Color Wow Dream Coat Curly Hair Review

While I may be an “influencer” who writes and recommends beauty and fashion, I am also often influenced by others, including my best friend. I want to share how she influenced me to write this Color Wow Dream Coat Curly Hair review and what I truly think of this product for my curls.

My best friend has great hair. It's not too thick, not too thin, has great body that can go beachy wavy or relatively straight without much effort. I remember back in the day, we went to a music festival and a few of us were goofing around and teasing and she got angry and stormed off and we were just in awe of her blonde mane swaying in the breeze. My husband called her a lioness. Anyway, she has great hair that is different in every way from my own mane, but that doesn't mean I don't always ask what products she is using.

A few weeks ago, she and I got up early to ride our respective Peloton bikes at the same time and then FaceTime to virtually eat breakfast together. She took her bedhead hair that was up in for the spin class and freed it from the scrunchie. Her hair fell like a glossy, sleek blonde curtain on either side of her face. We're talking Cher-like glossy straight locks. I had to know what she used.

She said it was Dream Coat from Color Wow. She also sees Billy Maloy, the same stylist I love, and Billy recommended this product to give her straight, smooth hair. She mentioned there was a version for curly hair.

I tried Dream Coat back in 2018 when I had medium-length hair that I would style straightish/wavy. I remember it being more complicated than I desired at the time, but I did find ColorWow really effective. I was intrigued by the curly version.

Color Wow Dream Coat Curly Hair Review

While I adore LUS Brands for my hair and find it FAR less complicated than any other curly hair method I tried, I am always up for trying new curly hair methods, especially if they are simpler and more consistent with results.

Trying out Color Wow for Curly Hair

I bought a bottle of Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Frizz Treatment for Curly Hair that very week and tried it that weekend. I found that Dream Coat for Curly Hair is a whole different product and method than Dream Coat for straight hair.

While the classic Dream Coat requires blow drying with tension to activate the smoothing aspect, the Curly Hair version lets you air dry. And unlike most curly hair products, Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Frizz Treatment for Curly Hair performs better on hair that is damp, not wet.

Instructions say to have hair be towel dried, section if you desire, and spray to coat the strands. Then you diffuse or let dry naturally. I have now tried Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Frizz Treatment for Curly Hair eight separate times with a range of shampoos and conditioners, with heat drying and air drying, different methods for application and… I gotta say the verdict is still out.

My First Experience with Color Wow Dream Coat for Curly Hair

The first time I tried Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Frizz Treatment for Curly Hair I washed and conditioned my hair with my usual LUS Brands products I love for my curly hair. I put my hair up in a t-shirt turban for about 15 minutes so my hair wasn't sopping wet and liberally applied Color Wow to my hair. I scrunched and did a few curls around my fingers for shape and let air dry.

The result was shiny, soft curls but they were small and quickly fell to just be wavy sort of scraggly looking hair. this is pretty par for the course for my fine curly hair (and why I am such a fan of LUS Brands). Not impressed.

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My Second Experience Trying Color Wow for Curly Hair

But then my stylist Billy wanted to know more so I tested it again. This time I used my daughter's Mixed Chicks shampoo and conditioner, left my hair in a t-shirt turban a bit longer so it was more dry, used fingers to segment hair to fully coat my strands with Color Wow, was better with using my fingers to shape curls, and air dried.

I was still underwhelmed. The hair looked really healthy and shiny and soft, but the curls were not defined. As the day continued, the curls fell out leaving me with scraggly hair that looked a bit greasy and separated.

Is Third Time the Charm for Color Wow?

I tried again and got really particular with my application. I used my Denman brush to separate and carefully coat the hair, and twisted pieces into ringlets. Instead of air drying, I used my diffuser and heat, carefully placing the curls into the diffuser to not break them up. I dried my head upside down to encourage volume. The results were more volume, but still it was too soft and my hair just collapsed within an hour or so.

And then one day I was getting ready to have friends over. I shampooed and conditioned and pressed my hair a bit dry with a t-shirt and then I got a phone call or something happened where I was distracted and didn't get to putting in my usual LUS Brands product, which works best with very wet hair. By time I could come back to fixing my hair, it was about 70% dry.

I could have re-wet my hair and done LUS Brands but I was short on time so I gave the Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Frizz Treatment for Curly Hair another chance. I sprayed it on the mostly dry hair, scrunched, and prayed. And I ended up with some really great looking hair!

