I understand the struggle of curly hair as I have witnessed my mom dealing with the same for all her life! From pesky knots to dehydrated shafts, a curly mane has its disadvantages! And that's when the idea of incorporating the best protein treatments for curly hair into her haircare routine came into my mind! Trust me I saw the visible results in just one use! If you ask how? Well, let me tell you that protein treatments work like magic on your gaps, cracks, and holes by filling ‘em up, thereby resulting in smoother and shinier shafts! Not only just that, but it will also ensure that your hair is resilient to breakage by making it stronger from within!

However, not every protein treatment is just right for you! Thus, I have shortlisted the products based on their performance, key ingredients, formula, and effectiveness before coming to a conclusion! Drawing from my experience, I have come up with 9 such products that will help repair your damaged hair intensely without impacting its health in any way. Take a look—

• 1
  Best for Frizzy Hair

  BoldPlex Bond Restore Treatment

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The deep conditioner is ideal for wavy, frizzy, and even super curly hair to infuse a great amount of moisture and help your tresses appear sleek and shiny! It smoothes every strand while repairing the follicles to ensure the hair's health remains unaffected even if you have opted for bleach, color, or other chemical treatments. One user from New York reviewed the product saying, "The deep conditioner protein treatment really smoothed the appearance of my split ends and flyaways.” The best part? The 100% vegan formula is free of sulfate and paraben!

Key ingredients- Argan oil, camellia oil, avocado oil, rosemary leaf oil, and grape seed oil

2

Best to Deal with Flyaways

Mielle Organics Babassu & Mint Deep Conditioner

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Mielle Organics offers you one good protein treatment for curly hair that repairs dry, damaged, and frizzy hair. It works like magic to restore moisture in your strands for a lustrous appearance. Furthermore, it promises to deal with flyaways and bestows you with bouncy hair, thanks to the formula infused with nutrient-rich oils and complex amino acids. Crafted to work for both high and low-porosity hair, the product provides lasting shine and manageable hair for the longest possible time.

Key ingredients- Babassu, natural oils, fatty acids, and mint

Quick Tip:

You can blow dry your hair after applying a protein treatment to amplify the result.

3

Best for Damaged Hair

Aphogee Two-step Treatment Protein Treatment

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The two-step protein treatment from Aphogee is specially formulated for curly hair that is damaged from chemical treatment! It takes the upper hand at restructuring the hair, making ‘em relaxed. I love how it promises to stop hair breakage by making them strong from within. Just cleanse your hair with a shampoo and apply the product thoroughly to your shaft before evenly distributing it with a comb to ensure every strand is covered!

Key ingredients- Hydrolyzed animal protein, magnesium sulfate, and citric acid

4

Best for Natural Hair Growth

Arvazallia Fortifying Protein Hair Mask

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The deep conditioning protein mask is specially designed to repair brittle and damaged hair. Furthermore, I am in love with how it battles thinning hair problems by promoting natural growth! Furthermore, it adds volume to your hair by strengthening the strands from within! Get silky and soft hair that is easier to manage, and the credit goes to its effective formula that even mends split ends. It infuses a great amount of moisture that keeps the severe detangling and pesky knots at bay!

Key ingredients- Macadamia oil, hydrolyzed protein, aloe vera, Moroccan oil, and argan oil

5

Best Cruelty-free Formula

CURLSMITH - Bond Curl Rehab Salve

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The Bond Curl Rehab is crafted especially for weak and damaged curly strands that have gone through several chemical, bleach, and color treatments. Blended with superfoods like chia seeds, pumpkin seed oil, guava, kale, and mushrooms, the product makes your hair strong from within. The best part is that the bond builder is suitable for medium to low-porosity hair and claims to restore hair fiber strength. Furthermore, it is formulated without sulfates, silicones, phthalates, and mineral oils for an overall benefit!

Key ingredients- Chia seeds, mushrooms, pumpkin seed oil, guava, and kale

6

Best to Restore Hair Health

Curls Blueberry Bliss Reparative Hair Mask

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The deep conditioning mask is packed with the goodness of blueberry extract, chamomile extract, aloe leaf juice, and coconut oil to hydrate your curls while defining ‘em at the same time. While it protects against further damage, it also treats previous damage and leaves the strands soft and bouncy. Apart from conditioning, it also restores the health of the hair shaft and encourages hair growth for an overall benefit! So, why wait? Grow your curls beauties!

