The fastest ways to check your curly hair product ingredients.
If you’re anything like me, you want to check that the ingredients in your curly hair products are actually good for your curls. Unfortunately, not all products are created equal, and some of them contain ingredients that can be damaging to your hair or maybe just don’t suit it.
On the other hand, you might be looking to add a certain product into your routine to see if it is of benefit to your hair.
Trawling through every ingredients list can be a BIG job and that’s why I’ve put together this list of my favourite websites to check curly hair product ingredients. These websites can also help you determine whether a product is curly girl method approved or not.
Let’s start with The Curly Girl Method.
There are rules to follow and these rules require checking ingredients.
- No sulphates
- No silicones
- No waxes or mineral oils
- No drying alcohols
Website No. 1
curlsbot
This was my first introduction to ingredients checkers.
What can it do?
You paste the full ingredients list of your chosen product into the text box and it instantly tells you whether there is a non-CGM friendly ingredient lurking in the mix.
Very straightforward without any bells or whistles.
The only downside is searching the internet for the list of ingredients to paste in.
Website No. 2
isitcg
This is very similar to curlsbot but I prefer it.
What can it do?
You enter the ingredients as before – it’s a copy and paste job. You will find that it’s slightly more forgiving than curlsbot in terms of what it will accept as CGM-approved. It’s up to you whether this is an advantage!
In addition, it has another great feature. I will actually break down the categories of ingredients and let you know why a certain ingredient is considered beneficial or bad for your hair ie. ‘humectants’ or ‘botanical extracts’. Really useful when you’re getting to know what works best for you.
Interested in learning more about your hair?
Check out the Love Curly Hair Etsy Shop
Website no. 3
Curlscan
What can it do?
Curlscan removes one of the obstacles of sites 1 and 2. You don’t need to track down the list of ingredients! Just type in the product name and curlscan checks its database for all the information you need. It even has a barcode checker to make checking your curly hair product ingredients even easier.
The website will then reveal whether the product is Curly Gir Method Approved, and will break down some of the ingredients that it considers important. It will highlight ‘coconut oil’ for example, and then list reasons why you may want to use or avoid it. Helpful!
What else?
Curlscan also has an ‘advanced’ search – this is where it gets really clever! It will help you find a product to suit your needs. You can search by category of product and then narrow the search to either include or exclude certain ingredients. Gold.
Website no. 4
Yuka
This one is only available as an app but it is a fantastic way to check curly hair product ingredients while you’re out and about.
What can it do?
The emphasis here is different. It isn’t focused on whether a product is Curly Girl Method Friendly or not, but rather on the health impact of certain ingredients.
An added bonus is that it will scan the barcode of a product so you can use it at the shops. Scan and see ingredients that are considered potential health risks. Each item is given a score out of 100 based on all ingredients according to current science. It searches for endocrine disruptors, allergens, irritants and carcinogens.
A fascinating insight into ingredients in some of our favourite curly hair products.
I hope you find these apps and sites helpful!
My best-selling product…
