Shampoos for curly hair can be overly drying or ineffective at thoroughly cleaning hair. For my child’s 3C natural African American hair, I prefer not to use sulfate shampoos. The drying effects of harsh sulfates tend to leave her curly hair stripped and depleted.
I’ve tried several shampoos that performed “ok,” but since I had decided to try the Kinky Curly Curling Custard, I wanted to cleanse her hair with a Kinky Curly shampoo. Kinky Curly products are supposed to perform best when used with other members of the product line, so I purchased an 8 oz. container of Kinky Curly Come Clean shampoo from Target for $11.99. This is more than I usually pay for my daughter’s shampoo, but I wanted my other Kinky Curly products to work properly.
After rinsing my daughter’s African American hair with warm water, I applied the clear shampoo to her wet locks and gently manipulated the hair with my knuckles and fingertips. The lightly fragranced shampoo lathered well but not excessively. I rinsed the suds, and the 3C hair felt clarified but not overly dry. Her curls, however, were not at all detangled. The Kinky Curly shampoo had obviously cleansed the hair of all styling aids and excess oils, but there was no conditioning effect at all.
After the rinse, I applied Kinky Curly Knot Today and the extra-clean curls seemed to respond well, but I would recommend that this shampoo not be used without a follow-up conditioner. The shampoo is true to its name; it causes the hair to come clean. If I were looking for additional conditioning benefits, a different shampoo would have been preferred, but as a prep-poo for a subsequent conditioning process, it works great.
Does Kinky Curly Come Clean shampoo perform as well as other shampoos I have tried? Yes, it does, the lathering is good especially for a sulfate-free shampoo, and the fragrance is mild. However, its cleansing action is definitely clarifying in nature, not conditioning. I continue to use this shampoo when I use other products from the Kinky Curly line and when I feel my daughter’s hair requires buildup removal. Again, on 3C hair, it does require the use of an effective follow-up conditioner.
Photo by Mike Baird