Key ingredients- Blueberry extract, coconut oil, chamomile extract, and aloe leaf juice

7

Best Paraben-free Formula

Hairfinity Hair Strengthening Amino Treatment Masque

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Incorporate this protein hair mask for curly hair in your routine and witness the results in a few days! The deep conditioning mask is packed with hydrolyzed collagen, keratin, and vegetable protein, working like a charm for dry and damaged hair. I was surprised to know that the masque reduces hair breakage by up to 90% while promoting longer and stronger hair with a healthier appearance. It also contains moisturizing ingredients like jojoba oil, biotin, coconut oil, almond oil, etc to infuse a great amount of moisture into the hair.

Key ingredients- Hydrolyzed collagen, keratin, and vegetable protein

8

Best to Intensely Repair Hair

Keratin Research Aminotouch Hair Protein Treatment

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The ‘rescue shot’ is a great product to infuse collagen and keratin in your hair and reduce split ends. It further strengthens your weak hair while the collagen coating repairs the strands from within. Addedly, it deals with frizz and flyaways by visibly reducing the appearance of dull and dry hair. Plus, it is super easy to use! How? Just add a few drops into the conditioner, and voila, your home protein conditioner for curly hair is ready! I love how it protects your colored strands and slows down fading which is an extra brownie point!

Key ingredients- Collagen, amino acids, peptides, and keratin

9

Best for Coarse Hair

Ecoslay Matcha Boost Protein Shake

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The Matcha Boost Protein Shake to treat damaged hair? Yes, please! Packed with vegetable proteins and hydrolyzed quinoa, the protein shake repairs the strands from within while strengthening the core so that you witness minimal hair fall! Furthermore, the lightweight formula will create volume and bounce without weighing down your hair. Crafted especially for coarse strands, the product also claims to work like magic on high and low-porosity hair. What's more? It comes in eco-friendly packaging that can be refilled from time to time.

Key ingredients- Hydrolyzed quinoa, matcha extract, and vegetable keratin

Now that you have taken a look at the products, here's how you can pick the best one—

Below are the steps to consider before picking the best protein treatment for curly hair—

a) Hair porosity- Before you invest in a protein treatment for your curly hair, find out the hair porosity! If you have a highly porous hair type, pick a heavyweight formula that helps the strands soak up all the nutrients. On the other hand, if you have low-porosity hair, a lightweight formula is needed so that it gets fully absorbed by your strands. 

b) Ingredients- Look for ingredients like vegetable protein, amino acids, keratin, collagen, soy protein, etc on the product’s packaging to ensure that it contains potent protein. Similarly, avoid ingredients like paraben, sulfate, phthalates, and SLS to ensure your strands remain free of nasty chemicals.

c) Formula- Look for a vegan-friendly and cruelty-free formula if you don't want to cause any harm to living beings in the name of haircare! You can go for vegetable protein in order to meet the needs regarding your protein treatment.

Now, take a look at the benefits of the protein treatments before proceeding—

Below are the facts you should know about hair protein treatment—

a) Strengthens hair- Hair protein treatment strengthens your hair shaft by replacing the lost protein at the roots and follicles. It provides stronger hair and ensures less hair fall.

b) Provides damage protection- Protein treatments work as armor around your shaft by hardening your hair cuticle layer. It further protects from chemical damage, sun damage, and environmental aggressors.

c) Repairs strands- Protein treatments take the upper hand at repairing your hair shafts by filling up the gaps and holes in your strands caused by environmental damage, chemical damage, sun damage, etc.

d) Reduces split ends- By increasing strength and elasticity, protein treatments reduce breakage and eventually split ends for a smooth appearance.

Now, take a look at how you can incorporate the treatment into your hair care routine—

Here's how you can use hair protein treatment–

Step 1- Start with clean hair.

Step 2- Take your protein treatment, and apply it thoroughly from roots to end.

Step 3- Now bun your hair and wrap it with a shower cap.

Step 4- This step is optional! You can blow dry your hair to ensure everything is soaked perfectly.

Step 5- After keeping it for 30 minutes, remove the wrap and rinse your hair thoroughly.