Is Beautiful: Created by Proctor and Gamble and sold exclusively at Sally Beauty, My Black Is Beautiful was “Inspired by the 2.6 million women in our online community who have evolving and diverse beauty needs,” says brand director Lela Coffey. Both the research and development team for the haircare line were made up of women of color, and they tested all their products at their salon in Cincinnati. Celebrity hairstylist, Felicia Leatherwood, who works with Issa Rae, also lent her expertise to the line. Essentially, this is haircare created by women with textured hair, for textured hair.
Top product pick: If you want to lay your edges without worrying if they’ll last all day, you need to try the My Black Is Beautiful Edge Slayer, $9. The flake-free formula is also super flexible allowing for easy styling.
13. Aunt Jackie’s
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Why we love Aunt Jackie’s: Inspired by the Founder’s own natural hair journey, the Aunt Jackie’s products are made to help women embrace their natural texture with hair care solutions for all hair types, with special emphasis on wavy, coiled, kinky, and mixed textures. The formulas are both effective and affordable – that’s a brand we can get behind.
Top product pick: The Curl La La Defining Curl Custard, $7, is a must-have for curly queens. The eco-friendly rich formula is free of parabens and sulfates. Instead, it’s enriched with shea butter, soybean oil, and glycerin to nourish and define your curls.
14. The Mane Choice
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Why we love The Mane Choice: Drugstore haircare line, The Mane Choice, carries every product you could dream of – vitamins, oils, creams, masks, gels, conditioners – they have it all. Founder Courtney Adeleye spotted a gap in the hair care community and used her medical background to build her brand from the ground up by incorporating her specialized knowledge base and her hair care needs.
Top product pick: If you twist out your hair,
15. Uncle Funky’s Daughter
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Why we love Uncle Funky’s Daughter: Unkle Funky’s Daughter has garnered rave reviews over the years thanks to their hydrating formulas that instantly add definition to every kinda curl. The brand was founded in 2009, but in 2014 Renee Rhoten Morris took over and brought back some of its fan favorites that had previously been discontinued.
Top product pick: The aloe-based Curly Magic Curl Stimulator Gel, $25, was one of those aforementioned products. The OG formula has been reinstated and thank the hair Gods as it’s the bomb! It’ll instantly tame frizz while elongating and hydrating your curls for long-lasting definition – we’re obsessed!
16. Sunday II Sunday
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Why we love Sunday II Sunday: Calling all gym bunnies: Sunday II Sunday is one of the first haircare brands to be specifically designed for active women. Their products are made with actives (no pun intended) that restore moisture loss due to sweat, environmental damage, and buildup. Innovative formulas stashed in seriously chic packaging? We’re sold!
Top product pick: The Root Refresh Micellar Rinse, $31, is formulated to keep your scalp fresh in between washes and HITT classes. Infused with apple cider vinegar and micellar water, the light cleansing rinse will revive your hair in seconds.
17. Carol’s Daughter
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Why we love Carol’s Daughter: Founder of Carol’s Daughter, Lisa Price, brought the Natural Haircare Movement into the mainstream beauty sphere, enabling the curly hair community to find formulas and ingredients that cater to their curls. Not only is it legendary, the formulas seriously come through. On their website, it also has a curl guide and curl glossary to help you determine what product line will cater to your hair type the best.
Top product pick: The curly community is obsessed with the Monoi Repairing Hair Mask, $32. Enriched with Tahitian Tiare Gardenia Flower Extract and Coprah Coconut Oil, it’ll repair, rejuvenate, and add shine to even the most damaged locks.
18. Melanin Haircare
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Why we love Melanin Haircare: Founded by Whitney White – OG beauty blogger and natural hair advocate – her personal journey and tutorials inspired thousands of women to go natural! In 2018, she launched Melanin Haircare, which exclusively sells three styling products and a selection of head wraps. While their product range is small, each product is MAJOR! Try one of their products, and you’ll be a convert too!
Top product pick: Formulated with soothing aloe vera, hydrating argan oil, and restorative baobab seed oil, the Multi-Use Softening Leave-In Conditioner, $19, will surge life and moisture back into your hair. It’s free from silicones, parabens, sulfates, and more, and it’s also multitasking, so you can use it in different ways in your hair routine.
19. Dizziak
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Why we love Dizziak: This game-changing brand is the brainchild of Loretta De Feo, a beauty editor and entrepreneur. Like many natural hair brands, it was born out of necessity as De Feo continuously struggled to find truly rich, deep conditioners on the market. Dizziak fills that void once and for all, and the curly hair community will be forever thankful.
Top product pick: The Dizziak Deep Conditioner, $28, is enriched with quinoa protein, babassu, coconut, and argan oil – you’ll struggle to find a conditioner richer than this. As if that wasn’t enough, the packaging is also seriously cool and it’s also vegan.
20. Cantu
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Why we love Cantu: You cannot think curly hair, without thinking of Cantu – the brand even has a song written in its name. It’s affordable, smells divine, and there’s a myriad of products in their collection that have achieved cult status.
Top product pick: The Cantu Coconut Curling Cream, $6, has a large following in the curly hair community as it leaves your curls shiny, bouncy, and hydrated. It smells SO good!
For more curly hair tips, check out our celebrity hairstylist guide to styling kinky and coily curls.
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