Many of us know that back in the day that most popular hair gel to use called Jam. This was our best friend, slicking down our hair our daily saving grace for that nice hair.
When my hair was relaxed I used this product like it was going out of fashion, and boy did I pay the price for the patch it left in my hair. I remembered my mother saying, "You need to stop using that thing, it will break your hair", did I listen. At that moment you could just hear mum saying "Every dog have them day and the puppy have their Sunday"! Or something like that.
Now a days there are so many natural hair alcohol free gels, that you can use in your hair and one's that are less damaging depending how you use it!
If you are new to using gel in your hair, do your homework this will give you a better understanding about the different types of gel, its properties, the ingredients, the climate where your live, what exactly are you looking for in a hair gel? Do you want a firm strong hold?
It is known that most gels has protein in them, continuous usage without properly moisturising your hair can create breakage, hair to become brittle and dry.
Do not use any gel that contains alcohol! Use gel on clean and well conditioned hair, use your oils and creams that are free from protein before applying the gel. Why? The oils and cream will protect your hair from the gel's drying ingredients!
Instead of reapplying gel continuously to your hair, try spraying water your hair to help loosen up the gel, then brush to your required style. Reapplying gel is not good and can aid to dryness and breakage.
Tip
When applying hair gel to your hair I always mix the gel with the cream that I will be applying to my strands, on the palm of my hands, this is to test to see if they blend well together or curdle. Some hair conditioners or curling custards do not mix well with gel, so best to test them before applying to your hair.As I mentioned before, gels has protein in them if you are protein sensitive it is best to hot use gel in your hair, but there are gels that you can buy that are protein free.
Hydrolysed Protein
If you look at the ingredients in gel you will see "Hydrolysed Protein" What is this? It is a protein that has been hydrolysed or broken down into its component amino acids.Ingredients
* Amino acids* Animal protein
* Cholesterol
* Collagen
* Keratin
* Milk protein
* Panthenol
* Soy protein
* Wheat protein
Due to the low molecular weight of hydrolysed wheat protein, it makes it easier for the orotein to absorb into your hair shaft.
Wheat Protein
Wheat protein is good for your hair, it increases you hair's ability to retain moisture, it improves smoothness an reduces hair porosity. It repairs the hair through this process called Covalent Bonding.
So when using the gel in your hair, because it has wheat protein and covalent bonding the molecules are able to penetrate into the hair shaft, bonding strongly onto your hair, keeping that long hold in your hair, that slickness. This is turn can cause breakage around the hair line if you fail to keep your hair moisturised.
You cannot rule out protein as your hair need this, but too much protein can cause hair breakage, you need to balance moisture and protein levels in your hair. Check out this link oh how I try t balance the both in my hair regime
I would suggest that when using hair gel in your hair, do wash it out of your hair by co-washing, you do not want to leave the gel in your hair over night. When using any products in your hair do check to see if it has protein in them, as yo do not want to over use protein in your hair it will cause dryness and breakage. It may be best to have products that has protein maybe two of them for your protein usage one week, and for your moisture two products that has no protein in them the other week.
You can purchase protein free gels in the market and online, try them out and let me know how you get on!
1. Camille Rose Aloe Whipped Butter Gel ( Free from Coconut Oil, Shea Butter and Protein)
2. Botanical Hibiscus Gel (Protein Free)
3. Bee Mine Bee Hold Curly Butter ( Protein Free)
4. Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Aloe Fix Gel ( Protein Free)
5. Curls Curl Gel-Les'c ( Protein Free)
6. Jessi curl Spiralicious Gel (Protein Free)
7. Kinky-Curly Custard ( Protein Free)
8. Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Gel (Protein Free)
9. UR Curly Still Control Edges ( Protein Free)
Understanding Hold Agents
Here is a list of the more frequently used polymer used in hair gel:
> PVP (poly N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) -
Conclusion
Is hair gel bad for your hair? Everyone's hair is different and so many may react different to hair gel than others. I would say that gel seems fine if you use it the correct way, you will obtain great results when gel is used in well conditioned hair.Thank you for reading this page and I hope I have enlightened you, follow these steps and you will obtain beautiful healthy hair,
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Love this! I've been using jam for a long time but a few people told me it was bad for your hair.
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