Anyone with at least a natural wave to their hair will know that it feels like you are on a constant quest to find the best curly hair products. Whether it’s fighting the frizz, making curls more defined or just trying to tame the tousles.

So when we land upon products or tools for curly hair that make the daily chore of bringing those tresses under control, it feels like we’ve struck gold!

To spare you months of trial and error, and to save you time and money, we’ve shared the best curly hair products below that we just can’t live without.

Best curly hair products

Below are the best curly hair products we believe every curly hair type should have in their arsenal.

Curly hair products

Conditioner and curl treatments are your best friend when you have curly hair. Curly hair is drier and more prone to damage and breakage so it needs to be nourished and moisturised to keep it looking its best.

Naturtint Curl Definer range

£15.99 | Buy now

For a limited time, save 50% with this Amazon coupon

Naturtint

Why we love it:  Naturtint recently launched a range of products designed specifically for curly hair. All products in the range are suitable for vegans, dermatologically tested and contain no sulphates, silicones, parabens or phenoxyethanol.

Within the Curl Definer range are the following:

Naturtint Curl Definer Shampoo: A ‘low-poo’ shampoo has been designed to cleanse and care for curly hair, while gently refreshing the scalp. It blends hydrolysed wheat protein, coconut and corn surfactants, natural biolipids and Meadowfoam seed oil to nourish and moisturise the hair. This leads to more defined, softer and shinier curls.

Naturtint Curl Definer Conditioner: This leave-in conditioner enhances and restores your natural curls while making them easier to comb through and reducing frizz. It contains vegetable alternatives to silicones, a host of vegetable waxes, hydrolysed wheat protein and Pracaxi seed oil to provide shine and softness.

Curl Definer Hair Mask: For when your curly hair needs a bit more love, this hair mask contains natural ingredients, chosen for their moisturising benefits. This includes shea butter to soothe dry scalps, fight frizz and reduce breakage; Meadowfoam seed oil, Crambe Abyssinica oil and Pracaxi seed oil.

There is also a co-wash balm, and repairing oil. All can be found on Amazon using the button below.

Buy now from Amazon

Wide Tooth Comb

For anyone with curly hair, whether waves or ringlets, taking an ordinary hair brush to your dry curls is a definite no-no. For starters, curly hair is dry and brittle by nature so requires a delicate touch, not to mention the frizzy mess you’ll end up with.

If you don’t want hair breakage, split ends and frizz, it is recommended to comb out your curls from tip to root whilst they are wet and smothered in conditioner.

We have summarised a few of the best curly hair tools for this delicate detangling process below.

Tangle Teezer Thick & Curly Hair Brush

£12 | Buy now

Tangle Teezer

Why we love it: We’ve always been a huge fan of the revolutionary Tangle Teezer range with its patented teeth technology.

A real game-changer, Tangle Teezer has developed a detangling brush specifically for curly hair.

With its two-tiered firm-flex teeth, which are longer and stronger than the brand’s previous brushes, it promises to leave curls super-defined and totally tangle-free.

Buy now from Lookfantastic

Only Curls Comb for Curly Hair

£8 | Buy now

Only Curls

Why we love it: This wide-tooth comb from Only Curls has smooth rounded teeth which gently massage the scalp and glide easily through curly hair.

It’s made from acetate plastic, which helps to reduce static and thus frizz. This design also makes it waterproof meaning you can use it in the shower or bath.

You can buy it in pink, or white shimmer and at £8, you could buy one for home and one for on the go.

If you like the look of this comb but your hair is afro rather than curly, you can also buy an natural hair comb in a range of colours.

Lee Stafford The Big In-Shower Comb

£7 | Buy now

Lee Stafford

Why we love it: The most budget-friendly of our curly hair tool recommendations is Lee Stafford’s Shower Comb.

Not only is it one of the brand’s bestsellers but it’s also one of our all-time favourites.

It gently glides through curly hair, quickly removing tangles and knots without snagging or pulling and putting life and bounce back into your hair.

