February 28, 2021

Best Leave-In Conditioners & Curl Creams

Continuing the Top 10 series, today I’m sharing the best leave-in conditioners and curl creams for all curly hair types. These range from drugstore to high end and have various price points. I’m rating each of them based on their moisture level, humectant ingredients, protein ingredients, and more.

What is the difference between a leave-in conditioner and a curl cream?

The easiest way to think of it is leave-ins are used as an extra step to exclusively add moisture for super dry hair. They are usually more light-weight than curl creams. Sometimes they contain ingredients to help retain moisture. Leave-ins are also commonly used to refresh because they’re lightweight and help detangle. They often provide slip and manageability.

Curl creams are designed to improve the appearance of your hair AND provide moisture. They’re considered a styling product because they can enhance your curl pattern/definition, encourage clumping, moisturize, and help retain moisture. Curl creams are usually a bit heavier than leave-ins, and sometimes contain oils and butters.

Both leave-ins and curl creams need to be layered under a gel or a mousse if you want lasting hold and frizz control. Although they moisturize dry hair, they will not fully tame frizz because they do not provide a strong “cast” or hold.

Top 10 Leave-Ins and Curl Creams

Product	Key Ingredients	Benefits	Moisture Level	Proteins?	Top Humectants	Price
Innersense Organic Sweet Spirit Leave-In Conditioner	Aloe Vera, honey, tamanu oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride	Reduces moisture loss, detangles, adds shine	Light	Hydrolyzed Quinoa	Glycerin, Honey	$26
MICHE Hydrating Curl Refresher & Leave-In Spray	Aloe vera, avocado oil, caprylic/capric triglyceride	Lightweight moisture, detangling, soften	Light	Hydrolyzed silk protein	Hydrolyzed silk protein, glycine	$18
TréLuxe Untie the Knot Leave-In Conditioner	Slippery Elm, Aloe Vera, Coconut oil, coconut Milk	Improves hair flexibility & manageability, detangling	Medium	Oryza Sativa (Rice) Extract, Keratin Amino Acids	Propylene Glycol, Keratin Amino Acids	$18 +15% off w/ code GENAMARIE15
Curlsmith Weightless Air Dry Cream	Hyaluronic acid, Castor seed oil, babassu oil, murumuru oil, jojoba seed oil, shea butter	Concentrated moisture without weighing down	Medium	None	Hyaluronic acid, glycerin	$26
Bounce Curl Moisture Balance Leave-In Conditioner	Jojoba seed oil, olive fruit oil, murumuru seed butter, argan oil, shea butter, avocado oil	Concentrated moisture, sealing oils, adds shine	Strong	None	Ethylhexylglycerin (low)	$24 +10% off w/ code GENAMARIE
Not Your Mother's Curl Talk Cream	Polyquaternium-72, Shea Butter Ethylesters, Polyacrylamide, C13-14 Isoparaffin*	Provides a slight hold, definition and shine	Medium	Keratin Amino Acids	Keratin Amino Acids	$8.50
Amika Curl Corps Defining Cream	Tapioca Starch, oat peptide, sea buckthorn	Curl enhancing & clumping, lock in moisture, strengthening	Strong	Avena Sativa (Oat/Avoine) Peptide, Hydrolyzed Jojoba Protein, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolyzed Wheat Starch	Glycerin, Panthenol	$25
Noughty Wave Hello Curl Taming Cream	Wheat bran extract, mango seed butter, sea kelp, camelia oil, linoliec acids	Provides definition, tames frizz, locks in moisture	Strong	None	Glycerin	$10
Bounce Curl Avocado & Rose Oil Clump and Define Cream	Avocado oil, caprylic/capric triglyceride, aloe, VPVA/Copolymer, Murumuru seed butter, shea butter	Clumping & volume, concentrated moisture without weighing down, slight hold	Medium/ Strong	None	Sorbitol	$24 +10% off w/ code GENAMARIE
Curlsmith Hold Me Softly Style Balm	Coconut oil, Apricot kernel oil, Avocado oil, Olive oil, sunflower seed oil, aloe	Provides definition and bounce, softens, improves elasticity	Strong	None	Glycerin	$27

How do you choose a leave-in or cream?

Most leave-ins and curl creams will work with all curly hair types. The ones I included in this post are suitable for most. However there are a few things to keep in mind:

Have fine hair? Opt for a lightweight leave-in or cream. Avoid heavy oils and butters as they may weigh down your hair.
Have coarse hair? Look for ingredients that provide slip and manageability. Oils and butters don’t usually weigh down coarse hair. Be mindful of using too much protein because it can make coarse hair more brittle.
Have high porosity hair? Be sure to top off all creams with a gel to seal in your moisture. Look for film-forming humectants such as aloe. Proteins will help provide strength and retain moisture.
Have low porosity hair? Avoid heavy butters and oils that can cause build-up and weigh down your hair. Opt for film-forming humectants such as aloe, flaxseed, slippery elm, marshmallow root to avoid moisture loss. Don’t overdo it with proteins, and opt for smaller proteins that won’t build-up such as amino acids and keratin.
Have medium hair that falls between all of these types? You can use a range of products. Just adjust depending on what your hair needs in terms of protein and moisture.