20 Best Curl Activator For Fine Hair (2023 Updated)

This was one of the first new products I’ve tried while playing around with revamping my full curl routine. Curlsmith in general has been an integral part of this reworking process and most products I like, love, I’m neutral towards, but this one I actually dislike.

At first I thought it was working on day 2 and 3 hair between washes. I’d use this, then a small amount of my Curl Defining Styling Souffle to redefine my curls. The second and third day curls were decent, and definitely an improvement over my old routine.

By day three though, my hair looked dull and felt greasy. I stopped using this after a few weeks and just sprayed in water instead, and got the EXACT SAME curl redefinition/reactivation as I did with this spray.

I have 3B/medium porosity hair, and water literally worked just as well as this to reactivate my curls between washes. Water was actually better because my hair didn’t feel greasy or weighed down like it did with this.

I tried various amounts of this spray to try and prevent the heaviness, but any less and I simply wouldn’t get any reactivation. My only negative product because not only was water (which is of course exponentially cheaper) work as well to reactivate curls, it was actually an improvement because it doesn’t weigh my hair down.

Now all I can do with it is use it lightly on my 6 year old’s hair after her shower (straight, fine hair) to try and get some use out of it since I don’t want to pour $24 down the drain. On well, mostly I’ve hit wins with Curlsmith, this is so far the only complete loss.

I have medium porosity, low-medium density, very fine/fine texture hair. My hair is wavy from the root, with the curl pattern starting several inches down. The pattern stretches out the longer my hair gets.

I can achieve loose waves and loose curls when my hair is shorter, and from medium to long length I can get my hair to curl into defined ringlets with the right product combinations. Without any product, my hair is fluffy, frizzy, and/or limp at any length.

These are some of the characteristics of the wavy hair family (type 2). If your hair doesn’t spiral from the root, you’re most likely in the wavy family, as well, not type 3 curly. (Knowing your hair type is extremely important because some of these moisturizing products just aren’t made for us Wavies, and that’s okay! Embrace the wave! 💁🏻‍♀️🌊🥰) Over the holidays I tried a bunch of Curlsmith products, but almost none of them worked for my hair.

I mostly tried the orange line, the moisturizing line for curly hair. Well, unsurprisingly, they are too heavy/too much for my type of hair. Everything I tried (mousse, creams, etc. ) made my hair greasy and weighed it down.

I also didn’t even get the benefit of great curl definition which was a big disappointment. Darn. But! I played around and discovered that this product is GREAT for my hair on day two and beyond after washing.

(I wash and style every 3-7 days depending on activity levels. Super sweaty gym days mean I have to wash sooner. ) The Moisture Memory Reactivator brightens my curls right up! The curls are perky, bouncy, no frizz, great definition and clump together beautifully.

Moral of this story: If you’re in the wavy family (or maybe even curly or coily families!) and didn’t succeed at first, try using this on DRY hair, after it’s been styled, a day two or later. The results might surprise you!.

I wanted to love this product. And initially, I did. It does what it says – I can take day 4 hair, spritz it in, scrunch, and my curls revive like magic. However, it’d definitely a one-day wonder. I found that it leaves my hair sticky and tangled after and I definitely will need to wash it the next day.

But as a one day emergency solution, I was impressed! So for those of you who don’t dye your hair, it may be worth it. However, there’s not color safe and then there’s *this*. It’s the only product I’ve ever used that literally tries to pull out my dye while it’s on.

I often use semi-permanents as a touch-up, and when I spray this on my hair I’ve noticed my color coming off on my fingertips, which it would never do with any other product (using the wrong shampoo and color coming out in the shower, sure? Spraying on a styler and ending up with color on my fingertips, what?!).

It may be fine with the more permanent dyes, but I’m not keen to find out. In general, I don’t find Curlsmith to be color-safe, but this was by far the worst of the lot. Even though I appreciate its one day magic, the hassle of needing an immediate wash the next day and the risk of my color flaking off while dry turned me off.

Your mileage may vary.

I have naturally curly hair, but had it japanese straightened for 5 years. I used to use this product back in the days and remember loving it. Decided to go curly about 3 years ago. Was watching videos of youtubers about new and recommend products that had newly come.

Tried them all and was not pleased. Decided to go back to Recoil and let me tell you it’s good as it was back all those years ago. I add some of the AG Mousse gel after I apply this and then I diffuse.

My suggestion is use a small dime sized amount on each section of your hair on wet hair. Do not use too much of this product, it’s concentrated and a little goes a long way. For reference my curls are 3A-3B.

