It’s our favorite time of year! Voting is open for the 2024 Best of the Best Awards. We can’t wait to discover which brands will rise to the top!
It’s hard for most people to fathom what the curl landscape looked like two decades ago. The store had no Curl or Texture sections from which to choose. So curly girls were desperate to find products that would work.
Our tiny NaturallyCurly team wanted to find a way to help. What if we could harness our incredible, dynamic community to help identify some standout product? We already had a community of hundreds of thousands of regular visitors who were posting on CurlTalk.
In 2006, Best of the Best was born.
Celebrating Curly, Coily, and Wavy Products
Thus, in 2006, we introduced the NaturallyCurly Best of the Best Awards, a celebration of products that truly understood and catered to textured hair across roughly a dozen essential categories.
With the technology available at the time—or lack thereof—it was pretty unsophisticated. But our passionate community didn’t need a fancy survey. We got hundreds of responses, and I tallied the votes on a Word doc, a time-consuming process.
Most of the winners were products not developed for curly girls that were discovered during the desperate quest to find products that worked for their curls, coils and waves. They included products like Paul Mitchell Sculpting Foam and Elucence Moisture Benefits Shampoo.
Then, as more curl products came on the market, the Best of the Best Awards celebrated them. They included products like Jessicurl Rockin’ Ringlets, Miss Jessie’s Curly Pudding, and Oyin Handmade Burnt Sugar Pomade.
Over the years, the process has become more sophisticated. We automated it with an online survey, added categories, and named winners by texture type. What was once barely a dozen winners became dozens of winners as new product types emerged, whether cream gels or curl puddings.
Getting Recognition From Brands In Our Market
NaturallyCurly’s Best of the Best Awards have become coveted marks of excellence, adorning product packaging and advertisements alike. When they win, they release press releases. Some brands have even launched campaigns centered on their NaturallyCurly Best of the Best victories.
- WPR PR raved: “Catch our client, #ScotchPorter featured in NaturallyCurly’s Best of the Best Awards 2023!”
- “Noughty wins Naturally Curly’s Best of the Best Leaders in Curl Award.”
- “We are thrilled to announce that Kinder Curls is a 2023 @naturallycurly Best of Beauty Awards Winner! We have been recognized as the Best Kids Line for Type 2 Wavy Hair!
From the entire Curl Keeper team, we want to thank you! “♥️To see the other 2023 winners, read the full article at Best of the Best Awards 2023.”
Inspiring Future Beauty Awards
NaturallyCurly’s Best of the Best awards have significantly impacted other publications. When NaturallyCurly launched, Allure’s Best in Beauty awards didn’t include one product for curls, coils, or waves. Not one.
The 2023 Allure awards included Best Shampoo and Conditioner For Curly Hair, Best Curl Styler, Best Wave Enhancer, Best Edge Styler, Best Twisting Cream and Best Frizz Smoother awards. Glamour Magazine now features “The Best Curly and Coily Hair Products of 2023.”
Although other publications include these products, NaturallyCurly is laser-focused on this category, and every NaturallyCurly voter has textured hair.
NaturallyCurly’s Best of the Best Awards will continue to serve as a pivotal mark of discovery, celebration, and advocacy within the textured-hair community. The journey from tallying votes on a Word doc to where we stand today vividly illustrates progress, passion, and the power of community.
The legacy and continued success of the NaturallyCurly Best of the Best Awards remind us all that when we come together for a common cause, the impact can be monumental. Here’s to many more years of celebrating the best in curly hair care, to the innovations yet to come, and to a community that grows stronger and more vibrant with each passing year.
If you haven’t gotten a chance, cast your VOTE today!