Brand comparison
Not Your Mother's vs Kinky-Curly: Which Curl Brand Is Better?
Kinky-Curly is the most loved brand we track, but pricey and hard to find. Not Your Mother's is cheap and everywhere, and some reviewers use both.
| Compared | Not Your Mother’s | Kinky-Curly |
|---|---|---|
| What reviewers think | Mostly positive: Great value. Stylers hit and miss. | Mostly positive: Cult classics. Rising prices. |
| Curl Score | 3.8 Good | 4.3 Great |
| People with an opinion | 203 | 97 |
| Best-liked product | Curl Talk Curl Cream | Knot Today Leave-In Conditioner |
| More promising for | Waves and loose curls on a budget, especially as cream plus foam, or anyone avoiding shea butter and heavy oils. | Fine or tangle-prone curls that need slip without weight, and anyone who wants a short, simple ingredient list. |
| Think twice if | Your hair builds up easily, you're sensitive to strong scents, or mousses tend to leave you sticky. | You live somewhere humid and need firm hold, your hair is fine and wavy, or you're sensitive to aloe vera or scent. |
Kinky-Curly has the highest Curl Score of any brand we track, built on two cult products used for decades. Not Your Mother's is a cheap drugstore line with a broader range and more mixed results. In Not Your Mother's discussions, reviewers bring up Kinky-Curly's Knot Today leave-in as part of a mix-and-match routine. One uses it in place of a curl cream because creams weigh their hair down.
The main difference
Leave-in: Kinky-Curly wins. Knot Today is a near-universal favorite for slip and detangling without weight. The Curl Talk Leave-In is well liked but has become hard to find.
Gel: Kinky-Curly's Curling Custard is loved for clumpy, shiny, hydrated curls, though it's thick and needs diffusing. The Curl Talk Sculpting Gel is the most divisive product in its range.
Cream and foam: Not Your Mother's wins, because Kinky-Curly doesn't make these. The Curl Talk Curl Cream and Refreshing Curl Foam are both well liked.
Price and availability: Not Your Mother's is cheap and in most drugstores. Kinky-Curly's prices keep rising, and it's hard to find outside the US.
Which to choose
Choose Kinky-Curly if your curls tangle easily or are fine and need slip without weight, or you want clumpy definition on curly to coily hair.
Choose Not Your Mother's if you want a cheap, easy-to-find routine for waves and loose curls, built around a cream and foam.
Combine them: Knot Today under Curl Talk stylers is the kind of mix reviewers already use.
The verdict
Buy Knot Today from Kinky-Curly. It's the one product here almost nobody regrets. For stylers, Not Your Mother's is the cheaper way to experiment, and Curling Custard is the choice for coils if you're willing to diffuse.
Head to head
Each brand's strongest product of each type, by what reviewers say.
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Conditioner and leave-in
Not Your Mother’s
Curl Talk Leave-In Conditioner
7 positive·1 mixed·1 negativeA soft, moisturising leave-in that most reviewers like, though it's become hard to find.
Best for A light leave-in under Curl Talk stylers
Kinky-Curly
Knot Today Leave-In Conditioner
34 positive·4 mixedA near-universal favourite: a light leave-in with elite slip that detangles without weighing hair down.
Best for Detangling fine or tangle-prone curls without weight
Gel
Not Your Mother’s
Curl Talk Frizz Control Sculpting Gel
10 positive·3 mixed·8 negativeThe most divisive Curl Talk product: some reviewers can’t live without it, others found it heavy, frizzy or too hard.
Best for Medium-density waves and curls, or as one gel in a mix
Kinky-Curly
22 positive·8 mixed·4 negativeA decade-long holy grail for many, with clumpy, shiny curls, but too heavy or frizzy for some, and pricier every year.
Best for Clumped, shiny definition on curly to coily hair, diffused
Which suits your hair
What reviewers with each kind of hair report.
Fine or wavy hair
Not Your Mother’s
The Curl Cream works on fine hair in small amounts: one reviewer emulsifies a little with water, and another says a quarter-size amount covers their whole head. The Refreshing Foam is lighter and water-based, and reviewers with low-porosity 2B hair say it works really well.
Kinky-Curly
Knot Today is the safe pick: several reviewers with fine, low-porosity hair call it the only leave-in that doesn't weigh their hair down, and the only conditioner that has ever detangled it. The Custard is riskier.
Thick, dense or coily hair
Not Your Mother’s
Reviewers with dense or coarse hair are less impressed. Samples didn’t condition enough for one with dense, medium-coarse hair, and another found the gel heavy and frizzy even in a tiny amount.
Kinky-Curly
Reviewers don't single out Kinky-Curly for this.
Humid weather
Not Your Mother’s
Reviewers don't single out Not Your Mother’s for this.
Kinky-Curly
The Custard's moisture is a mixed blessing. One reviewer prefers it for holding through humidity, but others got major halo frizz and curls that lasted a couple of hours, or found it doesn't work in high humidity.
Starting out or on a budget
Not Your Mother’s
Reviewers don't single out Not Your Mother’s for this.
Kinky-Curly
Start with Knot Today, the most-reviewed product and the one with almost no complaints beyond its scent. If you want hold, the Custard is the brand's styler: use very little, diffuse rather than air-dry, and know that a few reviewers say recent tubs flake.
Based on what commenters with similar hair reported. Hair varies.
What reviewers like and dislike
Not Your Mother’s
- Praised: Cheap and easy to find
- Praised: Juicy, defined curls from the Curl Cream
- Praised: A light, water-based refresh foam
- Praised: Free of shea butter and heavy oils
- Praised: A protein-free, fragrance-free line
- Complaint: A mousse that has turned sticky for many
- Complaint: A film or residue on some hair
- Complaint: Strong scents, for some
- Complaint: Constant reformulating and discontinuing
- Complaint: A gel that splits reviewers
Kinky-Curly
- Praised: Slip and detangling from Knot Today
- Praised: Light enough for fine hair
- Praised: Clumpy, shiny, hydrated curls from the Custard
- Praised: A little goes a long way
- Praised: Short, simple ingredient lists
- Complaint: The price, which keeps rising
- Complaint: Hard to find in shops and outside the US
- Complaint: Custard frizz or weak hold in humidity
- Complaint: Flaking from recent Custard tubs, for a few
- Complaint: Scents some find too strong
From people who tried both
Comments about one brand in discussions of the other.
Kinky-Curly, mentioned in Not Your Mother’s discussions
PositiveKnot Today Leave-InReddit comment
I love it; lightweight and works really well. I skip curl cream as it's too moisturising and weighs my hair down.
u/charcat-xr/curlyhair, 2025Original comment
MentionLeave-InReddit comment
Part of my mix-and-match routine.
u/charcat-xr/curlyhair, 2024Original comment