We love using it to equally distribute conditioner in the shower, or when applying our curl treatments.

Just make sure you wash it with warm water to keep it at its best if you opt for this route.

Diffuser

A diffuser is an attachment for your blow dryer that disperses the air to reduce frizz and keep from disrupting the natural wave pattern.

It’s great for any texture, from wavy to corkscrew curls. If you don’t have time to air dry your hair, which is the preferred method for retaining that vital moisture, then a diffuser is the next best thing.

It is recommended not to diffuse your hair until completely dry but aim for about 80%.

Also, it is best to use a medium-to-low heat setting so as to prevent drying out your curls.

GHD Air Diffuser

 Buy now

GHD Hair

Why we love it:  Is there anything that GHD can’t do?! This clever addition to your styling kit will give you perfectly formed curls and waves as you blow-dry.

Contoured hard fingers lift and separate your hair as you dry to create soft volume as well as giving a frizz-free finish to naturally curly hair.

The only downside is that this can only be used with the GHD Air Dryer, although it is one the best hair dryers we’ve ever used so that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

FURTHER READING: GHD Helios review | GHD Helios vs GHD Air 

Remington D52DU Universal Diffuser

£20 | Buy now

Remington

Why we love it: Designed to fit most dryers (hurrah!) this diffuser from Remington uses a silicone adaptor for attachment purposes.

With a really reasonable price tag and the added bonus of not having to spend on a whole new hairdryer, this is the perfect addition to your toolkit for those of us on a budget.

Buy now from Amazon

The Curly Co. Collapsible Hair Diffuser

£34 | Buy now 

The Curly Co.

Why we love it: Whether you’re trying to fit yet another styling necessity into a bathroom packed with beauty products, throwing your hair essentials into a duffel bag before spending a spontaneous weekend with your best friend, or grabbing your purse and running halfway around the world, this collapsible diffuser is for you.

The silicone construction is built to stretch and shrink to fit almost any hair dryer that accommodates attachments, and the flexible material lets you collapse your diffuser into a flat, packable shape that slips easily into your bag or the corner of your overstuffed suitcase.

This means you’ll always be able to carry the tools you need to keep your tresses smooth, springy, and styled.

Buy now from Amazon

Silk to fight the frizz of curly hair 

In defying frizz, silk is your best friend. The soft nature of silk reduces friction, doesn’t absorb moisture like cotton and is also naturally hypoallergenic.

For curly hair, silk basically ticks all the boxes. There are various silk products on the market, which understandably you can spend an awful lot of money on.

We have highlighted a few of the more reasonably priced options if you want the same result without having to spend an arm and a leg.

LilySilk 100% Pure Mulberry Silk Pillowcase

Buy now

LilySilk

Why we love it: Smooth, soft, breathable, cool-to-the-touch, hypoallergenic, naturally dust-mite resistant – the list of benefits goes on.

Said to not only reduce hair breakage and frizz , these silk pillowcases are also said to reduce facial wrinkles.

For us, a silk pillowcase is a must to protect our curly tresses.

This Is Silk Hair Wrap

From £35.99 | Buy now

This is Silk

Why we love it: For those who like to have coordinated bedding, then a silk hair wrap might be an option for you instead of getting a pillowcase.

The pure Mulberry Silk works hard to condition your hair with its own amino acids, protecting it from all friction while you sleep like a baby!

This is ideal for those of us who are short on time and who want to wake up with that ‘just washed’ look.

Buy now from This is Silk

Only Curls Silk Scrunchies for Curly Hair

£10 | Buy now

Only Curls

Why we love it: The smooth silk fabric of these elasticated scrunchies helps reduce tangles, breakage and frizz.

Wave goodbye to your horrible metal hair bobbles, which yank the hair out of your head!

Shower Cap

One of the most underestimated curly essentials is the shower cap. As less is more when it comes to washing curly hair, a 100% waterproof shower cap is essential for those non-washing days. We have also found ones that protect your curls against humidity to assist in the battle against frizz.

