My Hunt For Non-Toxic Curl Gel Has Finally Ended!
Finding a non-toxic gel for curly hair is rather difficult. Seriously, I scoured through countless beauty bloggers, popular amazon reviews, and eventually messaged all my curly-haired friends for advice. But, nearly every recommended product ended up being packed full of not-so-desirable ingredients, like formaldehydes and artificial fragrances.
Yuck.
And then, suddenly (it was as if some shopping seraphs heard my discontented typing) I found myself on a random curly-girls reddit page where the word “Raw Curls” seemed to repeat endlessly as I scrolled down.
What was this “Raw Curls” hubbub all about?
Raw Curls, was founded by Melanie Nickels (an organictarian and broadway stylist) who owns one of the most popular organic salons in Florida. After 22 years of using subpar not-so-natural curly hair gels in her clients’ hair, she decided to make her own. It took four years of trial-and-error, but Nickels eventually perfected her product and Raw Curls was born.
Now, when it comes to curly hair, you’ve probably already discovered that a product’s performs depends on three things. Your hair’s curl type, porosity, and texture. If you’re a bit new to that information (like I was) here’s this handy quiz that’ll help you determine all three characteristics in your own hair.
My hair lies in a solid 2A realm, it is highly porous (thanks to my bleaching days) and maintains a medium texture. In other words, my Scandinavian strands are just a bit swavy. And while the Raw Curls gel is ideal for 3C-4C curls, I also read enough reviews on reddit about it working for 2A’s (like me) who needed a bit of extra “strength” to turn their swavy hair into actual waves.
When my bottles arrived at my doorstep, I jumped in the shower, did my normal hair routine, and then applied some of the gel. Turns out, it worked wonders. My waves suddenly had definition all without weighing down my roots.
Root-weigh-down has been a BIG problem for me, so I was beyond enthusiastic about this gel. Ever since then, I’ve been a dedicated fan. I bought my first bottle three years ago and I’ve gone through 6 bottles since then. Occasionally, I still try my hand with salt sprays (my recent fav is this organic one my sister and I also posted about) but this gel has become my mainstay.
My Process | I start buy following my typical co-wash routine (right now I use 100% Pure’s Moisture Drench conditioner). Then, I gently squeeze most of excess water from my hair in the shower. I put a nickel-sized amount of the Raw Curls gel in my palms and rub them together. Next, I flip my head upside-down and scrunch the the gel into my curls oh-so-generously. Then I wrap my gel-covered hair in an organic ultra-absorbent towel (I use this gorgeous one) until my hair is nearly dry.
To finish styling, I unwrap my hair from the towel and give the roots a little shake and then scrunch up the hair again to soften the firmness of the gel.
What I Love About It | It’s crunch-free. None of those early 2000’s vibes going on with this gel. Raw Curl’s firm hold gel is made 99.7% natural, wild crafted, organic ingredients. It’s also totally free of parabens, including methyl, propyl, butyl and ethyl. Basically it’s the best alternative to the chemically damaging (and often more-drying) ingredients you’ll find in a lot of curl enhancers and gels.
My fav. part of Raw Curls is that I can re-use the product on second-day hair (even after hitting the gym) and it still maintains a curl.
Good To Knows | If your hair is a fine texture, you can also opt for some Raw Curls mousse instead of a gel for even more light-weight curl. I’m actually considering making this switch because my hair texture seems to have changed a bit after having my baby.
Ideal For | The natural-product-lovin’ gal who has sorta-curly hair.
Ingredients | 100% Natural & Organic Ingredients:Water, Decyl Glucoside, Glycerin, Coco Glucoside, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera Gel)*, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Extract*, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract*, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Fruit Extract* (and) Mangifera Indica (Mango) Fruit Extract*, Panthenol (Vitamin B-5), Calophyllum Tacamahaca (Tamanu) Seed Oil*, Brassica Oleracea Italica (Broccoli) Seed Oil, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) FlowerExtract (and) Lonicera Japonica (Honeysuckle) Flower Extract, Citrus Paradisi (Grapefruit White) Oil, Citrus Sinensis (Orange) Oil, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid. *CERTIFIED ORGANIC*
You’ll want to be mindful of the potassium sorbate which ranks as a low 3 on the EWG.
Price | $24
Ethics | All of Raw Hair Organics Natural Hair Care Products are proudly made here in the U.S.A. They also don’t test their products on animals.
Sustainability | I reached out to Raw Curl’s customer service to find out more about their sustainability, but so far I haven’t found anything very specific. I will make sure to keep you posted once I hear more details.
Do you have wavy, swavy or curly hair too? What natural products do you swear by to enhance your textured hair? We’d love to hear about it! DM my sister and I on Instagram via @CalmandChic to let us know!
Cheers,
Hazel
