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Managing curly hair is no easy feat – requiring you to be armed with a hair care arsenal boasting hydrating, curly hair-friendly products, ample patience, and a ton of tender, loving care. And since your shampoo lays the foundation for holistic hair health, you must pick one that intensely moisturises your strands, keeping flyaways and frizziness at bay.
Shampoos laden with sulphates, alcohol, and minerals can leave your hair parched and frizzy. On the other hand, hydration-heavy formulas – enriched with argan oil, coconut oil, aloe vera, shea butter, jojoba oil, honey, and glycerine – nourish and strengthen your tresses and help retain their original form. If you’ve been looking to replace your bottle with a more well-suited formulation for your hair type, peruse our edit of the best shampoos for curly hair.
What To Look For In A Shampoo And Conditioner For Curly Hair
According to a study, all the top shampoos and conditioners for curly hair have a few things in common, and you need to bear in mind these tips.
Gentle: The best shampoo for curly and frizzy hair should be gentle, as curly doesn’t need to be washed as frequently as straight or wavy hair.
Hydrating: The shampoo and especially conditioner should be extremely hydrating as curly hair is ultra-textured and they need a lot of hydration to maintain their shape, bounce, and overall health.
Keratin-Rich: According to a study, the products for curly hair should be rich in keratin – a protein that forms the outer layer of your hair. You lose keratin with every wash and a keratin-rich shampoo and conditioner will strengthen your hair and stop breakage and damage.
How Frequently Should Curly Hair Be Washed
The frequency at which you wash your hair depends on many factors such as hair texture, volume, curl type, and the temperature and weather conditions of the place you are living in. Ideally, you should wash your hair every 3–4 days, I personally don’t wait for the fourth day.
Scalp: If you have an oily scalp, wash your hair every two days, and if you have a normal or dry scalp you can go up to four days without another wash.
Environment: If it is too hot and humid outside, wash every 2–3 days and during the winter season you can wait for four days.
Lifestyle: If you exercise a lot or experience sweaty scalps, then washing it more frequently which is 1–2 days would be ideal.
Buildup: If you use a lot of styling products such as hair spray, dry shampoo, or serums for styling then wash your hair every other day to avoid buildup of any kind.
Best Shampoo For Curly Hair
Here’s a tailor-made list of the best-rated shampoo for curly hair that each offers something unique depending on your budget, the current trend, and the efficacy of the products.
Hydration Boost
Nykaa Recommends:
Quench your curls with the goodness of coconut oil, honey, and citrus oil. OGX’s formulation helps hydrate your hair to restore lost moisture and tames frizz for a more manageable mane. Add this one to your cart for beautifully bouncy tresses sans frizziness and flyaways.
Colour-Protection Formula
Nykaa Recommends:
BBlunt’s sulphate-free shampoo boasts jojoba oil and coconut water and is suitable for Indian weather and hair types. Free from parabens and chemicals, use it on colour-treated hair to reverse hair damage and restore hair moisture. This clarifying shampoo for curly hair also smoothens unruly tresses and nourishes your mane.
Worth the Splurge
Nykaa Recommends:
Drench your curls in Aveda’s moisture-boosting formulation that enhances your spirals and facilitates shine. The best part? Your hair won’t solely look good but will smell great, too! Certified organic lime, lemon, bergamot, orange, and other flower essences give this shampoo a refreshing citrus scent.
Curl Retention & Frizz Protection Formula
Nykaa Recommends:
Bare Anatomy’s Curl Defining Shampoo promises up to 48 hours of frizz protection and 74% moisturisation. This formula is enriched with castor oil, hyaluronic acid, and coconut oil and tackles limp tresses by locking in moisture and making your hair dense and shiny.
Top Rated
Nykaa Recommends:
Safe to use on permed hair, extensions, wigs, and weaves, Biotop’s Professional 69 Pro-Active Curly Hair Shampoo helps define your curls and coils and boosts a natural sheen. The formulation also makes a solid case for clean beauty and is free from parabens, petrochemicals, and allergy-causing fragrances.
Household Name
Nykaa Recommends:
A women-trusted brand, Dove’s Beautiful Curls Sulphate Free Hydrating Shampoo delivers on its promise of ultra-nourished, curly hair. It relies on a tri-moisture essence formula containing glycerine, aloe extract, and shea butter to slough off impurities and dirt build-up and intensify your natural hair texture.
Value For Money
Nykaa Recommends:
The Fix My Curls Cleansing Shampoo gently cleanses your hair, eliminates dirt build-up, and balances your scalp’s pH. It is imbued with rosemary oil, apple cider vinegar, and tea tree oil and doesn’t need to be used more than once a week for super-bouncy curls!
Editor’s Pick
Nykaa Recommends:
I use it, I love it. You should use it, and we promise you will love it too! Curl Up’s Moisturising Curly Hair Shampoo is well-priced and works best for Indian hair types and textures. It contains chia seeds, coconut, flax seeds, and argan oil to strengthen your hair from within while lending a healthy dose of hydration.
Shampooing is just step one in the hair care routine for it to be called a routine even, if you have curly hair, then you need to include at least a conditioner if not more hair care essentials.
Leave-In Conditioner
Nykaa Recommends:
This leave-in conditioner, formulated with kavuni rice sourced from the rural regions of south India and angelica seed oil is perfect for Indian curls. The ingredients are super hydrating and lock in your curls to improve smoothness, reduce frizz, and add intense moisture without weighing it down. It’s also a vegan formula that makes me happy indulging in it.
Power-Packed Ingredients
Nykaa Recommends:
Infused with argan oil, rice extract, shea butter, coconut water, quinoa protein, jojoba oil, vitamin E, and vitamin B5, this conditioner defines even the loosest of the curls. It’s extremely hydrating, boosts shine, makes it softer, reduces frizz, and keeps it looking styled until the next watch.
Best Budget Buy
Nykaa Recommends:
Made with hibiscus extract this budget-friendly conditioner offers plant-based keratin to add shine, boost strength, reduce breakage, and improve healthy hair growth. The hydrating layer offers added protection and moisture. It also curbs the spread and growth of dandruff and itchiness.
Clean Formula
Nykaa Recommends:
Free from parabens, phthalates, mineral oil, and petroleum and full of hibiscus, coconut, silk protein, and neem oil this conditioner offers well-defined curls while protecting them from damage and breakage.
FAQs
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How to know if a shampoo is suitable for curly hair?
Curly hair needs more moisture than straight or even wavy hair, as the oil from the scalp doesn’t easily get to the shaft and the roots due to the shape and the texture. So look for words like moisturising, hydrating, mild, gentle, soluble, etc.
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Does curly hair need shampoo?
Yes, curly hair needs shampooing. A lot of people think co-washing is enough to cleanse the hair, but contrary to popular belief, curly hair needs shampoo to clean environmental impurities, oil buildup, and other pollutants.
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Does shampoo make curly hair frizzy?
Yes and no, make sure your shampoo is free from all harmful chemicals such as sulphates, parabens, and mineral oils and is hydrating and gentle. Shampoo is anyways meant for cleaning and not styling, for curly hair, follow a shampoo with a conditioner and occasionally a mask or moose that holds the curls and defines with the loosest of locks.
