This is going to sound stupid, but I always had curly hair, and suddenly around my young teenage/pubescent years, it suddenly seemed to straighten out to a large wave with straight ends and stayed that way. I thought perhaps my hair changed with hormones from puberty. Or perhaps it was the stress my body went through after losing my dad to cancer when I was 14 years old. Never did I question the timing with all this happening at the same time as I was introduced to and subsequently became addicted to the hair straightener and began dying my hair. Fast forward to 2021 and being inundated through social media with girls in a similar position as me, regaining their curls. So, I decided to see if I could too! I put a call out on social media for people to recommend products/techniques to try and many things were suggested but someone had mentioned PUMP Haircare and it felt like a good fit for me. I have been using the Pump Haircare brand almost exclusively for over a year now and I figured I’d review the curly girl range for you. I have some definite favourite products and some I never repurchased so stick around and I’ll fill you in with all the hairy details (see what I did there).

All products from the curly range from Pump are Curly Girl Method (CGM) friendly, meaning they are free from silicones, sulphates, parabens and drying alcohol. Pump is also cruelty free and vegan. All tubes are made from sugarcane in Australia in a solar powered factory.

All products will be listed by number, so feel free to jump to the product that interests you.

Product Listing

1. Shampoo
2. Conditioner
3. 2in1 Define and Repair Cream
4. Curl Activating Milk
5. Soft Curl Gel
6. Miracle Curl Oil
7. Spring Back Curls – Day 2
8. Diffuser
9. Detangle Comb

1 and 2: Shampoo and Conditioner

I always use these together, and always feel like its a really nice, luxury wash for my hair. The products are both very soft and nourishing, both containing Argan oil to tame frizz, and the conditioner also contains sweet almond oil. My hair always feels perfectly clean after each wash, even when I’ve gone a week between washes and have a lot of product build up on my hair and scalp.

How I use Pump Curly Girl Conditioner

The conditioner is my favourite product from the whole range because there’s so many ways to use it, so if you’re going to buy one product, go for that! as well as a regular conditioner, I use my Pump Curly Girl Conditioner as a mask by leaving a generous amount on my hair for 5 to 10 minutes. I prefer the packaging over the traditional pot that hair masks come in. I always end up with those full of water somehow. Maybe that’s just a me problem. Let me know in the comments.

I also use it as a leave in conditioner, particularly when I’ve run out of my 2in1 cream. I find it still hydrates my hair and controls frizz, while not leaving a heavy residue behind. I sometimes will just not rinse it out properly when I wash my hair, since I avoid putting it on my scalp anyway.

You can refresh your curls by putting a small amount of the conditioner in a spray bottle and spritzing your hair and recoiling the bits that need a bit more shape, or just re-scrunch if that works for you.

3 and 4: Define and Repair Cream and Curl Activating Milk

If there’s 2 products you buy, make the other one the Define and Repair Cream. I adore this cream. Apply it to wet hair (not dripping, but not yet damp), comb it through and scrunch. This creates a very gentle cast over the hair and I sometimes will use only this to style my hair on days I don’t want to take much time. The Pump Define and Repair cream is weightless once it dries and I am pretty obsessed. I have recently begun using the Curl Activating Milk as an alternative to just try out more products to see what they have to offer. This feels more like a treatment to my hair since it doesn’t create the cast, but feels so hydrating. It’s a lovely product made for low porosity hair (which I don’t have), so I don’t think I’m seeing it’s full potential. Choose the Define and Repair Cream if you have high or medium porosity hair and if you have low porosity hair, try the curl activating milk.

5 and 6: Soft Curl Gel and Miracle Curl Oil

I use the Miracle Curl Oil a few different ways. I’ll sometimes put a generous amount on dry hair before a wash, and comb through before a wash, to get out any tangles. I find lathering up with oil helps protect the hair whilst it’s being brushed or combed to give it a bit more slip and allow the comb to glide through much nicer. I also will sometimes use it to very gently scrunch out the crunch of my styling products once my hair is dry. I have fine hair, so I have to be careful to keep it away from the roots to avoid looking greasy, although it’s a lightweight oil that works beautifully from the mid lengths and ends. I do tend to get more compliments on how healthy my hair looks on days that I do this step.

The Soft Curl Gel is another holy grail product that I’ve purchased multiple times and I’m so happy they’ve finally released it in a larger size! It’s a silky feeling gel, exceptionally light weight. It forms a gently cast but your hair never goes completely crunchy. It holds well, scrunches out even better and you can’t feel you’ve got gel in your hair at all. I have tried a few other gels at times when this has run out and again, I’ve just gone back to ordering this one because it does the job so much nicer than other gels I’ve tried. Given that I have fine, curly hair, the lightness of this product is much more suitable, as anything that weights my hair down makes my hair look thinner and greasier.

7: Spring Back Curls – Day 2 Curl Refresher

This Day 2 Curl Refresher is the only thing from the Pump Curly Girl Range that I honestly wouldn’t recommend for a few reasons, mostly the packaging. I found with this spray bottle, a lot of the product didn’t end up on my hair but on the wall behind me and for a fairly pricey product, I just don’t like that. I also found I have to use a lot of it for it to be effective and that type of pump nozzle is very tiring to use as much as it was required for my hair.

As I mentioned above, the conditioner mixed with water in a spray bottle does the job for me. Those are just my thoughts, but if you’ve tried this product and you think I should give it another go, please let me know in the comments and share your tips for using it better!

8: Curl Diffuser

This Curl Diffuser has definite pros and cons. It is great because it’s a stretchy silicone that can fit on most hairdryers. It’s collapsable and portable and brilliant for travel. I now don’t have to carry my whole hairdryer and diffuser that came with it in a suitcase, I can just pack this diffuser and be pretty certain that it will fit the hotel hairdryer (which has never failed me yet).

The cons are the size of the little knobs (surely that’s not the technical term), but I like the longer prongs on my diffuser, where the bowl of the diffuser doesn’t have to touch my hair too much, and I can get the prongs right up onto my scalp. The bowl of this one also tends to collapse a bit too easily if it does accidentally touch my hair which can be a bit annoying.

In a nutshell, I’m glad I have it for travelling, but I use the other one that came with my hairdryer when I’m at home.

9: Detangling Comb

Hands down best detangling comb I’ve ever purchased. It’s soft enough and it’s teeth are wide enough to not pull on your hair at all. It’s really a beautiful comb that I highly recommend and it’s one you’ll keep forever. I’ve seen girls with much thicker hair than I have use it to volumize their roots a bit. I have tried it and it doesn’t work on my fine hair which is quite silky. I think it would do a great job on slightly more textured or thicker hair though! Either way, I do recommend you get this comb.

That’s all the products from the Pump Curly Girl Range I’ve tried, but I have tried a couple of products from the hair growth range which is also curly girl friendly and I’d be more than happy to review for you. If there’s any products from this range you want me to test and review, let me know in the comments, and please let me know if this review helped you at all.

Love ya,

Nikki