Perfectly Defined Curls Felt Like a Pipe Dream—Until I Found These $15 Staples

Welcome to Deep Reviews—your one-stop destination to discover the absolute best products and brands the beauty industry has to offer. The Who What Wear staffers you already know and trust will research, test, and review the market's most sought-after and buzzed-about products to see which formulas (of the hundreds up for consideration) are worth your hard-earned money and attention. You can expect honest, uncensored feedback and no-BS recommendations our hard-to-please testers endorse without reservations.

The majority of our Deep Reviews will feature our editors' honest, ultra-hot takes on entire product categories or multiple products from a particular beauty brand, but every so often, we'll sprinkle in a special single-product format called Honestly, I Love It. As the name suggests, these reviews will hone in on one (or a few) standout beauty formula(s) our editors can't shut up about. This time, I'm highlighting three key products from natural haircare brand Rizos Curls. 

It took me a long time to truly love and appreciate my natural curls. I spent most of my teenage years and early 20s straightening my hair to a point of no return. Honestly, I'm still dealing with some of the damage—even today. Once I finally embraced my thick, coarse, 3C curls and decided to stop using heat altogether, my hair became so much healthier. It took more than just putting down the flat iron and blowdryer, though. To nurse my strands back to health, I had to overhaul my entire haircare routine, and believe me, that was a major challenge.

I'm mixed and my hair texture really is a blend of both my parents' hair types—it can be a lot. Just like buying skincare, finding the products that work best for your specific curls can be tricky, especially if you're like me and deal with a lot of frizz and dryness. While I love the idea of using a co-wash since my curls are so dry, I've found that a lot of them don't cleanse my thick hair well enough and don't work well for any product build up on the hair. Ugh. That, at least, was the issue until I discovered Rizos Curls. One day, I was chatting with my facialist Jade Chapman about the curly girl struggle, and she introduced me to the brand. I instantly fell in love with quite a few of its products, but the three I can't stop raving about are the Hydrating Shampoo ($15), Deep Conditioner ($15), and Refresh & Detangle Spray ($15)

When left to its own devices, my hair becomes really frizzy, dry, and it loses its natural curl pattern easily. A lot of shampoos are too harsh for my naturally dry hair and they strip my scalp, but that wasn't the case with the Rizos Hydrating Shampoo. While it does have a similar feel to a clarifying shampoo, it's hydrating enough that it doesn't totally dry out your strands. I should note that these products have coconut oil in them, which I know isn't a great ingredients for some curl types. Coconut oil can sometimes make your hair even drier, but I will say that the formulas are well-balanced and contain other rich, hydrating ingredients that make your hair soft and give it an overall healthier appearance. 

The deep conditioner and detangling spray really help smooth down any excess frizz. I also noticed that after using this trio for a few weeks, I noticed a lot less product build up on my hair—even after using things like styling creams and gels. This was major for me because normally, I would need to wash more often since product would build up on my scalp. This is due to the addition of sunflower oil. I knew sunflower oil had some great skincare benefits, but what I didn't know is that it also promotes healthy hair growth and reduces the amount of product build up on the hair. 

Sunflower oil is a star ingredient in this formula, but I should also note that these products are silicone and sulfate free. Silicones aren't always great for curly hair, and I learned this the hard way. While silicones like dimethicone can be great for sealing moisture in, they can also keep moisture out for someone who doesn't wash their hair as often—aka, those with curly hair. Olive oil in this formula helps further cleanse the scalp and promotes better curl elasticity so your natural curl pattern shines through. Shea butter and argan oil also help your strands maintain moisture longer which is key if you have curls.

My number one complaint about most conditioners and curl creams is that the hydration just seems to evaporate after a few hours. Not the case here! Like I said above, coconut oil is another major ingredient in these products, but I didn't find that it dried my hair out. While I did still have a bit more frizz than I would like, I did notice that my hair also became stronger and I'd find less of it in my brush every week.

What I love most about these star ingredients is that they provide the perfect amount of hydration without making your hair feel heavy like some silicone-based products can. After washday, my hair would feel soft, hydrated, and refreshed.

Rizos Curls founder and CEO Julissa Prado was inspired by her own curly girl journey—like most of us, she finally learned to love her natural curl pattern but struggled to find the right products for them. "Because no product on the market gave me the definition I needed for my own curls, I told myself that one day I would create the very best product for curly haired girls like me," she shared. "I spent years searching for the perfect formula. I wanted a product made with quality ingredients that could celebrate all curl types, from my aunt’s coils to my sister’s loose waves. But what was crazy was that it wasn’t just my own journey and that of my family, but I’d meet so many curly haired women in the bathroom, in the elevator, in dorm rooms, and they’d tell me, 'I love your hair.'  They’d ask me, 'How do you get your hair like that?' I’d tell them I have my own concoction. I made so many friends because I would teach them about their texture, and they’d start wearing their hair naturally. In 2017, after I was able to professionally make my formula, I launched Rizos Curls, and all those women became my first customers. We’re very proud to be a clean haircare line using high-quality natural ingredients with high potency in all of our formulas.  We adhere to the highest clean beauty standards and all of our formulas are compliant with EU standards."

If she had to choose a few favorites from the line, she would choose the Light Hold Gel ($15), Vitamin C Repair Mask ($30), and Apple Cider Vinegar Vinegar Scalp and Hair Rinse ($22). "The Light Hold Gel is amazing. It took me years to formulate after so many customers asked for a gel. It defines with touchable, flake-free hold. Plus, my goal with this gel was for it to be non-drying and nourishing on the hair with aloe vera, flaxseed, thyme, and rosemary among others. [The] Vitamin C Hair Repair Mask is another favorite because this mask truly repairs the hair, deeply moisturizes, softens, minimizes frizz, enhances shine, improves manageability, and shields the hair from damage. Plus, vitamin C is also another skincare ingredient that’s great for hair, and it’s clinically proven to repair the hair cuticle, resulting in improved shine and manageability in five minutes.

"Scalp care is also really important to me because so much of our hair health starts at the scalp, and I love our Apple Cider Vinegar Scalp and Hair Rinse. It gently removes buildup that can clog scalp pores, suffocate hair follicles, and weigh hair down. It promotes a healthy scalp biome and enhances shine."