My Honest Review of Beyoncé’s Cécred Hair Care Products

If you’re anything like me, you’ve long wondered how Beyoncé maintains her long, blonde tresses. After attending her ‘Cowboy Carter’ tour in New Jersey this summer, my curiosity was further piqued. Keeping color-treated, curly hair healthy, protected, and ready for hours-long performances is no easy feat. I spend days preparing for the mental and physical labor of wash day. So, to hopefully save myself some stress, I decided to try Beyoncé’s hair routine using her hair care line, Cécred.

Fortunately for my obsessive personality, I was able to gain insight from Cécred’s Lead Global Stylist and Knowles-Carter’s longtime resident stylist, Neal Farinah, into how Bey treats her tresses and what my routine should be. “Getting hair tour-ready—three months of heat styling, sweat, and general wear and tear—means we did a lot of treatment prep to make sure it was the strongest and healthiest it could be,” says Farinah. These included the brand’s Fermented Rice & Rose Protein Ritual and the Reconstructing Treatment Mask.

Bey also used the brand’s scalp scrub, shampoo, and conditioner. Although I’m no Beyoncé, I’m a fashion and beauty writer who prefers a minimal-effort, maximum-effect hair routine catered to bleached coils. Did I know I’d be testing this line in a record-breaking heat wave? No. But if any brand could take the heat, it would be Queen Bey’s.

The Process: A hydrating shampoo is paramount for my blonde, type 4 curls. In addition to nourishing my hair, it’s the first line of defense in keeping my styles shining and healthy. Long story short, I know a good hydrating shampoo when I use one, and this totally passed the test. It only took two dime-sized squeezes to get my whole head leathered up. Despite the squeeze format, the bottle provides you with a lot of control over how much product you want to dispense. Once I smoothed the shampoo over my head, I was immediately met with the luxurious oud smell that Cécred is known for. It really fills up your entire bathroom, which I love, but some sensitive noses might not.

My Review: Within 30 seconds of application, I felt the intense hydration from the hyaluronic acid, keratin ferment, and blend of oils taking effect. It softened my strands deeply, so much so that I was able to glide the paddle brush through my hair without any effort at all. Upon rinsing, I immediately noticed the shine and definition this shampoo left behind. My ends still felt a little dry, but the finest parts of my hair, where I use the most heat, were soft and less limp-looking. My hair color didn’t look brassy. The oud smell was still present, which I thought was nice. My tresses stayed shiny and bouncy even in the 101-degree heat, something I truly didn’t think was possible. Anyone with dry hair can benefit from this shampoo.

My Rating: 9.5/10 | Would I Buy It: Yes

The Process: This strengthening duo is Beyoncé’s go-to treatment ahead of excessive heat and styling. The two-step ritual uses water-activated rice powder to strengthen and repair hair. The powder is packed with proteins that penetrate the outer layer of your hair cuticle to reduce breakage and smooth the shaft, resulting in shiny, manageable strands. The ritual comes in a box with packets labeled “Step One” and “Step Two.” I originally planned to mix the powder in a handy hair bowl, but quickly realized I would need a larger bottle. Instead, I reached for a mason jar. Mixing the powder with 24 ounces of water, I was immediately met with a soft, citrusy scent (the notes are yuzu, white peach petals, and jasmine), which pleasantly surprised me, as I had always heard that rice water tends to have an unpleasant odor. That wasn’t the case at all. The powder dissolves into the water effortlessly, and before I knew it, I was dumping the concoction over my head. It’s not only supposed to improve hair vitality but also the health of your scalp, so I thoroughly saturated my entire head. I lightly scrunched the product in before putting my hair in a claw clip. The instructions state to let it sit for five minutes before proceeding to step two. However, this wasn’t the most practical process, as the hair was soaking wet, resulting in water dripping everywhere for the entire five minutes. As I scrunched, I felt a slight residue, but overall, my hair mostly felt wet. As it began to dry, my hair started to feel crunchy, similar to any other protein treatment. It took a while to rinse the powder out of my hair. I learned to pay close attention to whether the water is running clear or not before moving on.

Step two had a conditioner-like consistency with that signature Cécred smell. What was packed in the pouch didn’t look like enough to coat all of my hair, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to evenly distribute. I lightly detangled again with my brush, making sure every strand was coated before rinsing. After another few minutes of trying to totally rinse the product out, my hair felt much softer, and my scalp felt much cleaner.

My Review: The shine was my absolute favorite part—my color even looked brighter. The definition it left was also palatable; the heat-damaged pieces of my hair had more of a wave to them than when I first started washing, and the rest of my hair was bouncy and defined. Because I’m constantly bleaching and heat styling my hair, my strands require intensive treatments to see results. For this reason, I usually prefer bond builders over protein treatments because they treat hair from the inside out. However, this treatment totally penetrated my hair deeply despite being a protein treatment. It only comes with four packets, so I’d use it sparingly, when my hair is in desperate need of some TLC—maybe once a month to keep it strong and shiny.

Compared to the other products, it’s much more friendly for all hair types. Anyone with straight or wavy hair can mix the rice powder in when they’re looking for extra shine or strength. However, the second step is much better suited for coily, dense hair types due to its rich consistency and high slip. The price sounds steep for four treatments, but it’s comparable to what I’d spend on a good-quality bond builder. I think it’s worth investing in if you’re someone who chemically treats your hair shaft with bleach, dye, heat, or perm and wants to minimize breakage.

