The 11 Best Gels for Every Curl Type, According to Natural Hair Experts

Table Of Content

• Kristin Ess Hair Signature Hydrating Salon Shampoo and Conditioner
• Garnier Fructis Full and Plush Shampoo and Conditioner
• Maintain a rich hue, counteract brassiness, and offset damage from color services with pro-approved products.
• Best Firm Hold Gel: Innersense Organic Beauty I Create Hold
• Lilah Ramzi, senior shopping editor
• Best Curly Hair Gels for Soft and Frizz-Free Curls

Though all hair types can experience frizz, curly hair is the most naturally frizz-prone. This is due to the natural shape of curly hair follicles, not styling errors. If your texture is on the coarser, curlier side, you'll need to prioritize hair hydration if you want to reduce flyaways and frizz. From up-dos and blowouts to hot tools (I’ve been loving the Shark FlexStyle) and velcro rollers. And while that is a lot of fun, it comes with its fair share of damage. To help with the breakage and dryness, I use this hair mask from Amika once a week in place of conditioner and have seen a lot of improvement in my hair.

Kristin Ess Hair Signature Hydrating Salon Shampoo and Conditioner

For dry or thinning hair, strong hold gels can make your hair prone to breakage, so you may want to stick with light or medium hold gels. For any hair type that’s prone to dryness, you should also opt for an alcohol-free formula so the gel doesn’t dry out your hair even more. For low-porosity hair, like 3B or 4C curls, a thinner, more watery formula spreads more easily and will help your hair absorb the product better to prevent clumps. In between washes when you’re applying gel to dry curly, coily, or natural hair, it can help to create a hair cocktail of hair gel and leave-in conditioner to help distribute the product more evenly and avoid clumping or crustiness. Suitable for all types of hair, the SexyHair volumizing hair gel gives your hair the desired thickness with medium hold. If you want to increase hair volume, apply this gel to damp hair before blow-drying it.

Garnier Fructis Full and Plush Shampoo and Conditioner

This up-and-coming, women-owned and -operated, Minnesota-based brand has done its homework and delivers all of the features you would expect from products three-to-four times the price. The sulfate-free formula is clean, and while the ingredient list doesn’t feature many buzzy items, it does strictly adhere to EU cosmetic standards. The result is a combination of extremely high-quality ingredients that keep your experience level high and the price point low.

Maintain a rich hue, counteract brassiness, and offset damage from color services with pro-approved products.

The gel also features acacia gum, which is known for its holding properties, and nourishing active fruit proteins like vitamins B3 and B6. To find the best of the best, each product undergoes a rigorous testing process to determine which haircare and styling products really work. This styling gel is natural, organic, and fully edible (JK, please don't eat it, despite how yummy it smells). It's also packed with coconut, almond, and avocado oils to keep 3c to 4c hair moisturized and lightly held all day without feeling stiff or crunchy.

Lolavie has done it again—this lightweight hair oil has become a staple in our routines this year. It can be applied from midlengths to ends while hair is still wet for heat protection, or on dry, styled hair to boost shine and quell frizz. Rahua's oil-based Enchanted Island Vegan Curl Butter makes it easy to keep curls strong, hydrated, and frizz-free while enhancing their definition. We also love its guava and coconut scent, which mentally transports us to a dreamy island getaway. Color Wow Extra Strength Dream Coat treatment prevents frizz for up to four shampoos.

I only started embracing my natural curls last year, so I’ve been on a real hair-care journey. This shampoo and conditioner from Pattern—that’s Tracee Ellis Ross’s brand—has been a total game-changer for me. They leave the strands feeling clean without stripping them of their natural oils (with curls, it’s all about moisture, I’ve learned). My wavy-curly, very frizzy hair is the most high-maintenance part of my routine—when I have the time and energy to do it, that is. This Motions foam was recommended to me by Jessica Gillin at Jenna Perry Hair (she used it at cosmetology school) and it’s fantastic when paired with flocked, or velvet, rollers.

Best Curly Hair Gels for Soft and Frizz-Free Curls

Formulated with frizz-prone hair in mind, the Kérastase Discipline Maskeratine hair mask has the moisturizing and smoothing ingredients your hair needs to stay strong and healthy. The hero of the anti-frizz hair product line is Kérastase's morpho-keratine complex, a combination of amino acids, wheat protein extracts and ceramides that coats the hair fiber to leave it smooth and frizz-free. As someone who hates the hard, crunchy feeling most aerosol hairsprays leave behind, Oribe's Impermeable Anti-Humidity Spray is one of the only ones I'll use. Though I'll admit it's a bit pricey, I definitely think it's worth the splurge.

To find a flake-free formula, keep an eye out for gels with the word “copolymer” in the ingredient list. Hair gels often include polymers to keep your strands in place, and copolymers (aka blends of two or more polymers) can be stronger and more flexible than single polymers, making them less prone to flaking. As we’ll explore shortly, hair gels aren’t a one-size-fits-all deal. But they do stand out from other products like curl-defining mousse and frizz-controlling wax sticks. It seems like for a long time, we were all a little scared of hair gels.

ALCOHOL FREE

10 Best Conditioners 2024 The Strategist - New York Magazine

10 Best Conditioners 2024 The Strategist.

Posted: Fri, 12 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

It can also be caused by environmental factors from things completely out of our control, like UV rays and even cigarette smoke. It’s 100 percent necessary to add to your shower shelf in our minds — and in Abergel’s as well. Breanna Mona is a health and lifestyle writer and editor based in Cleveland. “Long story short, it’s said to cut your hair in order for it to grow, because dry ends cause hair to break up [at] the shaft. The hair will keep breaking until you reach the healthy part of the hair. As long as your ends are breaking, your hair will not seem like it's growing," she explain.

You can give your bangs some extra detail by creating a piece-y look. Simply use the tail of a rattail comb to separate your bangs against your forehead. First, comb or brush to remove any tangles, and to position your long tresses into place, gently tease for a wispy finish.

Best hair growth serums 2024 UK - Good Housekeeping uk

Best hair growth serums 2024 UK.

Posted: Tue, 16 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

It uses plant cellulose polymers to help shape curls and smooth away frizz. Plus, there’s also an ingredient named organic hypericum extract that gets rid of free radicals in hair that keep curls looking shiny and ultra bouncy. Whether you should use a mousse or a gel for your curls depends on what type of style you're going for. If you're looking to do a gel cast, protective style, twist/braid-out, or any other sleek and/or really defined look, you should be using a curl gel. On the other hand, if the look you're going for requires more of a lighter hold—yet still a bit of definition—you should be using a curl mousse. If you have finer hair, a curl gel can also be used on top of a mousse.

Plus, he says, it "has lightweight hold, and it's great for doing high shine or wet looks." The answer is yes, you can control frizz and Biolage has the answer with its styling gel. As the weather heats up our hair tends to lose control, but with a dollop of this you can obtain shiny smooth hair with not a strand out of place.

Take a look at this review video to know more about the product and make an informed buying decision. For this piece, beauty writer Carol Lee spoke with trusted hair experts about hair growth. She also searched the internet for top-rated hair masks for growth, perused reviews for dozens of popular options, and evaluated each on their features and customer reviews. Oftentimes, trying to make your hair grow faster feels like a Sisyphean task, regardless of how many hair growth vitamins and hair growth serums you incorporate into your daily routine. When your hair is damaged and brittle, you might find that it breaks off long before it can reach its full potential—and you’re not alone.