The £27 hair serum that has cut our curly-haired beauty editor's routine from four steps to one

If you have curly hair, you’ll know that finding your styling routine can be a bit of a process.

With so many products to choose from, it can be a minefield navigating exactly which are the best hair styling products for you. Do you need a gel as well as a cream? Where does a foam fit in?

Once you have your routine set (usually after a lot of trial and error), it can be hard to stray from it. That’s mainly because a curly wash day takes so long, so you want to stick to the products that really work. As a Senior Beauty Editor with curls, I’m sent a lot of curly products to try, which I do with a little trepidation. My routine is perfect, why would I stray from it? Here’s why...

The £27 serum that cut my curly hair routine by 3 steps

Color Wow Curl FLO-ETRY Vital Natural Serum has changed my wash day for good. I tried it on a bit of a whim - I was intrigued by the brand’s foray into the curly world and wanted to see how it performed on its own.

Color Wow has a pretty great track record, from their viral Dream Coat (long hailed as one of the best hair products for humidity) to the team's favourite (and w&h hair awards winner) Color Security shampoo. Wow by name, wow by nature - every product they create seems to exceed every expectation, delivering real results while being user-friendly.

This curl serum is the perfect example - it’s easy to use, and effective, with a long list of bonus benefits.

First impressions of the Color Wow Curl FLO-ETRY Serum

While it’s called a serum, it has the texture of a cream, so it’s easy to work through hair. But it's a serious multitasker, which is why I love it so much.

On that first wash day, I noticed my thirsty curls drinking it up, feeling instantly smoother, softer and quickly creating definition. I left it to air dry and was - if you’ll forgive the pun - genuinely wowed at the result.

My previously high-maintenance curls were defined, shiny and bouncy with just one product and very minimal effort. If anything, they looked better - friends I saw that evening even commented on how great my curls looked (them being curly girls themselves, the specifics of products and processes is a topic we often discuss).

It detangles, defines and moisturises, all while repairing damage - a huge bonus for delicate curls. Even better, it has heat protection in the formula, so you can use your best diffuser without having to add another product in.

Is the Color Wow Curl FLO-ETRY Serum worth buying?

I used to use a curl cream, gel, mousse and heat protectant, each applied with militant precision, down to the minute. Now, I just use this serum on wet hair, and I know it’ll always work just as well, if not better than my old arduous routine. It also works brilliantly to refresh hair a few days after wash day - I just spritz it with water and work a little through the frizzier parts.

At £27 it’s not the most affordable hair product, but I don’t think it’s too badly priced considering how many jobs it actually does and how well it really performs. Considering it's a defining gel, heat protectant, cream and serum all in one product, it’s a positive bargain.