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I think everyone that starts the Curly Girl Method at one point or another tries DevaCurl. It’s one of the most popular products for this since it’s silicone free and was previously known as being the perfect product to use. Considering it seems to be taking over my YouTube recommended feed, I thought I would talk about my experience and what the products other customers seem to be having as well with their products.
Problems With DevaCurl
There is a class action lawsuit against them at this time period in regards to the concerns and issues customers have been experiencing including:
- Extreme hair loss
- Scalp damage from itchy and flaky side effects
- Hair breakage and frizz
- Loss of curls
There have been many individuals who used to swear by the brand have spoken out against their products at this. These include: Ayesha Malik (ambassador/content creator), Stephanie Mero (former DevaCurl stylist), and Philesha Alise (former DevaCurl employee). At this point, there is also a Facebook group where many customers are experiencing similar issues.
My Experience with DevaCurl
After I used up the Kristin Ess shampoo and conditioner, I had switched to DevaCurl Zero Lather Conditioning Cleanser and Daily Cream Conditioner. Along with styling cream and defining gel. At first I was starting to see results from their products but over time as the bottle reached near the end, I noticed my curls had nearly vanished and I had a lot of frizz, hair breakage, and overall just hated my hair. I either ended up putting my hair up into a ponytail or wore wigs, so no one could see how bad it was. There are a few rare pictures of when I wasn’t wearing a wig or didn’t have my hair pulled back to hide how bad things were. My hair just didn’t have the curl it used to and I was losing large amounts of hair in the shower whenever I washed it. Not to the point where you could tell, but still enough where I was getting concerned.
I never mentioned it at the time as I figured it was something that it just wasn’t working for me and I wasn’t really blogging at that time due to my heavy work load. So, I didn’t think anything about writing something about it. Besides the damage the No-Poo Shampoo and Conditioner were doing to my hair, the styling cream and gel made it look like my hair was never clean. I almost immediately got rid of those and went back to the Briogeo Curl Charisma styling products.
Unlike others, I stopped the moment I noticed my hair was getting horrible and threw away the bottle after I switched the styling products. I ended up going through two containers of Kristin Ess Reconstructive Moisture Mask since it does an insanely good job at repairing damaged hair (I recommend this product to anyone, I seriously love the stuff especially if you want to do the curly girl method and change hair colors. It fixes any damage from the dye almost instantly from what I’ve noticed without destroying your curls).
Then once the damage was gone, I started almost exclusively use Briogeo Curl Charisma products and have roughly gotten my hair back to a good place. Here’s how my hair looked a month or two after I got it back to a semi-healthy state. I am very tempted to try the Kristin Ess Curl line just to see how it works, as they do not appear to contain any silicone products. Plus, I have enjoyed their previous products in the past. Plus it’s available at Target. I have not tried it yet so I cannot speak to it’s quality.
DevaCurl’s Response to Backlash
DevaCurl has released a statement in regards to this situation. They claim to have conducted additional testing on all of its products at the manufacturer and warehouse level. According to the brand, no safety issues have been found with the products.
“We don’t speculate on why some people are attributing the challenges with their curls to our products,” the statement reads. “As part of our ongoing commitment to product safety and the satisfaction of our Deva Community, we are conducting additional testing with an independent party.” As well as stating that they are “creating a Professional Curl Care Council of trusted medical professionals, dermatologists, independent industry experts, professional stylists and members of our curl community to help us all better understand healthy curls and scalp.”
In order words, they don’t think there is a problem with their products. Basically just non-answers to try to save face. Other employees have stated that anyone speaking out against the brand have been former employees and influencers that DevaCurl has chosen not to use anymore (response given to Joslyn Davis). And any hair loss is not because of the actual products, but rather product build up clogging the hair follicles from consumers improperly using them. Not to mention, these products are not cheap either so I highly doubt that’s what’s going on with every single person out there that have been experiencing this issue.
HAVE YOU TRIED DEVACURL? IF SO, WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THEIR PRODUCTS?
Love ya,
Mae Polzine
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