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Shakira made an international name for herself through a combination of powerhouse vocals, undeniable charisma, and of course, iconic dance moves. But when it comes to beauty, it’s Shakira’s hair that takes center stage. The Grammy-award winning artist has rocked her thick, natural waves for decades, but it turns out that even Shakira has had her struggles finding products that worked with her unique strands, not against them. That’s why, last month, the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer introduced her first foray in to the beauty industry: a haircare line called Isima.
“I’ve had a love-hate relationship with my hair,” Shakira told WWD in June. “It’s been an adventure my entire life to try and search for the right product for my hair, a hair that has very complex needs.”
As someone who only recently started figuring out the complexities of her own hair, I can relate. Stick-straight until puberty, my hair took a long time to decide what it wanted to be — or maybe it was that I didn’t understand it until far too recently. While I never succumbed to the mid-2000s siren song of the flat iron (out of laziness more than concern for my hair health, let me assure you), the most I could ever do with my not-quite-straight, not-quite-curly hair was throw anti-frizz shampoo and conditioner at it and hope for the best.
As a result, my hair stayed stuck between straight and wavy for years, looking all too stringy and frizzy for my liking, until I started experimenting with curly-hair products a few years ago. Those products and an overhauled routine — featuring a diffuser and leave-in styling products — made a massive difference, but I’m always curious if they’re really the right products for me, or if they’re just better than what I was doing before. That’s why, when I heard about Isima, I was intrigued to try it out for my kind-of-wavy, kind-of-curly-haired self.
What Is Isima?
“Complexity” is a kind of keyword for Isima, which takes its name from the Spanish suffix denoting a superlative, like many or very. Isima’s 13 products are designed to work across all hair types and embrace all the natural diversity and intricacy they have to offer, from straight to wavy to tight curls to color-processed strands.
All the products also feature Isima’s signature TriModal Method, which provides treatment and nourishment for the scalp, the inner cortex of the hair strand, and the cuticle or outer layer of the strand. The brand pairs this technology with Latin American ingredients, such as cupuaçu butter, aloe vera, and maca root extract — botanicals that, the brand notes, have been used in communities in this region for generations to nourish and enrich hair.
To test the products on my own wavy-curly hair, I chose a regimen used by the brand on a curly-haired model, using five different Isima products. I went in a bit skeptical, I’ll admit, because with these celebrity beauty brands… well, you just never know what you’re going to get. But at the end of my test run, I was amazed at the results.
Before and after using Isima products on my wavy, curly hair.
Maggie Ryan/SheKnows
Riquísima Hydrating Shampoo
I started this process with hair that hadn’t been washed in five days, that had been up in ponytails, buns, and braids. The Riquísima Hydrating Shampoo served as a welcome, gentle cleanser for my exhausted strands, containing ingredients like aloe extract to soothe the scalp and ceramide to help increase hair resilience.
I worked the shampoo through from my roots and scalps down through my hair to the tips, as the brand instructed, and a few repetitions of that had my hair feeling clean but not stripped. The shampoo itself had a gel-like texture that went on smoothly and felt soothing on my roots and scalp.
Súperbomba Triple Repair Peptide Hair Mask
Isima considers the Súperbomba one of their standout products — a thick, creamy, once-a-week hair mask that uses the brand’s TriModal Method to deeply repair hair strands.
After rinsing out the hydrating shampoo, I worked the mask into my hair from root to tip, using it in place of a conditioner and leaving it in for 10 minutes. Usually, I finger-comb my conditioner through my strands to work out any tangles; with the hair mask, I wish I’d done the combing-out earlier, as it’s much thicker than a typical conditioner. That said, once I got all the knots worked out, I loved how the Súperbomba felt on my hair. The product feels like thick butter when you’re scooping it out, rich and whipped, and it left my hair incredibly smooth and hydrated as it absorbed into the strands.
All In Restorative Leave-In Conditioner
After rinsing out the hair mask, I applied Isima’s leave-in conditioner, All In, which contains moisturizing ingredients like squalane and glycerin. To apply it, I split my hair into three sections (left, right, and front) and combed it through with a Denman brush before scrunching the hair to encourage some curl. This product wasn’t a massive standout to me, as it felt similar to other leave-in conditioners, but I did like how lightweight and soft it felt going on.
Curls Don’t Lie Curl Perfecting Cream
Another one of Isima’s signature products, I was especially eager to try the Curls Don’t Lie Curl Perfecting Cream. I first have to give a shoutout to the packaging — the bottle doesn’t have a cap, but rather features a twisting lid that pops open a small hole to squeeze out the product, which felt like it led to less mess. The ingredients in this curl cream also stood out. In addition to the TriModal Method ingredients, it contains squalane and glycerin for moisture retention, plus linseed and chia extract for hold and definition — a combination of hydration and hold that reminded me of a leave-in conditioner combined with a curl gel. I glazed it over my hair with my palms, then scrunched.
You can either let your hair air dry with the curl cream or diffuse it. I did a mixture of both, first letting it air dry for about 20 minutes and then going in with my diffuser. I was interested to feel a very light cast forming as it dried — not enough to make the hair feel stiff or require any extra scrunching to break the cast, but just a gentle, soft hold with some frizz control.
Delicia Reparative Hair Oil
One thing about my hair is that it doesn’t hold oil products very well. I’ve tried them before, and even a small amount makes my hair looks greasy, an effect that gets worse over the following days. So I was hesitant about Isima’s Delicia Reparative Oil, and was happily surprised to realize this product is different. Infused with hemisqualane derived from Brazilian sugarcane and Chilean rosehip seed oil for vitamins, antioxidants, and fatty acids, this oil is both super-concentrated and lightweight. I used two small pumps, glazing and then scrunching it into my hair, and found it didn’t leave it greasy at all. Instead, it really locked in the curls and gave my hair the extra definition I was looking for.
Final Thoughts: Does Isima Work?
Isima met my expectations and then some. The before-and-after photo really speaks for itself; after this full routine, my hair was bouncier with more defined curls, and it felt cleaner than usual too. These products also gave me more volume than I normally get with my usual regimen, which I loved — my hair tends to curl more towards the ends than the root, which means I’m usually pulling out all the stops to get volume near my scalp. Isima’s products gave me much more of that than I normally get. I also have to shout out the packaging, which was bright and fun and easy to use.
Isima’s products all have the same signature scent, which wasn’t totally to my liking. I generally prefer fruitier scents, and these products smelled pretty soapy when I applied them. On the bright side, it faded to a weaker scent once my hair dried and left it smelling just lightly clean.
Maggie Ryan/SheKnows
I also noticed that this routine left my hair more wavy than curly, and there was slightly more frizz than I’m used to — which is sometimes the price you pay for more volume, so it wasn’t totally a bad thing. One thing I might add next time: a hairspray for extra hold. I like for my style to last a few days (to justify the hour-plus my wash routine usually takes!) and I noticed that my curls and definition started fading after about 24 hours post-Isima.
That said, when I went back to my old product line three days later, my hair acted differently — in a good way. It retained that extra volume, especially at the root, and felt less oily than usual. I think Súperbomba is responsible for the positive change, since I don’t usually use a hair mask (but definitely will be now). Either way, it’s a testament to Isima’s effect on not just my hair’s appearance, but also its overall health.
I might make a few tweaks or additions to this routine, but from beginning to end, my experience with Isima was impressive. So, shoutout to Shakira: this curly-wavy-straight haired girl is giving this complexity-embracing hair brand my stamp of approval.
Before you go, read about our favorite shampoos for thinning hair:
