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Three hair types road test the same curl range

Have we hit the trifecta?

As anyone who has ever trialled a curl product will attest, boy are they hard to get right.

Products are either excessively specific and hard to navigate, leaving you spending excessive amounts of money on a niche product that wasn’t actually the right pick for your curls after all. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, they are catch-alls built for all curls types but somehow still leave your scalp feeling greasy, your ends dry, and your curls crunchy and wet looking.

A wise woman once said the rules of haircare are simple and finite, but that woman didn’t have curls like Chutney (that’s a Legally Blonde reference, for those who don’t follow).

It is hard to navigate the world of curl care, so when Evo approached Fashion Journal with a curl range that promised to do it all, our scepticism varied. We were told it’s suitable for all curl types and patterns (2 to 4, a to c), covering wavy, curly and coily hair. Also, it doesn’t change curls as much as it enhances their natural shape.

With nothing to lose, we thought what the hell. Let’s give it a shot. Here, our three different curl types road test the same range. If youre in the market for low-maintenance, genuinely nice curls, maybe one of our stories will speak to you.

The products

Evo’s curl range spans five products. We all dabbled in different products, as it’s important to find the ones that work for you. For quick reference, here’s a rundown of each below.

  1. Springsclean (clean): A deep cleaning rinse to use in lieu of shampoo, but only once a week. It removes product build-up and excess oil without stripping your hair.
  2. Heads will Roll (clean and condition): A co-wash (fancy word for two-in-one) that cleanses and conditions in one step. Suitable for regular use on fine hair to thick hair, and a win for lazy people everywhere.
  3. Baby got Bounce (treat): A rinse-out hair treatment for weekly use. It’s intense but not heavy, supporting curl pattern and improving manageability.
  4. Liquid Rollers (style): A curl balm to enhance natural curl shape and prevent frizz.
  5. Total Recoil (style): A curl definer that binds strands together, to activate your natural curl shape.

Now, let’s begin.

Choose your fighter

Tariro, Fashion Journal contributor, advocate for silk head wraps and silk pillows for hair health, stans Lupita’s hair

My hair is, without sounding overly dramatic, a source of great joy and great frustration. I can spend hours browsing the internet looking for hair growth secrets, tips and tricks, and home remedies for treatments that’ll moisturise my 4C hair. I started shaving my head several years ago and it was only last year that I decided to take my goal of getting Beyoncé ‘Formation’ box braids seriously, and work towards growing my hair. The journey has been trying and I’ve experienced it all, from stress thinning and bouts of hair care laziness, to the occasional unprovoked bald patch.

My hair is very dry and requires an unreasonable amount of moisturiser. My haircare routine consists of a weekly wash and shampoo, followed by getting it styled in Bantu-like knots to protect it from environmental damage. I also moisturise my edges daily with Jamaican castor oil, use an intensive moisturising cream on the rest of my scalp every second day, and sleep on silk pillows with a silk head wrap on. In short, I’m definitely willing to do whatever it takes to get my hair looking and feeling as healthy as it can be.

 

Shanali, Model, needs hair looking perfect for when she books jobs, full focus on frizz

My hair and I tend to get along when it’s doing what it’s told; resisting the elements and paying attention to my needs. So basically, most of the time we are fighting. The life of a curly-haired person is not without its pitfalls. But ultimately, it’s our hair’s unruliness and untamed nature that is what we grow to love most about our hair.

I wasn’t always in love with my hair and when I was younger, I used to have a fortnightly routine of straightening my hair so I could have an easy hair week’ at school. It took a while – even into adulthood – for me to be happy with my locks; it took a great cut for me to get on board at first and I have really embraced my curls since I got my ’70s-inspired shaggy cut. My hair has actually come to be a defining part of my style in these past few years, which is why I always like to keep it looking its best.

Some days it just works and I don’t need any product and other days… well, let’s just say the sight would make a mama bird proud. I have used so many curl products throughout the years, because one thing my hair is always prone to is frizz. Generally, that is the focus of my hair routine.