My Rating: 10/10 | Would I Buy It: Yes

The Process: Although I have a perpetually itchy, flaky scalp, I’m not a huge fan of scalp scrubs. My hair is dense and true type 4, so it can be difficult for a scrub to exfoliate the entirety of my scalp without creating a matted mess of hair. When I swatched Cécred’s scrub across my hand, I noticed it has a thinner consistency than other scrubs I’ve tried. The physical exfoliants felt quite gentle on the skin but were noticeable, kind of like toothpaste. The formula includes a blend of niacinamide, lactic acid, tea tree oil, willow bark extract, microcrystalline cellulose, and the brand’s science-backed keratin ferment, so it has the potential to both chemically and physically exfoliate, soothe inflammation, and cleanse away bacteria.

I was working with an old silk press, so my hair was pretty detangled when I applied it. I got my hair soaking wet before using the applicator tip to apply the product directly onto my scalp. Although the scrub felt gently abrasive on my hand, it lathered much more like a shampoo on my wet scalp, making it easy to work through snagging or creating tangles. I hadn’t washed my hair in two weeks, so I did have flaky patches. It took me about one-fourth of the bottle to achieve my desired coverage, which wouldn’t be ideal for weekly use, considering it’s only an 8-ounce bottle. The instructions say to let it sit for two minutes before rinsing. Within one minute, I felt a tingling sensation.

My Review: Once rinsed, the greasy roots of my hair were squeaky clean. My hair wasn’t tangled, and the product washed out effortlessly. I still saw some small patches of flakes on my scalp, and it didn’t feel quite clean. Overall, I could see the ingredients promoting scalp health over time, as the brand claims it’s like skin care for your cranium. I think this is a great option for anyone with a naturally oily scalp or who is experiencing light product buildup from a protective style. With continued use, I can see it keeping dryness at bay, which may result in having to use less over time. As someone with dermatitis, it wasn’t quite potent enough to lift all imperfections off my scalp on its own. I liked that the toothpaste texture transformed into a foam, as my hair didn’t mat up after using this.

My Rating: 7/10 | Would I Buy It: Probably not

The Process: I applied five to six pumps of this award-winning conditioner to my freshly rinsed hair. I tested this when it first launched in 2024, and the highlight of the process, and still is, is the smell. The blend of Australian sandalwood, warm musk, night-blooming jasmine, Haitian vetiver, and violet leaves is seriously luxurious—it transports you to what I imagine Beyoncé’s glam room smells like. It has medium slip, so it was great for working out any tangles I got while rinsing out the previous step. Since my hair is so thick, I had to use a significant amount of conditioner to cover most of it. Once I finally applied and rinsed, I was blown away by the immediate definition and softness this further provided.

My Review: This rich, curl-defining product would be great for anyone with type 3 to 4 hair to add to their routine. It provides adequate coverage and slip to easily detangle and hydrate hair ahead of the styling process. Individuals with dense hair may find that they need to use a significant amount of product to evenly distribute it throughout their hair. In the future, I would probably mix this in with another hydrating conditioner instead of using it on its own to reap the benefits while making the bottle last longer.

My Rating: 9/10 | Would I Buy It: Yes

The Process: As the final step of my Cécred wash day, I whipped out this heavy-hitting treatment mask. I am a self-proclaimed hair mask snob—I’ve tried every top-rated formula you can imagine on my hair. For me, this step is the most important because it is the final one before I style my hair. It determines how long the shine, hydration, and strength my hair received during wash day will last. When I untwisted the lid of the jar, I was surprised by the yellow color. It reminded me of the hair mayonnaise mask I used to pick up from the beauty supply store as a teenager. The formula—which is a blend of naturally derived oils, Cécred’s hair-repairing fermented protein and keratin complex, and squalane—felt super rich and almost tacky in my hands. Upon application, it melted into my curls and coils seamlessly. It has the best slip of all of the products in the line. It makes detangling a breeze. The instructions state to wear it for no longer than 20 minutes, but not to wear it for longer than that. I sat under a hooded dryer for half the time, and then I hopped in a hot shower where the steam could further collaborate with the mask before rinsing.

My Review: This mask made my hair feel like butter. This is major for me as I usually stack two or more masks on top of whatever I used first to get my desired hydration, feel, and shine. I was amazed at how bouncy my curls looked with no product in them. Most signs of limp, damaged hair had faded, and the shine was impeccable. I believe it works really well for smoothing the hair cuticle, too—my coils stayed thoroughly detangled well throughout my rinsing and blow-drying process. I think if there’s one product from the line to pull the trigger on, it’s this one. It’s perfect for coarse hair that is prone to dryness, breakage, tangles, and dullness. Not to mention, pairing it with a hooded dryer or a steam treatment for a couple of minutes totally elevates your at-home salon experience.

My Rating: 10/10 | Would I Buy It: Yes

Final Thoughts

After washing and treating my hair, I proceeded with my silk press routine as I imagined Beyoncé usually uses these products in conjunction with heat styling. My blow-dry process was seamless, though my ends did require some sealing with a moisturizing cream and a heat protectant. Once my hair was done, I looked like I just left the salon chair. It has never been so shiny after styling it at home. Even during a long day of 101-degree weather, my hair felt super soft and had a lovely amount of body and movement (Alexa, cue “Tyrant!”). The most fried strands of my hair have never looked so healthy.

The entire wash day was relatively quick (when you subtract the time I spent taking pictures and notes for this review), and it was super effective. Each product addresses a different concern, creating a cohesive routine for curly and coily hair that requires intense hydration and strengthening. I vouch that most products are worth the price—each of them is potent enough to work on their own, so it’s okay to start by picking up one or two. Overall, Cécred products deliver on their promises, especially for those with heat-damaged or color-treated hair. I totally feel tour-ready.