We Tried Shakira’s New Hair Line on 6 Different Hair Types

10.06.2025, 16:23 allure.com

Shakira is 5’2” and about 25% hair. Sitting on a cream-colored couch in a hotel suite in New York City (she’s in town for the Met Gala), her caramel curls tumble down to her waist just a few inches away from those famous hips. She holds up a bright lavender tube with a bulbous cap and giggles: "Believe it or not, this is called Curls Don’t Lie.”

Though the packaging and product names are playful, Shakira is very serious about her latest endeavor: a hair-care brand called Isima, as in the Spanish adverb for “very” or “extremely.” The name is both a nod to her Latin heritage and how she wants the products to perform: “For many women like me who have very complicated hair—porous, dry, over-processed, curly, wavy—we need more,” she says. “There’s that saying that less is more. No, in our case, more is more.”

For that reason, all eight products in the line—which range from $32 to $42 and include a mask, leave-in treatment, and the aforementioned curl cream—take a three-pronged approach to hair care by targeting the scalp, inner cortex, and cuticle. “That’s the outer layer of the hair,” says Shakira, who clearly knows a whole lot more about cosmetic chemistry than your typical celebrity.

She is both curious and practical: “Even if I didn't want to know anything about beauty, being in the public eye, I would have to learn anyway,” she says. “Maybe if I were a doctor, I wouldn't have learned so many [beauty] tricks… but I’m in a situation where I have to be informed. I can't play with my face or my hair or my body. Whatever I put on, I have to make sure that it's not going to make me look crazy.”

But like most anyone who’s been in the spotlight since their teen years, she’s experienced some beauty bumps along the road to becoming the perfectly-coiffed global superstar that currently sits before me. “My hair was so broken and brittle,” she says, eyeing a photo of herself during a performance in 2002. “I looked like one of those troll dolls.”

Shakira recalls having once cried as her over-processed hair was “breaking in my hands” following a bleach-heavy dye job. “I have definitely had great hair moments, [but also] moments I don't feel proud of,” she says. “This line offers solutions to many of the problems that I've had in the past.”

Today, with the help of Isima, Shakira prefers to embrace her natural curls. “One of the things that I like about these products is that they give me the opportunity to wear my hair as it is naturally,” she says.

And when she’s on stage, that’s imperative. “When I’m performing, I need to feel natural. I can't perform with wigs; I can't perform with super high heels. I need to be as organic as possible,” says Shakira. “I just did 25 shows and we're going to start my first stadium tour in America this month… and so far I've done it without extensions because I like to head bang and move my hair. So the products I use can't leave my hair stiff or feeling too heavy."

Though we Allure editors can’t report on how well the line holds up through two and a half hours of non-stop hip-shaking and 13 costume changes, we put the products to the test in our own way. And we were really, really impressed. Keep scrolling for our unfiltered thoughts on some of the standouts.

Shakira told me that during those 13 costume changes, her hairstylist, Jhonatan Rendon, relies on Delicia Reparative Hair Oil to tame errant hairs. “I have just 60 seconds between songs,” she says. “Jhonatan puts this oil in and the flyaways are gone.”

This oil did wonders to superficially smooth my frayed ends.

Isima Delicia Reparative Hair Oil, $36

I have ultra-fine hair and do not typically find myself headlining world tours, so I use this oil a little differently: I apply a pea-sized amount on the ends of my hair to smooth the frizziness that tends to appear a day or two after washing. Kiana Brown, a Los Angeles-based hairstylist who specializes in curls, likes raking it through her spirals to help hydrate and cut the crunch that can come from using gels and creams.

As for me, yes, I could probably use a haircut—but for now, this lightweight oil is helping me bide my time. I’d also be remiss not to mention its fragrance, which could best be described as juicy. I love the way the scent lingers on my hair throughout the day.

When Giancarlos Kunhardt, our associate visuals editor, shared this selfie, our team Slack channel was set ablaze with fire emojis. “CURLS!!!!!!!!!!” squealed one fellow editor. Giancarlos used Riquísima Hydrating Shampoo, which he says “has a rich lather and didn’t dry out my hair like most shampoos do."

