Back in the 1990s, it was easy to get defined curls. But it took a LOT of product.

These days my hair has mellowed from the corkscrew curls of my youth to a loose curl with some waves. So it takes some products to restore my hair to its previous bouncy, tight curls. My hair has also changed consistency as well. It used to be as silky as could be, but now it needs a little smoothing.

I had previously tried the Curlfriends line, and was quite impressed, but I hadn’t tried Curlfriends Tame Smoothing Serum until now.

I first tested the serum on a day that it was boiling and humid, and as the day progressed, there were torrential downpours. I had set my hair in curlers just to try to tame them a bit, but my hair started to get frizzy as soon as I took out the last roller. I applied the serum and was pleasantly surprised to see that my hair not only smoothed down but was incredibly shiny and bouncy. It stayed that way all through the downpours that afternoon, all without hairspray.

A tip on how to use it: you don’t need much of the serum. My hair is nearly waist length, and I used less than a dime-sized amount. Run the serum between your hands to warm it slightly, and then slowly start picking your curls up from the ends and working your way up. I used the remainder to smooth off the crown and add some shiny volume. Going slowly is the key: if you go too fast, you will just end up tugging at your curls and end up with needless frizz.

I’m a big fan of the ingredients in this serum as well: Wheat Protein and Aloe Vera to add volume and plump the shaft of your hair, and Rosemary, which has some backing for its ability to fight hair loss. I’m also a fan of what it doesn’t have – no alcohol to dry out your hair!

I love the smell – somewhere between a light bubble gum and candy flavor, but not adolescent scented. It’s just a nice, fun scent that fades in about an hour. I am typically pretty hard lined about hair products being scent-free, but I really like the scent of this product.

Find it at Amazon.

I received this product in exchange for testing and review purposes.