My hair wasn't stiff, and my curls were not nearly as defined with LUS Brands, but it looked shiny and soft and curly, not scraggly. I had a bit of body, which I didn't with previous attempts with Color Wow, and my hair kept its shape and subtle definition all night, even outside on a slightly humid and warm evening!

I realized Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Frizz Treatment for Curly Hair could be useful in my life for the times when I don't have the time to have my hair sit sopping wet on my head for two hours until the curls formed.

Another time, I tried Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Frizz Treatment for Curly Hair an hour after washing my hair. This time I sprayed, shaped, and then carefully rested my head on a pillow and took a power nap before the evening's festivities. And again I ended up with pretty decent curls, shine, and shape for the whole evening.

Color Wow Dream Coat for Travel

So recently, when going on travel, I thought it would be brilliant to take Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Frizz Treatment for Curly Hair. I can't rely on my shower filter (FYI a shower filter is a gamechanger for curly hair!), I didn't have time to decant my LUS Brands products into smaller containers, I figured I'd use travel-sized shampoo and conditioner I had in my stash and bring Color Wow.

And for that weekend at the beach, my hair was fine. Not great, but incredibly low maintenance. I found second day, I could just wet my hair (spray bottle or in the shower, didn't matter) and my curls would return. If I reapplied Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Frizz Treatment for Curly Hair my hair would look scraggly. But in general, it was fine. Absolutely low maintenance (spray and go, no tools or complicated procedures) and the bottle fits in my toiletries kit and has a clasp to keep it from leaking.

So when I went away for another weekend, I again packed Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Frizz Treatment for Curly Hair with shampoo specific for curly hair (Living Proof since they were kind enough to send me some travel-sized bottles). This time, I was in the city, not at the beach and this time my hair looked like crap. I let it dry, I rewet the next day, I tried spiraling around my fingers to set curls, I did prayer hands, I even tried the hotel shampoo and conditioner. I did all the things and nope, my hair looked horrible the entire weekend.

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You know when you don't do anything to your hair and let it air dry and it parts in weird places and flips on strange and looks a bit frizzy? That was essentially my hair, but softer and shinier. Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Frizz Treatment for Curly Hair does make hair feel really soft and look really shiny and naturally healthy. But I just don't find it a reliable choice for my fine curly hair.

However, if you have coarser or dry hair, if you find products are too product-y for your hair, if you wish your curls would chill a bit without looking limp… this product may be for you. It does make hair look and feel amazing, which is a rarity for curly hair styling products. This is not the first popular curly hair product that my hair didn't like.

I would compare the results to when I use a bit of conditioner as a curly hair styler. Soft, separated, but not enough definition for hair of my length (just above the shoulders) and weight (thin enough that you easily see scalp).

My Experience Embracing My Curls

I went curly a couple of years ago because my hair is so thin and fine. I was constantly battling it and using so many products to make it look full. Going curly gave me a full effect, and I think by using less heat and fewer products my hair got healthier and looked less thin. I went on a mission to find the products that could give me consistent volume and curl definition without requiring a PhD in CGM (Curly Girl Method for those not deep into the curly hair world).

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Comparing Color Wow to LUS Brands for My Fine Curly Hair

LUS Brands has been the best for my hair, and as you see with this Color Wow Dream Coat Curly Hair review, I keep trying anyways because I'd love my hair to be even simpler, especially for travel and when I can't control my schedule and want to pack light. While Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Frizz Treatment for Curly Hair isn't right for me, it doesn't provide a lot of freedom for those who have curls that will work with it.

No issues with product build-up, no heavy smell, a single product, it's a spray not a gel or lotion so it's easy to apply on the fly, no need to have a special shampoo or conditioner. It's cruelty-free, sulfate-free, alcohol-free, and I think the price is really reasonable for the amount of product. I truly think Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Frizz Treatment for Curly Hair is a revolutionary product, it's just not the product for my hair.

Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Frizz Treatment for Curly Hair can be purchased at the Color Wow website, at Sephora, and Amazon. Color Wow also has a range of other products specifically for curly hair.

If you have tried Color Wow Dream Coat Curly Hair, do share your experience below along with your hair type. As we all know, curly hair is finicky and it's personal. One person's fail may be another's win and honest reviews are rare these days on the internet. Your Color Wow Dream Coat Curly Hair review may benefit a fellow curly-haired member of the Wardrobe Oxygen community!