For Kunhardt, this shampoo stood out for its hydrating benefits and lather.

Isima Riquísima Hydrating Shampoo, $32

“As I washed, my curls clumped just enough to let me run my fingers through without much tug,” he continues. “I have a lot of thick, unruly hair, so I need a shampoo that won’t make detangling a nightmare—and luckily, this one didn’t!” Plus, he adds, the brand gets bonus points for the easy-to-dispense pump bottle.

Kassidy Silva, Allure’s social director and a new mom, says she had to change her entire hair-care routine postpartum. She now seeks out strengthening formulas, which is what drew her to the hydrating shampoo as well as Suavísima Hydrating Conditioner.

Silva says this shampoo/conditioner duo left her hair super shiny.

Isima Suavísima Hydrating Conditioner, $32

After shampooing, she applied a quarter-sized dollop of conditioner on the ends of her long, thick hair and let the formula “marinate for about five minutes.” After rinsing it out, she jumped out of the shower and “hit my hair with a quick blow dry and my T3 curling iron,” she says. The result—sans other styling products—was this shiny, wavy look. For his part, Giancarlos says his curls prefer conditioners with a little more slip, which he finds helps with detangling.

If you only get one product from this line, make it Súperbomba Triple Repair Peptide Mask. The formula floored cosmetic chemist Marisal Mou, who had previously only seen its star ingredient—nanopeptide-3—used in skin care.

“Nanopeptide-3 helps to enhance collagen production, support skin cell renewal, and strengthen the skin barrier,” says Mou, while issuing a reminder that your scalp is skin and should be cared for accordingly. “[This ingredient] is also a powerful retinol alternative that helps with cellular turnover, which is really important for prevention of an oily scalp and skin cell buildup, which can lead to yeast and dandruff.”

But it’s the immediate results that have kept us coming back for more. “After using this three times in one week—once I left it on for 10 minutes, the other times I rinsed out after maybe two minutes—my hair was much softer and less fuzzy,” says executive beauty director Jenny Bailly, who has long, gray-and-bleached hair.

Bailly likes this nourishing mask so much that she used in three times in one week.

Isima Súperbomba Triple Repair Peptide Mask, $38

“The musky-sweet fragrance I could do without, but it doesn’t stick around once my hair is dry so fine I’ll deal with it for the silkier hair,” she adds. “And the packaging is 10/10—the soft-touch/matte finish doesn’t slip around in the shower and the lid has a little doohickey (I think that’s the official term) on the edge that lets you easily open it with wet hands.”

You know your curls best—and Brown says hers don’t typically jibe with formulas containing silicones because of potential product buildup, which can weigh curls down. For that reason, she couldn’t try Curls Don’t Lie Curl Perfector, which contains a blend of silicones including dimethicone. “I would say the curl community is divided 60/40 when it comes to using versus not using silicones,” says Brown, who tells her clients who do prefer stylers with silicone to wash with a clarifying shampoo one to two times a month to help nix buildup. (She loved Isima Reset Clarifying Shampoo because it cleanses without stripping the hair of moisture.)

Allure’s social media manager Bianca Richards (below at left) is pro-silicone and very pro-Curls Don’t Lie. “It enhances my natural curls, giving them a beautiful, voluminous look without any frizz or flatness,” she says, adding that she combs the product through using a Denman brush to ensure even distribution.

Richards loves the way the product adds volume to her spirals…

…while McGrath says it adds definition to her loose waves.

“I also appreciate how user-friendly the packaging is,” she says. “The twist cap makes it easy to dispense the product smoothly and efficiently, without any mess.” Kara McGrath, our content director, is also a fan of the packaging (a common theme among all our testers).

She loves how Curls Don’t Lie defines her natural loose waves. “They come out shiny and frizz-less but not weighed down,” she says. To get the look above, Kara “applied the cream to my hair, raked it through with my fingers, scrunched my hair, plopped it into a T-shirt for about an hour, and diffused it for maybe five minutes before letting it air dry the rest of the way.”

Shakira would be proud.

You can join the waitlist for Isima products on isima.com as of today, June 10th, ahead of the official launch on June 16th. The brand will be available at Ulta stores beginning this summer.