Thread: soft hair gel

i don't know the slightest thing about hair gel, but i've noticed (on the guys around here that use it to spike up their hair, lol) that there are several types - the "wet" look, the "hard" gel (when it dried the hair is really hard) ... and i've occasionally seen the "fluffy" one, that manages to hold up the hair but it still looks soft and fluffy, not hard or wet or anything like that.

as i was thinking about maybe playing with some of this to pump up my hair's volume for performing, can anyone recommend what i'm looking for?
preferably not aerosols, so gels or non-aerosol sprays.

thanks! :)

I don't know exactly but hair wax, if used in the right volumes, can have this effect. I use it sometimes at my roots to give volume.

If you have curly hair, I love Aveda's BE Curly Curl Enhancer. It defines the curls without the greasy or hard look. It's like a leave-in conditioner that defines curls, reduces frizz and leaves my hair feeling soft, like there's no product in it.

I have curly hair, and part of the trick to using gels is to apply the product while your hair is wet, then to shake your hair out once it's dry. This breaks the seal on the gel, so that you get the definition without the hard look.

If your hair is fine, avoid gels that contain silicone (any ingredient with a name ending in "-cone") as it will weigh your hair down. PVP and PVA are better: they hold without adding weight or leaving residue.

That said, I've always heard that mousses are for volume and gels are for control. Gels can lift short hair, but they may not be the best product choice for adding volume to long hair. (Note that I am not a hair expert by any means!)

I've heard really good things about Aveda Phomollient for adding volume. I liked that it made my hair look shiny and perhaps a little fuller, but honestly wasn't overly impressed. It might be worth a try, though, along with their other volumizing products, as everyone's hair is different. I like Aquage Thickening Spray better, and their Texturizing wax works pretty well for me when my hair is shorter. I'm not a big mousse fan myself (I prefer more natural and non-aerosol products myself), but it's true that mousses are normally the thing recommended for volume.

You don't need curly hair to use "curly hair" products! I don't think it's possible for them to add more curl than you naturally have. I have a bunch of them because my little DD has curly hair, but I use them on my fine, slightly wavy hair all the time, they're my favorite products now! I clip my roots on the crown on my head up with alligator clips while it's drying (either air-dry or diffuser), and I get lots more volume/shape that way than when I used a round brush, mousse, and blow-dryer. Some of my favorite gels that are often available locally are:

Kinky Curly Curling Custard (Target)
Ecostyler Krystal (CVS)
100% Aloe vera gel (like the kind they sell for sunburns)
Aubrey Organics Mandarin Magic Moisturizing Jelly (Whole Foods)

You can also make your own gel with flax seeds (Google or YouTube for recipes). Some of the more popular mail-order brands for fine hair are Curl Junkie (Aloe Fix Lite or Curl Queen), Spiral Solutions (Curl Enhancing Jelly or Firm Hold Gel), Uncle Funky's Daughter Curly Magic, and Donna Marie MiraCurls Curling Gelly. Check out the forums on naturallycurly.com for more info on gels, people there try new ones all the time. Probably more info than you wanted, but maybe it will help someone sometime!

Honestly, though, if your hair is fine, I don't think it's possible to get really "big hair" without hairspray. For it to stay up, there has to be something filling up the space between the fine hairs, if you know what I'm saying, or it's going to fall down. There's always a Bumpit! In the end, I think it's better to just learn to work with/love what you have. That's what I've been aiming for and it's slowly working. Good luck!

thanks for all the info! :) will definitely try the ideas you gals posted

yeah, i have long, fine hair, and getting volume at the roots is often an issue. i don't want "really big hair", just add some volume. i was thinking trying to put hair gel at the roots and then making it set with the hair pulled up somehow (hanging upside down or something).

i know you probably can't beat hair sprays, but i want to avoid aerosols as much as i can. and yeah, bumpits, but those only work when you don't wanna toss your hair, lol ^^