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Choosing the best natural hair products can be an overwhelming task. Most of us are looking for that one magic product that will grant all of our hair wishes—whether it’s to define, volumize, seal in moisture, or carry a pleasing scent. The reality, however, is that our natural hair routines require a concoction of many different products to give us the results we’re looking for.
So whether you’re searching for the perfect scalp cleanser, a new favorite styling cream that defines your hair and brings moisture to your twist-out, or you’re in need of a deep treatment to restore hydration in brittle strands—here you’ll find the best natural hair products (informed by the pros!) to help you create your best regimen and achieve all of your hair goals.
Scalp Cleansers & Shampoos
Scalp care is an essential part of maintaining healthy hair. Scalp therapist and Paul Labrecque salon stylist Bridgette Hill’s favorite shampoo is Design Essentials Honey Creme Moisture Retention Shampoo, as it doesn’t strip the hair of its natural oils. She recommends not to wash your hair too often and, for those with longer strands, to put shampoo products into an applicator bottle “so that the product penetrates the scalp more deeply.”
Speaking of applicator bottles, Carol’s Daughter’s Wash Day Delight Shampoo comes pre-packaged in one, its gentle foam lather filled with refreshing aloe. Kinky-Curly’s Come Clean sulfate-free shampoo features the delightful scent of mandarin orange extract and offers a gentle cleanse, while sea kelp helps balance your hair’s moisture. Charlotte Mensah’s shampoo is a cocktail of manketti nut and ximenia oils, perfect for dehydrated scalps and parched strands. Golde founder Trinity Mouzon loves the Briogeo Avocado + Quinoa Co-Wash to keep her curls healthy—the perfect cleanser that at once removes dirt and build-up while moisturizing and detangling hair.
Curly World’s Sham Free Hair & Scalp Cleanser is a sulfate-free, detangling conditioning cleanser that includes the Resurrection Plan to help detoxify and moisturize the hair and scalp. And, for gentle exfoliation of the scalp, one can lean on TPH by Taraji’s Never Salty Scalp Scrub that gently removes dead skin cells and leaves it feeling minty fresh thanks to peppermint oil.
Conditioners
Conditioning is the time to restore your hair’s hydration after a thorough cleansing. Hairstylist Charlotte Mensah’s conditioner is filled with signature manketti oil perfect for doing just that, while SheaMoisture's Cannabis & Ginseng Lush Length Conditioner includes THC and CBD-free cannabis sativa seed oil, ginseng root, and horsetail extract that work together to soften and rejuvenate dull hair. Suave’s natural hair conditioner offers an affordable, high-quality formula concocted of coconut oil and shea butter that provides enough slip to detangle in the shower. Vernon François’s Pure Fro Conditioner, meanwhile, is a delightful mixture of eucalyptus oil, lavender oil, amino acids, and plant-based keratin perfect for saturating kinky and coily textures.
Leave-In Conditioners & Detanglers
For an extra dose of moisture or detangling post-wash day, leave-in conditioners and detanglers come in handy. Oribe’s Priming Lotion is a leave-in, detangler, and primer for heat styling all in one. Its magic ingredients include vitamin E, vitamin A, jojoba oil, and olive oil. Carol’s Daughter Repair Leave-In Cream is nice and thick, but absorbs into strands well. It’s equipped with monoi oil which moisturizes and helps with the detangling process. Alikay Naturals Leave-In conditioner is refreshing with its lemongrass scent, silk amino acids, and aloe vera juice, which works to seal the hair’s cuticle and add strength to damaged tresses.
Deep Treatments
Deep conditioning is key when it comes to sustaining the overall health of your hair. Whether strands are parched, dull, or you’re dealing with shedding, deep conditioning will help. Bomba Curls’s hair mask is “an ultra-indulgent curl treatment that was created using Dominican-inspired ingredients like scalp stimulating cinnamon and biotin-rich pistachio oil.” According to founder Lulu Cordero: “The treatment's nourishing power is enhanced by cupuaçu butter which holds 200 times more moisture than shea butter, creating the ultimate moisturizing punch.” Oribe’s Moisture & Control treatment masque is packed with mango seed butter, cocoa seed butter, avocado oil, jojoba oil, and, of course, Oribe’s signature complex that goes into every product: watermelon, lychee, and edelweiss flower.