My current routine is very simple. I use a curl-appropriate shampoo and conditioner, then put curl cream in after my shower. I tend to wash my hair once a week when I’m not working. When I am working, I need to pay my hair a bit more attention and I do treatments more regularly. Another issue I face with my hair is dryness, which of course adds to frizziness. So often I look for products that will help me restore some of that moisture.

 

Cait, Digital Editor, Self-Confessed Hair Person, wants definition and volume to meet her seventies shaggy aesthetic 

Im a hair person, but I havent always been. Growing up I used to hate my thick, curly, unruly hair. I would spend hours taming it with a piping hot GHD and lots of heat protectant, but eventually, I came around to the natural texture. I love the sort of eighties-meets-seventies messy, shaggy aesthetic hair-wise, and am fortunate that to get this texture I usually just let my hair air dry and do its thing. In saying that, it can be pretty hit or miss. Some days the curls are defined and look great, and other days theyre frizzy in places and flat elsewhere. I am pretty lazy with my hair; I usually just use a shampoo and conditioner I get from the supermarket and scrunch through a cream curl definer afterwards. I very rarely do treatments or masques, but Id love to know how my hair could feel if I used products specifically intended for curly hair, especially because my hair is very dry and colour damaged. So basically what Im looking for is more definition, more volume and for my ends to feel softer. A pretty tall order, really.

 

Choose your own adventure

Tariro

My time perusing haircare forums has reminded me of one fact over and over again: If you treat your hair well, it’ll let you know. I was drawn to this range because it included ‘coily’ hair types under the curly umbrella, something I don’t often come across, so I felt very “seen”. I knew immediately that Heads Will Roll, the range’s co-wash, would satisfy my hair needs and it didn’t disappoint. It lathered up easily and had a creamy consistency without being heavy. I overestimated how much I’d need and realized that I only needed a fraction of the amount I had applied when I was washing it out.

Springsclean was a welcome addition to my shampoo regimen because it deep cleaned the build-up in my hair, without leaving it feeling dehydrated and brittle. I do think that I’d need to follow it up with the co-wash to add more moisture to my hair at the cleansing stage. Baby Got Bounce, the curl treatment, was light, moisturising and the pump spray delivered a good amount of product, something I pay close attention to.

For me, what I put on my scalp and hair after conditioning it is the most important part of my routine. I opted for Liquid Rollers because having very tight coils and shorter hair means that I don’t necessarily need to define my coils, and I never pass up an opportunity to add more moisture to my hair. I see myself using Total Recoil in future once my hair gains some length and my coils need some definition as a result. In the meantime, I’ll be experimenting with Total Recoil to gel down my baby hair after I get my hair done again.

Shanali

I got a little excited about the five-part curl range, so decided to try as many of the products as I could! I started off the process with Springsclean, which is designed for a really deep clean. My hair wasn’t necessarily that dirty but I thought I would give it a shot, as I haven’t done any treatments for a long time. All five products feel very well thought-out, as the applicator for each is conducive to the process. The nozzle for Springsclean, in particular, is helpful as it allows the product to directly reach the scalp. It lathered my hair nicely as I washed it out.

I then used Baby Got Bounce, a curl treatment designed to keep your hair manageable and healthy in general. I had thought my hair was soft after its first wash; I didn’t realise it could get softer again! With treatment products, you can only really notice true results after using them for a while, but if the touch of my hair was anything to go by, it was working some magic.

Lastly, I couldn’t decide which curl definer cream I wanted to use, so I chose both. I applied Liquid Rollers on the left side and Total Recoil on the right. I thought this would be a really good way to see the difference on the one type of hair. I let my hair air dry, which probably took a little longer than normal. The product was quite obvious in the hair until it had fully dried but afterwards, I could see a noticeable difference.

Cait

After looking at the range of products, I knew that my hair would probably work best with the co-wash as it was dirty, but not that dirty. I wash my hair far too frequently (every two or so days) so thought it could be good to try a product that seems low maintenance, and co-wash combines a conditioner and a shampoo – the ultimate in low-maintenance. I was dubious about it though, considering the bad rap that three-in-one style hair products get. But it really surprised me. It felt very luxurious, almost like I was at the hairdresser and I loved the scent – its got a really fresh and clean aroma and left my hair feeling super silky for having just used the one product.

I then also added Baby Got Bounce, a spray-in curl treatment. This was the star product for me in terms of ease of use and the payoff it provided. Its similar to a hair masque except I didnt have to use a lot of thick, gloopy product to leave my hair feeling really nourished post-treatment. Ill definitely be incorporating this into my haircare routine, probably on a weekly basis.

Post-wash, I decided to try the Total Recoil curl definer, because I use a curl definer regularly, but I wanted to see if theres a curl definer out there that can bless me with more volume and definition. This curl definer, unlike a lot of curl definers Ive used, felt super soft and moisturising, as opposed to tacky and sticky. I also ended up putting in a touch of Liquid Rollers, for an extra little tszuj.

The verdict

Tariro

I’m a creature of habit and although I was excited to try the range, I was admittedly nervous. It felt like sending a cherished coat to a new dry cleaner and praying that they treat it just as kindly as your go-to dry cleaner. The curl range did not disappoint. From start to finish, my hair felt moisturised, clean and healthy. Having short hair means that I often rely on how my hair feels to judge a product’s effectiveness, but the range made my hair look as good as it felt. My coils looked bouncy, hydrated and had a slight shine to them. My boyfriend even asked if I had done something to my hair, so by all accounts, it was a success.

One point that I’d like to stress is that a little goes a long way and being heavy-handed, especially with the cleansers, provides no extra benefit. It’s easy to dismiss the usage instructions, especially when you’ve had to make adjustments to suit your hair type previously, but this range definitely takes coily hair into account. It also has a floral scent that isn’t overwhelming and doesn’t smell artificial – a definite bonus!

 

Shanali

I would consider the result pretty successful! It was effective in eliminating a lot of my usual frizz, which is a huge deal for me and something I am always looking to achieve from curl creams. I would also say my curls were enhanced. I normally don’t have such a consistent curl – it’s quite often loose – but I was left with some tight springy curls, which I know will loosen up nicely as the week goes on.

Noticeably, I could feel some of the product from the Total Recoil side in my hair, whereas Liquid Rollers was soft to the touch. Therefore, I’ll probably use Total Recoil if I want to create really defined curls or keep my hair in some sort of style, and for general use, Liquid Rollers will be better for my curls. In short, I was really happy with the results because it met my main criteria of defining my curls and eliminating frizz. It’s exciting for me to now have a foolproof curl product, and my plan is to maintain my curls throughout the week by reapplying the styling products to damp hair when the frizz monster reappears. This way, I’ll always look like I just did a three-step hair care routine!

 

Cait

Once my hair had dried, its not an overstatement to say that I was left feeling like an eighties-meets-seventies queen, just the way I like it. My hair had more volume than usual but was also a lot softer and more nourished than usual. My bone-dry ends were, for want of a better word, quenched. I had a lot more volume around the roots, which can often get quite weighed down by the thickness of my hair. The one thing I think I wouldnt do next time is put so much product in. I think I got a little bit overexcited and my hair probably only needed about three-quarters of the amount I put through it.

Oh, and an important side note is that these products also smell really great. All-day, I kept thinking I was wearing a very subtle, natural-smelling perfume before remembering that I had these hair products in. So, ultimately, I somehow got the elusive holy trinity: softness, volume and definition. I cant really believe it either, but I guess thats what you can get when you use the right selection of curly-centric products.

 

This article was made in partnership with Evo, who supplied Cait, Tariro and Shanali with products we genuinely love. Find the curl range for yourself here.

evohair.com

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