A shower cap also comes in handy when applying leave-in deep conditioning treatments. You can sit back and watch the tv without fear that your sofa is going to be covered in conditioner within minutes!

Shhhowercap

£35 | Buy now

Shhhowercap

Why we love it: With its premium nano-technology, this shower cap actually repels water resulting in water beads just sliding right off.

This innovative technology means that the Shhhowercap is practically dry before you get out of the shower – perfect for trips to the gym.

The brand has also created a fabric which is both breathable and has antibacterial properties. There isn’t much more you could ask for.

The only downside is that as a premium product, it demands a premium price.

The Vintage Cosmetic Company Shower Cap

Buy now

The Vintage Cosmetic Company

Why we love it: With its beautiful flamingo print, this Vintage Cosmetic Company waterproof shower cap has both style and substance.

If wearing a shower cap can be called glamorous, this certainly goes a long way to help.

With a very reasonable price tag and the option of a leopard print pattern (among others), you can’t go far wrong with this shower cap if you’re a curly hair type.

Bodylife Double Layered Shower Cap

£4.50 | Buy now

Bodylife

Why we love it: Our budget option is this Amazon No. 1 best seller.

With plenty of unique designs to choose from, this double-layered shower cap ensures your curls remain completely dry and secure throughout.

You can also buy coordinated scrunchies to match and who doesn’t love a good bit of co-ord action?

Microfibre towel

As mentioned above, frizz is caused either by friction or lack of moisture. Using an ordinary cotton towel manages to exacerbate both of these problems.

The material is surprisingly rough on the hair cuticles and will wick out every ounce of moisture, which curly hair so desperately needs to look its best.

The way forward in hair drying is to use a microfibre towel. The material is softer and gentler on curls, whilst also speeding up the drying process with its super-absorbent properties.

Below are a few recommendations to suit every budget, and we’ve also listed additional options on our list of the best overnight hair, face and foot treatments.

DevaTowel Anti-Frizz Microfibre Curly Hair Towel

£27 | Buy now

DevaCurl

Why we love it: Its smooth, microfibre texture helps absorb excess moisture and enhances curl shape without roughing them up so your curls dry with more definition and less frizz. Win/Win! The perfect size for caring for curls, it also includes a loop to hang it up for easy drying.

Buy now from Amazon

Soap & Glory Quick Drying Hair Turban

£8.80 | Buy now

Soap & Glory

Why we love it: Consisting of microfibres for super quick, fast drying and designed to be lightweight, compact, and durable, this hair turban is ideal for everyday use at home, in the gym and travelling.

Buy now from Boots

Cotton T-Shirt

Free 

Lisa McKenzie

Why we love it: For those on a tight budget, a cotton t-shirt does the job just as well and the process even has its own name, “plopping”!

The t-shirt will soak up moisture without creating frizz while your hair dries, significantly cutting down your drying time. Curly hair types rejoice!

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Lisa McKenzie

Lisa is a curly-haired redhead mum of two who graduated from Bournemouth University with a degree in Law. When she’s not testing skin and hair care, and writing beauty articles, you will find her baking up a storm in the kitchen over at Bake Along with Lisa

www.facebook.com/bakealongwithlisa/

The post Curly hair products 101: The must-have products for curly hair types to fight the frizz and tame their tousles appeared first on mamabella.

Containing a breakthrough, clinically tested ingredient* called Protinol, Avon claims its latest skincare discovery has been proven to restore both types of collagen found in healthy skin, helping to “mimic the perfect collagen equilibrium found in baby skin.”

Avon is so bold with its claims, that it markets the Plumping Shots as being able to restore “seven years of collagen in seven days.”

Buy now from Avon

FURTHER READING: What is retinol and what does retinol do for your skin? | Retinol for beginners

Avon Anew Skin Reset Plumping Shots: What are they?

Avon

Before and after photos from Avon’s Anew Skin Reset Plumping Shots

On sale now via the Avon website, the Anew Plumping Shots retail for £18, but are very often on offer for £15.

