Curl cream for wavy hair

Fenty Beauty Homecurl Curl-Defining Cream has the best record for wavy hair: 11 of 12 shoppers said it defined their waves and controlled frizz without weighing them down, though that is a small group. Each record counts just shoppers who said they have wavy hair, and sprays, gels and mousses were left out, so this page ranks creams. The leader has no official Amazon listing, so the best pick sold on Amazon is Verb Lightweight Curl Defining Cream at 19 of 23. Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream has the weakest record here at 17 of 24.

  • 125 store reviews counted
  • Ulta and Sephora shoppers
  • Sep 2017 to Sep 2026

Updated . How we count

Did it define waves without weighing them down? What shoppers said
  1. Fenty Beauty Homecurl Curl-Defining Cream 12 said either way
  2. Verb Lightweight Curl Defining Cream 23 said either way
  3. OUAI Frizz-Free Curl Cream 20 said either way
  4. Not Your Mother's Curl Talk Defining Cream 19 said either way
  5. Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream 24 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for heaviness. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Best record Fenty Beauty Homecurl Curl-Defining Cream 11 of 12 say it defined their waves and controlled frizz without weighing them down
Verb Lightweight Curl Defining Cream Best pick on Amazon Verb Lightweight Curl Defining Cream 19 of 23 say it defined their waves and controlled frizz without weighing them down See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

Waves getting weighed down is a repeat complaint for the three lower-ranked creams. It comes up in 13% of OUAI reviews, 12% of Not Your Mother's reviews and 15% of Moroccanoil reviews.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points reviewers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1

Fenty Beauty

Homecurl Curl-Defining Cream

Best for defining waves

11/12 say it defined their waves and controlled frizz without weighing them down

It has the highest share here (92%), but from just 12 shoppers with wavy hair, so treat the record as thin. 46% of its reviews say it defines waves and 38% say hair stays soft, not crunchy. No complaint came up more than once.

What buyers praise

  • Soft, no crunch 38%
  • Nice scent 31%
  • Lightweight 23%
  • Defines curls 23%

What buyers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 11 of 12

Share of 13 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

2 Verb Lightweight Curl Defining Cream

Verb

Lightweight Curl Defining Cream

Best for taming frizz

19/23 say it defined their waves and controlled frizz without weighing them down

Praise centers on frizz control: 33% of its reviews say it tames frizz, 30% say hair stays soft and 17% say it defines waves. Complaints are scattered, with hair still frizzy (10%), a greasy or heavy feel (10%) and a crunchy or stiff feel (10%).

What buyers praise

  • Tames frizz 33%
  • Soft, no crunch 30%
  • Defines curls 27%
  • Lightweight 13%
  • Nice scent 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Still frizzy 10%
  • Crunchy or stiff 10%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 19 of 23
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination9 of 11
  • Dry4 of 4
  • Oily3 of 4
  • Normal3 of 4
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light14 of 17
  • Light-medium to medium4 of 4
3 OUAI Frizz-Free Curl Cream

OUAI

Frizz-Free Curl Cream

15/20 say it defined their waves and controlled frizz without weighing them down

35% of its reviews praise the scent and 30% say hair stays soft, not crunchy. Misses are spread evenly, with hair still frizzy (13%), no definition (13%) and waves weighed down (13%).

What buyers praise

  • Nice scent 35%
  • Soft, no crunch 30%
  • Defines curls 22%
  • Lightweight 17%
  • Tames frizz 9%

What buyers complain about

  • Still frizzy 13%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 15 of 20
See price & reviews on Amazon

Share of 23 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

4

Not Your Mother's

Curl Talk Defining Cream

14/19 say it defined their waves and controlled frizz without weighing them down

Definition splits opinion. 23% of its reviews say it defines curls and 19% say it defines waves, while 23% say it doesn't define. 12% say it weighs waves down and 12% say hair stayed frizzy.

What buyers praise

  • Defines curls 23%
  • Tames frizz 15%
  • Lightweight 12%
  • Nice scent 12%
  • Soft, no crunch 8%

What buyers complain about

  • Still frizzy 12%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 14 of 19
5 Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream

Moroccanoil

Curl Defining Cream

Best for a nice scent

17/24 say it defined their waves and controlled frizz without weighing them down

More shoppers with wavy hair weighed in on this cream than on any other here (24), and it has the weakest record at 17 of 24. 42% of its reviews praise the scent and 24% say it defines waves, but 15% say it weighs waves down and 9% call it greasy or heavy.

What buyers praise

  • Nice scent 42%
  • Tames frizz 21%
  • Soft, no crunch 18%
  • Lightweight 15%
  • Defines curls 12%

What buyers complain about

  • Still frizzy 6%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 1 of 2
  • Sephora 16 of 22
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination10 of 13
  • Oily3 of 5
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light11 of 15
  • Light-medium to medium1 of 3

Where these numbers come from

The 5 products ranked here carry 5,452 reviews at Ulta and Sephora. We searched them for heaviness and read the newest matching reviews, up to 40 per product and store, posted between Sep 2017 and Sep 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (0 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Ulta also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. They run much more positive than store reviews of the same products (across 19 products with both, 76% of brand-site reviewers said the product solved the problem, against 55% of Ulta shoppers), so we show them on product cards but never count them.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Skin type, skin tone and age splits use what reviewers chose on Sephora's review form (and age on Ulta's when given). We only show a split when enough reviewers fall on each side.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Fenty Beauty Homecurl Curl-Defining Cream Sephora (13 reviews counted)
  2. Verb Lightweight Curl Defining Cream Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  3. OUAI Frizz-Free Curl Cream Ulta (23 reviews counted)
  4. Not Your Mother's Curl Talk Defining Cream Ulta (26 reviews counted)
  5. Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream Ulta and Sephora (33 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which curl cream works for wavy hair?

Fenty Beauty Homecurl Curl-Defining Cream has the best record (11 of 12), followed by Verb Lightweight Curl Defining Cream (19 of 23) and OUAI Frizz-Free Curl Cream (15 of 20). The leader rests on a small group, and each record counts just shoppers who said they have wavy hair.

Which curl cream for wavy hair is sold on Amazon?

Fenty Beauty Homecurl Curl-Defining Cream and OUAI Frizz-Free Curl Cream have no official Amazon listing. The best pick sold on Amazon is Verb Lightweight Curl Defining Cream at 19 of 23, and Not Your Mother's Curl Talk Defining Cream (14 of 19) and Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream (17 of 24) also have official Amazon listings.

Will a curl cream weigh down wavy hair?

It can. 15% of Moroccanoil reviews say it weighs waves down, as do 13% of OUAI reviews and 12% of Not Your Mother's reviews. Verb Lightweight Curl Defining Cream draws greasy or heavy complaints from 10% of its reviews.

Do curl creams tame frizz on wavy hair?

Sometimes. 33% of Verb Lightweight Curl Defining Cream reviews and 21% of Moroccanoil reviews say it tames frizz, while 13% of OUAI reviews and 12% of Not Your Mother's reviews say hair stayed frizzy.

Related problems

Curl cream Curl cream that defines curls without crunch Top pick: Fenty Beauty Homecurl Curl-Defining Cream 146 buyer reports Hair mousse Mousse that defines curls without crunch Top pick: OGX Locking + Coconut Curls Mousse 320 buyer reports Conditioner Conditioner for curly hair Top pick: Aussie Miracle Curls 3 Minute Miracle Conditioner 348 buyer reports Leave-in conditioner Leave-in conditioner for frizz Top pick: Mizani 25 Miracle Milk Leave-In 247 buyer reports

HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.