Prevent damage from gel?

[blackgothicdoll]

I hate gel but on work days unless I want to straighten my hair I need quite a bit of gel to make it presentable. I just hate when I take my hair from its bun or dutch braids it is hard and dry. I try not to manipulate it too much when its in this state and just add a bit of oil, but I am worried that frequent use of gel will eventually damage my hair. I went the last year mostly gel-free since I work from home, but I'm looking for another office job soon.

Are there any suggestions on preventing gel from being damaging?

I used KCCC, it has good ingredients but made my hair way too hard. Now I stick to ecostyler, people have complained it causes damage though many others like it. It's really the best gel for taming my hair all day.

[lapushka]

I don't mess with my hair as long as there is a gel cast in it, and I will make a looser bun; this lasts about half the week. Then I start finger detangling more and I can feel it loosening up so the bun gets done a little more decently too.

Maybe try and not be as heavy handed on the gel? I once put way too much in and... I felt it! And boy it really does a number on you.

But 2 hair is totally not comparable with 4 type hair, you actually need *plenty* of gel for wash and goes.

[akurah]

Would a styling wax or paste be an option? I don't know if it will have enough hold for your needs though, but they're a genuinely flexible hold when I use it.

[jane_marie]

I'm not sure where I got this idea or if it's an option for you or even if it will work for your hair type but...

When I need to use a gel I use pure aloe vera. There is a grocery store here (I guess it's national in the US) that sells huge aloe vera leaves for 2 dollars each. When I need to gel my hair I just slice off a bit of the aloe vera and then slice off the flat edge. If I need a lot I'll also make slices across the clear part. Then I rub the clear part against my hands until I get enough gel to work it into my hair.

I find the hold to be strong without being crunchy and I feel like I'm doing something that nourishes my hair while giving some hold.

Like I said, I don't know if this will help you but it might be worth a try.

[unheardletters]

I always scrunch out the gel cast. I haven’t experienced any damage from doing that. I use strong hold gels because they give me a lot less volume. Less hold gels still give me a strong gel cast, so it wasn’t worth using less hold gel for me and having more flyaways and volume than I want to have.

To get less of a cast you could spray your hair with water after applying gel to dilute the cast effect.

[AutobotsAttack]

The gel in and of itself, isn’t damaging. It’s the manipulation applied to the hair. Best technique I’ve learned so far is to reactivate the gel, by spritzing water on your hair, or spritzing some watered down conditioner on your hair during the take down.

[CuteCrow]

As many other have said I don't think gel itself is damaging but if you feel like gel is drying your hair out check for drying alcohols in your gels! That could be the cause, try to use a gel that doesn't contains any. I also always apply some leave in conditioner before any gel, that keeps my hair moisturised. Aloe Vera gel or pure aloe Vera as jane_marie suggested is a good option too.

[lapushka]

As many other have said I don't think gel itself is damaging but if you feel like gel is drying your hair out check for drying alcohols in your gels! That could be the cause, try to use a gel that doesn't contains any. I also always apply some leave in conditioner before any gel, that keeps my hair moisturised. Aloe Vera gel or pure aloe Vera as jane_marie suggested is a good option too.

I typically do either a leave-in + gel + serum or a curl cream + gel + serum. It does help. I have seen my fair share of people on YT doing one and done's where they just use a cream or a gel on its own, I would never be able to do that! Not the gel alone, for sure!

[blackgothicdoll]

Thanks for the advice! Aloe vera gel is basically like putting water in my hair, except it makes it more frizzy than water.... lol. I haven't noticed really bad effects just that it feels like a rock once it's dry and I'm scared to touch it. I'll just continue making sure to be gentle.

Appreciate the idea of wetting it first before taking it down Autobots, that should certainly help.

Cutecrow and Lapushka yes, I always use a leave-in before a gel. :) I was watching a video earlier today of a girl who only used gel with no leave in... no way for me! It gets crunchy enough with a leave-in, yikes.

[blackgothicdoll]

Would a styling wax or paste be an option? I don't know if it will have enough hold for your needs though, but they're a genuinely flexible hold when I use it.

Yes, I've tried a couple of these but they don't work well for my hair. They are...sticky, which I guess is the point, but too sticky to actually get in there, if that makes any sense. It just kinda sits there, all sticky and then never washes out forever.

[desisparkles]

I feel like I should wear a tee that says FSG fo life!

But... have you tried flax seed gel? it is similar to KCCC in my eyes but then again KCCC doesn't give me a hard cast as I just use a touch - I dip in just the tip of my finger (I read that it is super concentrated and that you can mix it with water).

FSG tames yet doesn't have a hard hold. Granted you CAN over do it but I find even that hard to do.

[jane_marie]

I feel like I should wear a tee that says FSG fo life!