For this price, you get an Avon Anew Skin Reset Plumping Shots skincare kit with seven capsules that contain the maximum concentration of Protinol in each one.

READ NEXT: Best neck creams to help with sagging skin

When used daily, Avon promises that this system is so effective, it “restores seven years of collagen loss in just seven days”.

As you can read in our How to prevent wrinkles guide, collagen is a protein that helps give skin its supporting structure. You can think of it like scaffolding.

Collagen binds the skin together and strengthens it, making up around 80% of your skin, yet as we age, collagen levels drop and this is what leads to our skin sagging and becoming wrinkly.

More specifically, there are two main types of collagen – collagen 1 and collagen 3. Collagen 3 (otherwise known as ‘baby collagen’, because of its presence in infant skin) provides the framework that collagen 1 binds onto.

The two types of collagen need each other to function efficiently and collagen makes up nearly 80% of the skin.

Consequently, collagen is the most critical structural protein in our skin, yet it decreases at around 1% a year from around the age of 25.

This is why even people in their mid-20s are said to have mature skin and are encouraged to start using measures to prevent wrinkles.

After the initial seven-day treatment, Avon recommends using the shots at least once a month to maintain the collagen levels.

Avon also adds that there is enough product in each shot to cover your neck and décolletage, as well as your face.

Avon Anew Skin Reset Plumping Shots Review

Avon

To put Avon’s bold claims to the test, we did as the brand suggests – we spent seven days applying Avon’s Skin Plumping shots every morning as part of our daily face care routine.

It was the only product we changed in our routine, to make sure the results weren’t skewed.

Using one capsule a day, we gently massaged the shots into our face, neck and décolletage (the fancy name for our chest and boob skin). 

This skin is particularly susceptible to wrinkling because its thinner than on your face.

It also has fewer muscles and other “scaffolding” beneath it to give it elasticity.

You can read more about this in our best neck cream guide.

We have sensitive skin so our usual routine consists of using Simple face wipes alongside the Simple Light Moisturiser. 

Due to this sensitivity we tend to avoid adding too many products to this mix, and we’re hesitant when it comes to introducing a new product entirely.

As a result, we were a little hesitant about using Avon’s Anew Skin Reset Plumping Shots. 

Especially because traditional retinol products have, in the past, enhanced this sensitivity and made our skin worse. We explain more about why retinol is so great, but why it needs to be introduced gradually, in our What is retinol and what does it do to the skin? guide. 

Thankfully, after seven day’s use, not only did the Plumping Shots fit in well with our overall routine, we didn’t experience any flare ups or extra sensitivity and we have both seen and felt definite improvements in our skin. 

Buy now from Avon

Avon Plumping Shots review: Formula 

Avon’s new breakthrough patented ingredient, Protinol, is said to work to restore both collagen 1 and collagen 3, bringing them closer to that optimal ratio found in baby skin.

We’re not entirely sure what the exact formula of Protinol is (Avon, unsurprisingly, doesn’t want to give away its secrets!) but the shots themselves are a little thicker than water, but not quite as thick as regular retinol and other anti-ageing serums we’ve used.

This lightweight liquid feels great on the skin, it’s cooling and is absorbed quickly with minimal massaging. This helps reduce the chances of damaging your skin from pulling it or pinching it.

READ NEXT: Best anti-ageing creams for fine lines and wrinkles

When followed with moisturiser, we found it left our face with that ‘just had a facial’ feel. This is why we’re particularly excited by the fact that Avon has released an Anew Day, and Night cream that both contain this wonder ingredient. Every little helps, after all! 

The capsules are so small, our initial reaction was that there was no way this small amount of product was going to cover our face, neck and décolletage. However, having started off on day one using the product sparingly, we soon realised there was plenty to go around.

Buy now from Avon

Application

Avon

Each pack of Avon Plumping Shots comes with seven individual capsules

Avon recommends you apply each shot to freshly cleansed skin, using one shot a day for seven days. 

