Korean Curl Cream Test: 8 Products, a 5.2x Price Gap

The Korea Consumer Agency (한국소비자원, KCA) tested eight curl creams sold in Korea and found a 5.2x gap between the cheapest and the most expensive per mL. The only cream rated top for curl retention costs 66 won per mL, the second cheapest in the group, and the priciest one was not in the top group for curl elasticity or retention. English-language coverage of this test was not in the search results I ran. I read Korean press reports dated 21 to 28 September 2026.

What was tested, and what each cream costs

Per the Consumer Economy report, the cheapest was Mise-en-scène Curling Essence 2X Volume Curl, 6,500 won for 150 mL, or 43 won per mL. The most expensive was Aveda Be Curly Advanced Curl Enhancer Cream, 44,650 won for 200 mL, or 223 won per mL. Vivas 2X Style Up Curl Fit Jelly Essence is 9,900 won for 150 mL (66 won per mL). The same report lists the rest per mL only: ATS 69 won, Amos 113 won, Mintree 153 won, Curryshell 158 won and Moroccanoil 216 won.

At Aveda's rate, a 150 mL bottle would cost about 33,500 won. That is my arithmetic from the published per-mL figure. The same 150 mL of the Mise-en-scène cream costs 6,500 won.

Performance: six passed one test, one passed the other

The agency scored two things. Curl elasticity is how well a curl returns to shape after it is deformed, and curl retention is how long the curl keeps its form. On elasticity, Hankyung reports six products rated superior, one good and one average. The six were Moroccanoil, Mise-en-scène, Mintree, Vivas, ATS and Curryshell, according to CBC News. Amos and Aveda are therefore outside the top group: per the Consumer Economy report, Aveda was rated good and Amos average.

On retention the group flattens out. Only Vivas was rated superior, and the other seven were rated good. Aveda, at 5.2 times the per-mL price of Mise-en-scène, sits among those seven.

Firmness is a separate, descriptive result. Moroccanoil, Mintree, Vivas and ATS formed relatively firm curls, Mise-en-scène, Amos and Aveda medium ones, and Curryshell a relatively soft curl. No grade of better or worse is attached to it. The agency's own advice is to weigh the hairstyle you usually make, the price and how easy the packaging is to recycle.

That photo is a generic cream tube from Pexels and none of the tested products. The coverage I read never states the test method (hair type, humidity, hours, scoring). I also could not open the KCA release itself, because kca.go.kr returned a 503 error when I tried. The ratings are the agency's, as relayed by the press.

Safety passed, with a silicone caveat

All eight creams met the domestic limits for six heavy metals (lead, nickel, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, antimony) and for preservatives, per the same Consumer Economy report. The declared content, allergen content and mandatory label items also checked out on every product.

The agency found cyclosiloxanes, which it describes as able to stay in the environment for a long time, in four of the eight products. Cyclopentasiloxane (D5) measured 3.99 to 9.15 percent and cyclohexasiloxane (D6) 0.02 to 1.70 percent. The four products are not named, and no figure is matched to a brand.

The EU number next to it

D5 at 3.99 to 9.15 percent is far above a limit that Europe is about to apply. Under Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/1328, as summarized by Premium Beauty News, D5 in leave-on cosmetics is capped at 0.1 percent from 6 June 2027, and D6 at 0.1 percent in rinse-off and leave-on products alike. D5 in rinse-off products has been capped at the same 0.1 percent since 2020.

A curl cream stays in the hair, so I read it as a leave-on product. The agency makes no such comparison, and I could not open the EUR-Lex text, only secondary summaries. Whether the four creams with silicones are the versions sold in Europe is not in the data.

Recycling, and who comes out ahead

Packaging was graded too. Mintree Volume Wave Curl Cream and Aveda Be Curly were rated superior for recyclability, four products average and two difficult. Aveda is both the most expensive and among the easiest to recycle. The two hard-to-recycle products are not named in the reports.

For a first purchase, Vivas is the strongest case in this table. It was the only cream with a top retention rating, it also scored superior on elasticity and formed a firm curl, and at 66 won per mL it sits at the cheap end. Its recycling grade is not named in any report I read. Mise-en-scène is cheaper at 43 won per mL and scored the same as Vivas on elasticity, so it is the pick if you only need the curl to bounce back and can live with a good rather than superior hold.

Moroccanoil at 216 won per mL scored the same as Mise-en-scène on both measures, with a firmer curl.

The agency's full advice, as Gyeongbuk Domin Ilbo quotes it, reads "컬 크림을 구매할 때는 평소 연출하는 헤어스타일과 가격, 포장재 재활용 용이성 등을 종합적으로 고려하여 제품을 선택하는 것이 바람직하다." Roughly, when buying a curl cream it is advisable to weigh your usual hairstyle, the price and how easy the packaging is to recycle.

If you already own one of the four creams with silicones, the coverage gives you no way to tell which it is. Does anyone know whether the export versions are formulated differently?

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