Best Shampoo for Curly Hair? 502 Sephora Reviews of 3 Picks

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Review-analysis guide: 502 customer reviews read on Sephora (October 22, 2026), sorted and counted by us; product details from brand and retailer pages checked October 22, 2026. We paraphrase patterns and never copy reviews. Results are patterns that customers described and we counted.

By The Beauty Read · Checked October 22, 2026 · AI-assisted research and editing · Contains Amazon affiliate links

For dry or frizzy curls and waves, the curly hair shampoo with the highest moisture share in our 502 Sephora reviews is Bumble and bumble (paid link) Curl Moisturizing: 58% say it left hair moisturized, 7% say it dried hair. COLOR WOW (paid link) Curl Wow Hooked leads for a clean rinse (58%), though most of its reviews came in a three-month burst. Briogeo Curl Charisma (paid link) splits reviewers: 18% say it left hair dry.

Which curly hair shampoo should you buy?

A curly hair shampoo has a narrow job: lift sweat, oil and styler build-up without leaving curls rough, frizzy or stripped. All three we compare are sulfate-free and sold in Amazon's Luxury Beauty store: Briogeo Curl Charisma Rice Amino + Avocado Hydrating Shampoo, Bumble and bumble Curl Moisturizing Shampoo and COLOR WOW Curl Wow Hooked Shampoo. [A1] [A2] [A3]

They do not fail the same way. Of 106 usable Sephora reviews of Bumble and bumble, 62 (58%) say it left hair moisturized and 7 (7%) say it dried hair. COLOR WOW has the most praise for a clean rinse, 62 of 107 (58%). Briogeo has the longest record and the most mixed one: 66 of 204 (32%) felt moisturized, 36 (18%) say it left hair dry or stripped. [R-SEP-BR] [R-SEP-BB] [R-SEP-CW]

How we read 502 Sephora reviews of three curl shampoos

Sephora's review feed keeps each shampoo separate, so we read them one by one: 247 English reviews of Briogeo Curl Charisma (January 2016 to April 2025), 146 of Bumble and bumble Curl Moisturizing's 147 English reviews, standard and mini (September 2020 to June 2026), and 109 of COLOR WOW Curl Wow Hooked (November 2022 to April 2026). Before reading, we set aside 48 reviews Sephora flags as Incentivized and 5 from Sephora employees. [R-SEP-BR] [R-SEP-BB] [R-SEP-CW]

Then we dropped 73 whose text says the product was free (38 of them for Bumble and bumble, mostly through sampling), 8 about someone else's hair, 2 about a different product and 2 from people who had not used it yet. That leaves 417 usable: 204 Briogeo, 106 Bumble and bumble and 107 COLOR WOW. Every share below is out of those usable reviews for the shampoo named. [R-SEP-BR] [R-SEP-BB] [R-SEP-CW]

Timing matters here. 97 of COLOR WOW's 107 usable reviews were posted between November 2022 and January 2023, the first three months of its Sephora review feed, and 95 of the 107 are five-star; 77 of Bumble and bumble's 106 came in May and June 2022. Briogeo's reviews are spread over nine years. A short burst of reviews can read kinder than a long record, so weigh the gaps below with that in mind. [R-SEP-BR] [R-SEP-BB] [R-SEP-CW]

Bumble and bumble Curl Moisturizing: the moisture pick for waves

Sephora describes it as a moisturizing shampoo for wavy, curly and coily hair with avocado, coconut and jojoba oils plus shea and cocoa butters, free of sulfates SLS and SLES. Amazon sells it directly; it is the Amazon.com option we link. [S2] [A2]

Moisture is the headline: 62 of 106 usable reviewers (58%) say their hair felt moisturized or not stripped, 32 (30%) saw more defined curls, 30 (28%) say it felt softer or shinier and 21 (20%) noticed less frizz. Among the 28 who describe wavy hair, 20 felt moisturized and none say it dried their hair. [R-SEP-BB]

Complaints are few: 7 (7%) say it left hair dry, 5 dislike the scent, 4 felt weighed down and 4 saw no difference. The scent is the other draw, with 42 (40%) praising it. [R-SEP-BB]

See Bumble and bumble Curl Moisturizing Shampoo on Amazon (paid link) · This link opens the Curl Moisturizing Shampoo sold by Amazon.com; check the size on the page.

COLOR WOW Curl Wow Hooked: the clean rinse, with a short review record

COLOR WOW sells it as a sulfate- and residue-free cleanser that removes styling build-up, with a proprietary Procapil blend the brand says helps prevent shedding and breakage. Sephora lists glycerin, a light coconut vanilla scent and less than one percent synthetic fragrance. [S3] [A3]

Its reviewers talk about the wash itself: 62 of 107 (58%) say it cleaned well, 52 (49%) felt moisturized, 37 (35%) saw more defined curls and 19 (18%) call it gentle. Among the 54 who describe curly hair, 33 say their curls looked more defined, and none say it dried their hair. None of the 107 say it caused more shedding, but the reviews give us no way to judge the anti-shedding claim. [R-SEP-CW]

Almost nothing went wrong in these reviews: 2 say it left hair dry, 2 that it did not feel clean, 2 that it made no difference. The caution is the calendar: 97 of the 107 were posted in the first three months of its Sephora review feed, so this is a short record, not a multi-year one. [R-SEP-CW]

See COLOR WOW Curl Wow Hooked Shampoo on Amazon (paid link) · This link opens the Curl Wow Hooked Shampoo sold by Amazon.com; check the size on the page.