But... have you tried flax seed gel? it is similar to KCCC in my eyes but then again KCCC doesn't give me a hard cast as I just use a touch - I dip in just the tip of my finger (I read that it is super concentrated and that you can mix it with water).

FSG tames yet doesn't have a hard hold. Granted you CAN over do it but I find even that hard to do.

Ohhh.... I've never heard of flax seed gel before but I just looked up a video on how to make it and I'm excited for a DIY project this weekend! Thank you so much for this!

How long does it keep for? Do you store it in the fridge?

[blackgothicdoll]

I feel like I should wear a tee that says FSG fo life!

But... have you tried flax seed gel? it is similar to KCCC in my eyes but then again KCCC doesn't give me a hard cast as I just use a touch - I dip in just the tip of my finger (I read that it is super concentrated and that you can mix it with water).

FSG tames yet doesn't have a hard hold. Granted you CAN over do it but I find even that hard to do.

You know, I've used it before, a few times, I never remember why I stopped. I know it's not as much hold as store bought gel, but I remember it being tolerable. I still have lots of flax seeds so I'll play around and make a batch when I need to do my hair again.

I do recall it only lasted about a week when refrigerated, and if I used it before work and forgot it on the counter it was bad by the time I got home.

I keep forgetting, rubbing a bit of KCCC in a palmful of water spreads it more. Contrarily, it goes less far if applied directly to wet hair (for me). Pretty weird. Still my hair needs more than a dab so fingers crossed for FSG over KCCC. I love ecostyler but it has protein in it which may cause me problems over time.

[desisparkles]

http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/p/recipes-and-projects.html

I use #5 on here but add in a few goodies like lavender EO, a couple drops oil (argan, jojoba, or coconut), a tiny squirt of leave in (usually kinky curly knot today), and a little bit of store bought gel (devacurl ultra defining gel).

I usually make a double batch, store some in an empty preserves jar in the fridge and freeze the rest in silicone baking cups, ice cube trays work too, to take out one at a time so it all doesn't spoil.

The store bought gel I add to it has preservatives to make it last longer and keeping it in the fridge also helps with that. I can use it as my one and done when I add the extras but I do like to make it just as is flax seeds and water as a curl enhancer, usually underneath my gel.

Doll, have you tried Aussie Instant Freeze? No protein but it does have a little aloe extract but it's near the bottom on the ingredients list. I like that gel and it doesn't leave a hard cast for me. I also like ecostyler and have found the pink one (for wavy) gives the lightest cast on my hair (well compared to the argan and olive oil ones).

[Kalamazoo]

I actually used too much of my beloved Thayer's Witch Hazel on my hair a week ago. I used it several days in a row on occasions when other folks might have used a dry shampoo. It kind of got hard and all stuck together. So I detangled it with my favorite cherrywood comb (treated with Captain's Choice 45th Parallel Aftershave (OK, I really like the cherry scent!) & cocoa butter. It was very easy to comb out. My hair was instantly soft & well-behaved again. So, yeah, my hair likes alcohol. (Does that mean I have drunken hair?) Hmmm... Both the Thayer's & the Captain's Choice contain aloe vera, glycerin, & alcohol. So for me, the wooden comb was the answer. I don't know if that will work for any other hair type, though.

[Kalamazoo]

You probably think I'm out-to-lunch, recommending combing to somebody with 4a hair. BUT I took my brand-new fine-toothed verawood comb to show my girlfriend. She's blond, blue-eyed, 1a; married a gentleman from Kenya. Their kids are 3c-4c. My friend used my comb to gently work through a little of her daughter's hair. She was amazed to find how it slipped through dry African hair. It's all the natural oils in the wood, I tell ya! (BUT absolutely do NOT use a wooden comb on wet nor damp hair. It will ruin the comb.)

ETA: I think that verawood, lignum vitae, & green sandalwood are all very similar to one another. They may even be the same thing, but I'm not sure about that.

[Arciela]

You could try to scrunch out the crunch. When I use gel, after a cast forms and my hair dries I just scrunch it and then my curls are very, very soft. I've never had damage from the gel itself but if I put in too much gel it made my hair sticky and awful.

Another option if you don't like gel too much is deva curl wave maker. Its a really light and I only need to use a little bit.

[lapushka]

Cutecrow and Lapushka yes, I always use a leave-in before a gel. :) I was watching a video earlier today of a girl who only used gel with no leave in... no way for me! It gets crunchy enough with a leave-in, yikes.


Oh that's great. I would not worry that much in that case, that extra layer might be a good buffer for the gel. Well, that's what it does for me, at least. I find there is little difference between me using a curl cream + gel or a leave-in + gel, except maybe the hold depending on certain products.