I have been hearing amazing things about this product and I’m not here to say that they were wrong. I’m always on the look out for light weigh products that have decent hold for fine, curly hair. The texture almost feels like a cream gel.

It’s white in colour, the scent is light and the hold is light. It emulsifies well too. It hasn’t given me any crazy hold when I use it on it’s own but my hair is soft and it’s smoother than if I had not used any styling products in my hair at all.

I’m starting to pair it with AG Cloud Mousse but I haven’t gotten the right amount for each product down yet.

Although this is an oldie, I’ve never tried it before. Only when I recently discovered I have low porosity hair that does not hold moisture, did I decide to try this out. And I have tried many curly hair products, only to be let down, as they did not keep my hair moisturized, leaving it dried out with lots of product buildup.

At first I was skeptical, and thought it may leave my hair oily and a drippy greasy mess, but oh, let me tell you, it delivers everything it says it does, and all at a great price!!! My hair is holding moisture, and is soooooooooooo soft n shiny! It has such good slip, and has a nice pleasant smell, and is not greasy feeling.

Give this oldie but goodie a try, for the first time, it may surprise u in a good way! :).

I was thoroughly surprised when I opened my box and this was in it! Didn’t know what an “instant activator” was, but the texture to me was gel-like, so that’s what I used it as. Used it over a moisturizing cream and my curls was definitely happy with it.

Super defined, not crunchy at all and I got tons of compliments on my hair when I went to work the next day. Not a fan of the smell (it isn’t bad, but it isn’t good either), but it does fade. Also be careful not to use too much! Us Naturals are heavy-handed with products (lol) and this product can definitely leave a white/grey residue in your hair if you’re not careful.

I do like it and will continue to use it until it’s empty. 😊.

If your hair is natural this is the product for you. I have dry frizzy hair but when i put this product on my hair i could instantly feel and see the results. It will feel damp on your hair at first but once it penetrate in your hair it will fill soft and silky.

The smell is soft not too noticeable. I used to use this product when i had a jerry curl. I don’t have anything in my hair now it’s all natural and it still curls with this product.

This product isn’t that bad I don’t think it did much for my hair so I wouldn’t buy it again but if you have twisted curls or coil type hair then this may help you. The price is very good also and you could buy this at your local beauty supply.

Made my hair very dry and didn’t tame any frizz what so ever. Very sticky texture with no hold

I have waves from 2A to 2C. I purchased this product about 8 months ago when I quit straightening my hair. I thought I needed a gel and was looking for something with hold. At first, I loved the way it clumped my waves, but it never gave me much hold, and my waves would fall flat throughout the day.

I figured it was too heavy for my hair and stopped using it except on occasion when layering with other products just to switch up my routine. Fast forward to the past few weeks, I was trying to use up some of the bottles in my graveyard of hair products and started treating this product as a curl cream.

The bottle actually doesn’t say anywhere that it’s a gel, but a “defining jelly,” despite the listing of it being a gel on the Ulta website. I layer this jelly on top of a small amount of primer/detangler/leave-in conditioner and top it off with the Camille Rose spiked honey foam, and I am having the best hair days of my entire modified CG life! This gel has a very light, faint smell.

The pump bottle is fantastic and makes it really easy to distribute on my hands. It gives my hair a nice slip and a little goes a long way. If you have this product and are disappointed in the lack of hold, try it as a curl cream!.

I’m a white lady with super fine, low-density, high-porosity 2C-3B waves and curls. After a year of doing CGM, my hair is pretty healthy, but because it’s so fine, it’s hard to find products that have enough hold without weighing it down.

I wanted to try Curl Maker because it’s glycerin-free, which I need for my porosity. It took me a few tries to figure out how to use it, but I really like it! I find I need to use more product than expected, even on my short bob, and only on sopping wet hair (I had to emulsify any additional product with water while styling).

I also needed to use a more hydrating leave-in than with my other products, but the right combination and the right techniques have given me GORGEOUSLY soft, shiny, well-defined curls – even in autumn humidity! The only things I don’t love about it are the scent (which I find strong, but that does fade) and the pump.

Maybe the pump on the bottle I bought is defective, but it’s hard to push down and get any product out of it. I also felt like it might have made my hair a little greasy, but I could have been due for a wash day, too.

Anyway, I hope my detailed review helps other people with my (frustrating) hair type. :).

