When it comes to reaching Rihanna-level curls, products are everything. Any celeb pro or beauty blogger will tell you that finding the right products for your unique curl pattern is half the battle.
In comparison to the few popular African-American hair products in the early '90s (think: Pink Lotion, Just for Me, Blue Magic and African Heritage oil), thankfully, today's beauty industry is a lot more inclusive. Curly hair has become a legit subdivision of the hair market with companies like DevaCurl, Shea Moisture and Gabrielle Union's Flawless using science to create beauty products specifically for curly hair. These brands, as well as the larger beauty manufacturers, are also much more natural than their early '90s counterparts. Shea butter, coconut oil, argan oil—for the most part, you know what you're putting in your hair.
While there's more products for everybody to find their must-haves, everything doesn't work for everybody. Also, most people have more than one curl pattern, so finding the right products is a personalized journey that no one can complete for you. But, it's nice to have a comprehensive list of reviews from someone that learned through trial and error.
So, I tried fifty plus products to bring you the resource I wish I had when I went heat-free for three months. Check out my must-haves below!
Disclaimer: My hair features tight curls, somewhere between 3C and 4A (Check out our celebrity hair graph here), so the products below were best for my texture of hair.