My Natural Curl Pattern Was Hiding Until I Tried This Stylist-Loved Brand

Welcome to Deep Reviews—your one-stop destination to discover the absolute best products and brands the beauty industry has to offer. The Who What Wear staffers you already know and trust will research, test, and review the market’s most sought-after and buzzed-about products to see which formulas (of the hundreds up for consideration) are truly worth your hard-earned money and attention. You can expect honest, completely uncensored feedback and no-BS recommendations our hard-to-please testers endorse without reservations.

The majority of our Deep Reviews will feature our editors’ honest, ultra-hot takes on entire product categories or multiple products from a particular beauty brand, but every so often, we’ll sprinkle in a special single-product format called Honestly, I Love It. As the name suggests, these reviews will hone in on standout beauty formulas our editors quite literally can’t shut up about. This time around, I’m highlighting the new Coils & Curls collection from hairstylist-loved brand Maria Nila.

I’ll preface this review by saying that my hair has been through a lot. I’m sure that anyone who has struggled to really know and love their natural hair texture can relate. I have thick, frizzy 3c curls that are pretty high-maintenance in terms of care. Every product I use has to be carefully selected and applied to keep my hair’s delicate balance. While some products don’t provide enough moisture for my naturally dry curls, others are a bit too thick in texture and can cause buildup or weigh my hair down. My hair is also a tad damaged from all the heat-styling I did in high school.

All of these things would normally equate to an insurmountable challenge, but now that one of my favorite haircare brands, Maria Nila, has released its Coils & Curls collection, I never have to worry about any of the above issues again. If you have a similar hair type and struggle to find the right products that suit your strands, you’re going to want to keep reading. I’m sharing my experience with the products below along with a word from the brand’s education manager about the collection and what makes each item so great.

My curls tend to look a bit lifeless and borderline straight when they’re dry and have no styling products in them. In the above photo on the right, I snapped a shot after washing my hair with the Coils & Curls Co-Wash ($32), conditioning with the Finishing Treatment Masque ($36), and styling with the Oil in Cream ($35). Each product is so hydrating and makes my strands look incredibly healthy due to nourishing ingredients like shea butter and jojoba oil. As a bonus, people have asked if I dyed my hair because it looks so healthy and shiny—I’ll take it!

I was a bit wary of the co-wash at first because I’m not usually a fan of shampoos or co-washes that don’t lather. As I said earlier, my hair is super thick, and buildup can accumulate on my scalp if I go overboard with styling products. I always need something that deeply cleanses on wash day without stripping my scalp, but I was pleasantly surprised by this formula. Although it doesn’t lather, it still cleanses the hair of any excess product without leaving it feeling brittle or dry. It detangled my strands so easily, and my hair felt so hydrated after I used it that I almost didn’t think I needed to use conditioner. The Finishing Treatment Masque was a really nice addition, though. I would only leave the mask on for about five to 10 minutes, but that was truly all I needed. My curls had new life, and I could finally see my natural curl pattern again. After letting my hair dry for a bit, I would then apply the Oil in Cream to style my curls and lock in hydration.

I was a bit worried that using all three of these products together would be too heavy for my hair and weigh it down, but they complement each other perfectly. My hair always feels soft and hydrated with reduced frizz but never feels greasy or oily the next day. Each provides just the right amount of hydration for finicky hair like mine.

What I love most about these products is the ultra-hydrating and detangling profile of ingredients that are also color-safe. Maria Nila is a “color-first” brand, so it should be noted that each of these products is completely suitable for color-treated hair. All three products in the collection contain a Curl Guard Complex consisting of shea butter, avocado oil, and rosehip oil to provide a serious dose of moisture. Hibiscus extract and vitamin E in the formula also help balance the scalp to combat dryness and flakiness. Additionally, a soothing mix of aloe and jojoba oil helps detangle strands quickly and tame flyaways.

The fruity scent of the products is also extremely light and largely due to the natural ingredients contained in each. I’m not usually a huge fan of hair products with a lot of fragrance, but these have a subtle and fresh scent to them that’s barely there, so you’ll appreciate this collection if you feel the same way. As for the Oil in Cream, this styling butter contains glycerin and squalane in addition to the brand’s Curl Guard Complex for additional hydration and repair. I loved using this on damp hair after wash day or on in-between days. It’s truly one of the best hydrating styling creams I’ve used that provides enough moisture but doesn’t weigh curls down.

Theadora Guzmán, Maria Nila’s education manager, shared a little bit more about the formulation of these products. “When we decided to create Coils & Curls, we wanted to make things easier for the curly community,” she says. “We were set on creating nourishing, moisture-rich products that provide hydration and nutrition to delicate curls. Our Coils & Curls products are an easy three-step process [that] not only caters to a curly person’s wash routine but also serves as a complete regimen for those who prefer a quick wash-and-go approach.”

Guzmán touts the Curl Guard Complex in these products as the star of the show. “What I love the most about our Curl Guard Complex is that the rich butter and oils hydrate curls from within and help maintain the hair’s strength and elasticity. Shea butter combats dry, frizzy hair. Rosehip is very soothing for burns, so if any curls suffer from heat or sun damage, this complex can help repair the damage. Avocado oil is great for shine and repairing split ends,” she says. “The soothing mix also calms any stressed hair or scalp. All the ingredients in this mix equally benefit the scalp as they do the hair. Jojoba oil is very close to the natural oils produced on our scalps and has anti-inflammatory benefits that will soothe the scalp and hair. Hibiscus is full of vitamin C, which helps build collagen, and collagen helps with healthy hair growth but also strengthens the hair fabric.”

You can shop a few more of my Maria Nila favorites below.