Briogeo Curl Charisma: the longest record, split on dryness

Sephora describes Briogeo's shampoo as a hydrating, sulfate-free wash for wavy, curly and coily hair with rice amino acids, shea butter and tomato fruit ferment. The 8 fl oz option we link is sold by Briogeo and shipped by Amazon. [S1] [A1]

Its fans echo the others: 66 of 204 usable reviewers (32%) felt moisturized, 50 (25%) saw more defined curls, 52 (25%) say it cleaned well and 56 (27%) like the scent. Twenty (10%) bought it again or call it a staple. [R-SEP-BR]

It also draws the most complaints. Thirty-six (18%) say it left hair dry, stripped or frizzier, 24 (12%) call it too pricey or say it runs out fast, and 20 (10%) say it barely lathers or needs a lot of product. The dryness reports cluster in 2020 and 2021 reviews (20 of the 36); since 2022, 5 of 66 usable reviewers say so. [R-SEP-BR]

See Briogeo Curl Charisma Rice Amino + Avocado Hydrating Shampoo (8 fl oz) on Amazon (paid link) · This link opens the 8 fl oz shampoo, sold by Briogeo and shipped by Amazon at our check.

What it feels like, according to the reviews

Reviewers describe Bumble and bumble and COLOR WOW as the softer-feeling washes: 74 of 106 Bumble and bumble reviewers and 65 of 107 COLOR WOW reviewers say their hair felt moisturized, softer or shinier. For Briogeo it is 93 of 204, and 20 of its reviewers say it barely lathers or needs a lot of product. [R-SEP-BR] [R-SEP-BB] [R-SEP-CW]

Scent comes up often and mostly kindly: of 140 reviewers who mention it, 130 like it. Bumble and bumble's grapefruit and jasmine scent gets the highest share of praise (42 of 106, 40%; 5 dislike it), and none of the 32 COLOR WOW reviewers who mention its scent dislike it. [R-SEP-BR] [R-SEP-BB] [R-SEP-CW] [S2] [S3]

Some reviewers say they pair the shampoo with the same line's conditioner: 46 for Briogeo, 28 for Bumble and bumble and 8 for COLOR WOW. Even in that group, 11 Briogeo users say their hair felt dry, against 1 for Bumble and bumble. [R-SEP-BR] [R-SEP-BB] [R-SEP-CW]

Which curly hair shampoo to buy, and when to skip it

If your waves or curls run dry and frizzy, start with Bumble and bumble Curl Moisturizing Shampoo: it has the highest share of moisture praise and no dryness reports from wavy reviewers. If styler build-up is the problem and you want curls clean without a squeaky feel, COLOR WOW Curl Wow Hooked Shampoo is the pick, keeping in mind that most of its reviews were posted in a three-month burst. [R-SEP-BB] [R-SEP-CW]

Choose Briogeo Curl Charisma Rice Amino + Avocado Hydrating Shampoo if you already like low-lather washes and want the product with the longest review record: a third of its reviewers felt moisturized and a quarter saw more defined curls. Skip it if your hair dries out easily: in our count it is the one most often blamed for dry or stripped hair, and 1 in 10 found it hard to lather. [R-SEP-BR]

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Frequently asked questions

What is the best shampoo for curly hair?

In the 502 Sephora reviews we read, Bumble and bumble Curl Moisturizing Shampoo had the highest moisture share with few dryness complaints (58% moisturized, 7% dry), and COLOR WOW Curl Wow Hooked led for a clean rinse (58%). Pick by your main problem.

Is Briogeo Curl Charisma shampoo good for wavy hair?

Mixed. Of 40 Briogeo reviewers who describe wavy hair, 18 saw more defined waves and 7 say it left their hair dry. If your waves are fine and dry out easily, Bumble and bumble had no dryness reports from its 28 wavy reviewers.

Does COLOR WOW Curl Wow Hooked shampoo stop shedding?

COLOR WOW says its Procapil blend helps prevent shedding and breakage. None of the 107 usable Sephora reviews we read say it caused more shedding, but the reviews give us no way to judge whether it reduces shedding.

Do curl shampoos lather well?

Some reviewers say not enough: 20 of 204 usable Briogeo reviewers (10%) say it barely lathers or needs a lot of product. Only 1 reviewer each said so about Bumble and bumble and COLOR WOW.

Should I use the matching conditioner?

Some reviewers do: 82 of 417 usable reviewers say they pair the shampoo with the same line's conditioner. Even among them, 11 Briogeo users say their hair felt dry, against 1 for Bumble and bumble; the reviews we read were about the shampoos.