New York Magazine: Will Michelle Obama’s Curl Cream Make My Hair Great?

Reprinted from New York Magazine

When the team behind hair-care brand “label.m” told me that Michelle Obama was a fan of their Curl Cream, I had a lot of questions. I thought: How strange; she never wears her hair curly. I wondered: Maybe privately she unleashes her curls. But mostly I inquired: When can I try the cream for myself?

Like the name suggests, Curl Cream is a cream for your curls. If you don’t have curls, I suppose you could try it, but it’s so thick that it’s probably better if you don’t. When label.m introduced the product to me, they explained that Curl Cream is regularly sent to the White House and is scrutinized first by members of the Secret Service. I, too, gave Curl Cream an earnest inspection, and observed that it is white, similar in texture to Nivea Crème, and smells like almond cookies.

When testing, I applied Curl Cream to my hair post shampoo and conditioner, while my curls were still sopping wet. After dividing my hair into four equal sections, I ran a quarter-size amount of the cream from root to ends. I raked my hair with a wide-tooth comb to ensure even distribution, and then dried my hair with a diffuser. As a final touch, I did something I learned at curl mecca Devachan. I bent over so my head was pointed toward the ground and directed a blow-dryer set on low heat, while raking through my curls with my hand. I like to do this for about five minutes to add volume and bounce right after a wash.

According to label.m, Curl Cream’s main goals are to condition curly hair, provide a medium hold, and ward off humidity and frizz. There are fruit and seed oils in the cream that cater to conditioning, hard-to-pronounce synthetics that support a slight hold effect, and a trace of silicone derivatives that work to ward off any frizz. In sum, Curl Cream is pretty extraordinary. My curls felt plump and soft when they were fully dry and kept their shape for several days afterward. Despite its heavy texture, my curls never looked weighed down, and the cream’s hold is light enough that my hair avoided the dreaded crunch. Curl Cream is so perfect that the only question I have now is: When can I swing by the White House to discuss this with Michelle?

label.m Curl Cream, $26.95 at labelm-usa.com.