First I want to say this is a 5 star product but it’s price point is not. It’s a $1 more at Ulta. This product tho. I suffered extreme hair and scalp damage from exclusively using Devacurl for several months.

I never thought I’d get my curls back. EVER. They were straight, matted “curls” for so long. I was hesitant to try this over the price but went for it and I’m glad I did. This brought back my bouncy, ringlet curls I’d grown to love.

I can’t express enough how much it change the way I look at my hair because I thought it was ruined forever. I have always used the L. O. C. method for my hair but I’ve been fooled. I tried this product and wish I had sooner!! It gives the results.

What I love is that I can solely rely on this product. I recommend sectioning your hair with use because if you use too much you can get that ~crunchy~ texture but it will soften up a bit over time. I will use this after a wash day.

It holds the curl, for myself, into the next day. That’s when I’ll touch up with water and the moisture milk to freshen up my curls. The brand is also blacked owned and vegan. You can’t beat this! Though it’s expensive it’s worth it.

I won’t use anything else on my hair!.

It works AMAZING on 2c,3a,3b,3c hair type (all 2 and3 generally, didn’t test it on 4-hair -type). Very effective on soft hair and not heavy. No frizzy hair, or loose ends! Defines well, hold is medium, you may need extra product for hold if preferred.

Hydrates gently but enough, while making every single curl count! Excellent for daily touch-ups, put some water on your hands and mix with a little product, and spread on hair, 🎉 now it’s good as new!! Caution: use sparingly.

Don’t go overboard with the amount, test how much your hair needs. Lasts for a long time. Doesn’t make hair oily. Hydrates enough, personally, i won’t use conditioner with this. Bottle is big and design is practical to use, product is medium soft cream.

Smell is HEAVENLY GOOD.

Finally found something that’s perfect for my hair. I’m Caucasian male and this stuff is exactly what I needed! I have unusual hair, it’s basically inbetween wavy and curly hair so it has the dryness and frizziness which is hard to make look good! I’ve found nothing that works the way I want it to.

Either products are too weak or too strong so my answer was to keep it short, which I don’t like to do. I thought screw it there has to be something! So went looking once again for something to sort out my hair.

I like my hair to feel natural as if nothing is in it and sof n free is the only thing I’ve found. Firstly the price is amazing, from the research I did its safe too, nothing hazardous in there that’ll ruin your hair/scalp over time.

Not only is the price great but for my (medium length) hair I only need one to two sprays which turns my annoying wavy hair into proper curly hair so one bottle, which is already big, goes a long way.

The only way i notice it running out quickly is when my girlfriend uses it, she needs a fair amount because she’s black and her hair is rather unruly! Once applied for the first time I don’t need to use again for another three days which is when I wash my hair anyway.

(Each day i rinse with warm water but not shampoo or conditioner) as my hair dries the sof n free does its job every time so you can re style if you like different looks each day. The smell is great, some products I’ve tried in the past and something that seems to be a thing with male hair products is that they can smell terrible or have no smell at all.

Not this one. It isn’t just a one trick pony, you can get different styles from it, using your fingers and scrunching you get tight curls, run through with fingers for light curls and use a brush and you can get a slicked back/’smart’ look too.

If you’ve gotten this far then why?! I’m not making it up, get a bottle and try it yourself, it’s cheap enough that even if you dislike it! If you’re looking to tame frizz, make curly hair look healthier and better in every, I promise it really works!.

My daughter uses this lotion daily on her hair – which helps to keep her curls hydrated. She has 3c/4a Afro hair so its perfect for her. The lotion is a little bit watery but its not too greasy and has a pleasant but quite strong smell.

I would recommend this product.

Not keen on the smell but really hydrates my sons thick mixed race afro. Makes the comb go through so easily, curls aren’t crispy at all and stays looking great all day!

I’ve been natural for over 10 years and have tried MANY types of gels. So far, this is my favorite one for my type-4 hair. It’s extremely moisturizing (won’t dry out your hair), plus helps to define curls.

It works well in conjunction with the curl activator (for me); I apply a little of the activator first and apply this gel on top. I also use it sometimes with a leave-in conditioner after washing my hair.

LOVE IT, LOVE IT. Will order more next week Will put nothing else in My hair. My hair is naturally curly no other products in my hair. I have let my hair grow , it is down to my neck and has become very thin.

Your product helps keep the curl in. Thank you James.

This product is great to use on natural or relaxed curls. It is light so build up is less likely, and is great for moisture retention. I like to use it with a light leave-in conditioner, and I’m able to make my wash-in-go last for at least a week.