Boots essentials Curl Crème

Last week I went shopping for some new cosmetics, and I noticed this pot of curl creme from Boots' essentials range, for under £2.


Now, I am unsure why I decided to pick this up. My hair naturally, is not what I would describe as curly, and I very rarely do curl my hair with tongs. My usual hairstyle is straightened with my GHD's, with a full fringe.

My hair is naturally very thick, with a wave running through it.  I can also get a lot of flyaway hair around my full fringe, and I wanted to try something which would condition, as well as hold.

I thought this might do the trick, and help smooth the flyaways and split ends, whilst reducing the overall frizz I can get, to help my hair hold it's wave but stay smooth, without looking heavy or greasy with product.

The curl creme itself comes in a plastic tub- pretty basic drugstore packaging, but it's not something I am complaining about. The tub is easy to open and close, with a screw top, and it's translucent, so you are able to see the amount of product you have left. The only negative I can come up with, is that it might not be ideal for taking on trips away, as it is rather clunky, but this can be easily remedied by decanting a small amount into one of those travel-sized bottles.

There are a few ways you can apply this product and a lot of tutorials and techniques online.

The product is a pale translucent pink in colour (Don't worry about the colour of the product, as it applies and dries clear), and it feels like a soft, light gel texture. It isn't solid and is easily scooped out, and isn't watery either, so you won't spill it. It can be applied easily, however I recommend starting with a little, and building up, as it is very easy to overdo these sorts of products, and that is not something you want to be doing.

The scent of this product is pretty unoffensive, it smells soapy and what I would describe as fresh. It is a scent that is certainly unisex, and barely noticeable when applied. It definitely would not clash with any perfume or aftershave.

But unfortunately...this product did not really work for me! I wanted to like it, but everytime, no matter how little i applied, and how well I tried to make it work for my hair, it just felt what can only be described as crispy-like when you apply too much hairspray.

I am not sure if it is normal for curl cremes to feel like this, but I have very dry hair and the tiniest amount to control the flyaways on my fringe even made it feel a little heavy, although it did smooth it down fairly well. I certainly am not tempted to apply it throughout my hair again, as I tried it once and I was very conscious of having a lot of product in, which I really don't like.

As I don't like wasting cosmetics, I will keep this curl creme for 'emergencies' until it's used up, such as using a tiny amount for my fringe now and again, as it does smooth and hold well.

But it will not be an everyday product for me, and I will be seeking out an alternative. I know that there are a lot of fans of this product, for it's performance as well as it's low price, and I accept that maybe it is not designed for wavy hair, and purely for curly/afro hair types,  but I did just not really get on with it and therefore I won't be buying it again.

3/10