Camille Rose’s deep conditioning mask is filled with blue-green algae, which is known for preventing hair from thinning and breaking off while mango butter is deeply nourishing. Vernon Francois’s Whipped is amazing for “stressed” strands. It doesn’t weigh curls and kinks down thanks to its light formula consisting of keratin amino acids, jojoba oil, green tea and sweet almond oil. Briogeo’s Don’t Despair, Repair! mask is great for restoring damaged hair with its blend of B-vitamins, rosehip and argan oils, collagen, and silk, while Davines Love Curl Hair Mask is rich in Noto almonds, vitamins B and E, iron and magnesium, perfect for adding elasticity and volume to curls. Naturall Club’s new Ice Cream Deep Conditioner Treatment is protein-rich and filled with lavender, tea tree, and avocado to keep curls soft.
Styling Creams
Celebrity hairstylist and Lizzo’s go-to Shelby Swain says her favorite product is Main Choice’s Doesn’t Get Much Butter Than This, because “it’s a really good hair dressing, leaving your hair entirely moisturized with a perfect shine and smelling incredible. It’s perfect for twist outs and wash and go’s!” Model and activist Ebonee Davis’s favorite is Mielle Moisture Hawaiian Ginger Moisturizing Hair Butter, which offers a sweet burst of moisture thanks to ginger, lemon, sugar cane, and orange.
Prose’s curl cream, on the other hand, “is designed to work for a wide spectrum of curl patterns on the curly, coily, and tightly-textured spectrum—from 2B to 4C hair types—by determining a bespoke ratio of four primary sustainably sourced ingredients: anti-frizz pequi oil, definition-imparting flaxseed extract, strengthening baobab protein, and nourishing shea oil,” as Vogue’s Lauren Valenti reported. “With curly hair, there are so many different textures and lots of in-between, so typically you have to go and get everything separately,” says hairstylist Takisha Sturdivant-Drew, whose clients include Kerry Washington, Willow Smith, and Nesta Cooper. “This is a game-changer because it’s a one-stop-shop!”
Pattern’s new styling cream is great for all curls and tight textures, perfect for wash-n-gos, as well as twists or re-twisting locks, as it’s filled with shea butter, cacay oil, and sweet almond oil which nourishes the hair and prevents damage and breakage.
Styling gels
For many, gel is the perfect way to add lasting definition and hold to your style. Enter Oribe’s Curl Gelee, which offers a moisturizing, crunch-free hold on your curls thanks to mango butter, macadamia seed, apricot oils, and neem seed. Similarly, Pattern’s new Curl Gel creates defined, springy curls with the help of aloe vera, coconut oil and cacay oil.
Hair-Slicking Products and Edge Stylers
Celebrity hairstylist and barber Nigella Miller loves using Curls’ Blueberry line for laying baby hairs as “they give a natural hold.” Felicia Leatherwood, another hairstylist to the stars, uses Aunt Jackie’s Slicked! Flexible Styling Glue with a “double-sided edge brush or a toothbrush.” If you’re opting for a sleek updo or low bun without baby hair designs, try Carol’s Daughter’s Mimosa Hair Honey to tame flyaways, while Pattern’s Strong Hold Gel keeps everything in place, remaining soft to touch.
Oils
Colorist and scalp therapist Bridgette Hill recommends rinsing and conditioning between shampoos with René Furterer Complexe 5 Detoxing Oil, as it’s “truly a cleansing oil, and that is a great thing for cellular turnover. It gets the blood circulating intensely and has lots of active oils that penetrate and reduce inflammation, which is the end goal,” Hill says. Other great options include one from Bread, a new textured hair care brand saying no to “anti-frizz” messaging, founded by Maeva Heim. The oil is silicone-free and laced with Kakadu plum and safflower oil; it’s meant to act like a “lip gloss for your hair” that can also be used as a prewash treatment. “We wanted to create an assortment that was all about speed, and making the routine as quick as possible,” Heim says.
Finally, Bomba Curls’ hair oil is great for nourishing the scalp and strands pre-cleansing, to protect the hair from getting stripped of its natural oils or becoming overly dry due to harsh shampoos.
Protective Styling
While rocking braids, twists, or whatever your protective style of choice might be, having the tools to protect and refresh your scalp is important. TPH By Taraji has a delightful scalp cooling serum with a three-pronged applicator, targeting the scalp easily whether you have cornrows, box braids, twists, or locs. Tea tree and avocado oils deliver a soothing and invigorating feeling to an itchy, dry scalp. Dark And Lovely For Protective Styles Tension Tamer behaves similarly, offering relief to an uncomfortable scalp with its rosemary leaf extract and avocado oil. Vernon Francois Scalp Nourish-Ment Braid & Loc Spray, meanwhile, is equipped with hydrating oils like jojoba, sweet almond, crambe, argan, and castor.