The product should be massaged gently into your face, neck and décolletage.  After allowing the product to absorb completely, Avon then recommends (unsurprisingly) following it with their Anew skincare regime. In particular, its Skin So Soft range, which we can vouch for as being a great product. 

The instructions in the box, however, simply say to follow with moisturiser so we have been using our normal Simple moisturiser. We shall soon be using the Anew Platinum creams with Protinol in place of this moisturiser to see what a difference it makes. 

The product comes in individual capsules which you flick the top of to ensure there isn’t any liquid trapped in the top. 

You then snap this top off and pour the clear liquid onto your fingers to massage into the skin. 

It took us a good couple of days to get the hang of actually getting the product out of the capsule – opening them for one thing is much more tricky than it should be! – which essentially involves flicking the top off with your thumb before lightly tapping onto your fingers!

Buy now from Avon

Avon Plumping Shots review: Before and After results  

Lisa McKenzie/mamabella

After seven days, the visible wrinkles and fine lines around the eyes were more shallow in appearance and the eyelid skin was tighter

After seven days using the Avon Plumping Shots, our skin felt smoother, better hydrated and areas such as the forehead and décolletage were noticeable tighter.

There was also an improvement in the depth and spread of lines around our eyes (pictured above). 

In fact, many of these results started appearing after just 48 hours!

By day two, some of our wrinkles, particularly those on our neck and chest (pictured below), were far less noticeable in appearance and by day seven the improvement was visible all over.

Lisa McKenzie/mamabella

By day two, some wrinkles, particularly those on the neck and chest (pictured), were far less noticeable in appearance and by day seven the improvement was visible all over

Beyond the fact our wrinkles and fine lines were less visible, and our skin felt tighter, Avon’s Plumping Shots also left us with a much improved skin texture and appearance.

The added hydration from the Plumping Shots gave our skin a fresh, youthful complexion and we’ve been complimented regularly on it.

Lisa McKenzie/mamabella

Beyond the fact wrinkles and fine lines were less visible, Avon’s Plumping Shots also left us with a much improved skin texture and appearance

Avon Plumping Shots review: Verdict

Although we haven’t quite experienced a skin rebirth – as Avon’s marketing materials claim – our skin has definitely been transformed over the course of this seven-day treatment.

We’re impressed with how much tighter our skin looks and feels and, while it’s impossible to know what the equivalent of seven year’s of collagen loss looks like, the fact we’ve seen such a difference in just a week suggests to us that the claims surrounding Avon’s Plumping Shots aren’t hyperbole.

The only product we’ve used recently that has come close to the noticeable difference caused by Avon’s Plumping Shots is the silicone skin patches from Oia Skin. You can read more in our Oia Skin patch review.

As Protinol helps restore collagen loss, the benefits are most profound in 30+ skin – we’re 33 – so we can only imagine how great the differences would be on older skin.

It’s also rare for a product to make a noticeable difference in seemingly reversing the signs of ageing. So many simply delay wrinkles, and this makes it incredibly difficult to quantify and know how your skin would have looked if you hadn’t used it.

At a retail price of £18, Avon’s Plumping Shots aren’t the cheapest of products. And they only last a week for this price, whereas you may be able to get a more expensive cream or serum, but it lasts for weeks or months at a time. Plus, given their size, you could be fooled into thinking you’ve overpaid.

However, when you compare this to the cost of a superb facial, it’s good value with the bonus of longer-lasting results!

You can buy Anew Skin Reset Plumping Shots at avon.uk.com or through a local independent Avon representative.

Buy now from Avon

*Avon’s clinical testing was carried out by dermatology research scientist Dr Ardeshir Bayat at The University of Manchester.

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Lisa McKenzie

Lisa is a curly-haired redhead mum of two who graduated from Bournemouth University with a degree in Law. When she’s not testing skin and hair care, and writing beauty articles, you will find her baking up a storm in the kitchen over at Bake Along with Lisa

www.facebook.com/bakealongwithlisa/

The post Avon Plumping Shots review: Before and after photos show if Anew Skin Reset can restore “7 years of collagen in 7 days”? appeared first on mamabella.