Have you ever found yourself getting lost on YouTube, clicking your way through all the many, many beauty and hairstyling tutorials? It’s easier than you might think.
You initially sign in just wanting a few quick tips on the best shampoos to use for your hair type or a speedy tutorial on mermaid braids, and next thing you know it’s four hours later and you’re considering ditching your usual hair care routine for the Curly Girl Method.
YouTube is an amazing source for, well, pretty much anything – music, movies, entertainment, and creative how-to videos, to name just a few genres. And for people with a passion for hairstyling and make-up, it has become the go-to for at-home beauty and makeover sessions.
While most Vloggers will offer full details on and links to the products they are using to achieve these intricate hairstyles and make them last, at times their product preferences simply won’t work for your own hair.
This is especially true if you have curly hair, seeing as they require moisture-rich and gentle products for similar effects. For most braiding and up-do styles, curls require a gel that is light in texture but firm in hold and is not made up of aggressive ingredients.
Most importantly, you won’t want your gel to leave any flake behind, as that would totally defeat the purpose of an eye-catching hairstyle.
Check out the five best firm hold gels for curly hair and who knows? This might just be the styling product that has been missing from your hair care and styling routine. One of these could be your ticket to perfecting your favourite YouTube style.
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Eco Style – Olive Oil Styling Gel
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Ecostyle Olive Oil Styling Gel, Green, max hold 10, Alcohol Free, Paraben Free, Sulphate Free, No... | Check Price on Amazon |
Last update on 2023-09-14 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
The first thing we associate with olive oil isn’t necessarily haircare. We’re much quicker to conjure up images of deliciously dressed, fresh and crunchy Mediterranean salads, than fantasies of lathering our curls in this popular cooking oil.
As it turns out though, olive oil is just as nourishing to our hair and skin as it is to our appetite, which is why so many beauty products feature it in their ingredients. The trusted Eco Style brand put a lot of thought into this fact in the creation of the Olive Oil Styling Gel.
This styling gel guarantees the maximum hold needed to keep all those funky hairstyles in place all day and all night, should you be taking it out on the town. It keeps those fly-aways in check and always wins the fight against frizz – and all that whilst being virtually weightless.
Made with 100% pure olive oil, it offers a regulatory moisturizing system that works itself into the scalp and nourishes every strand from the crown to the ends. So, next to keeping the hold on your do flawlessly, it will also add a healthy shine to your curls.
Cantu Shea Butter for Natural Hair – Moisturizing Twist & Lock Gel
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Cantu Moisturizing Twist & Lock Gel 370g | Check Price on Amazon |
Last update on 2023-09-14 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Crowned the winner of the 2015 Naturally Curly Editor’s Choice awards, Cantu’s Moisturizing Twist & Lock Gel does exactly what it promises: it “controls frizz for a silky smooth hold.” Known for its quality ingredients, Cantu is a brand you can trust to treat your curls right.
The shea butter that features so strongly in Cantu’s range of haircare and styling products, provides an all-encompassing treatment – it soothes the scalp with its conditioning fatty acids, treats split ends and has restorative effects on damaged and chemically treated hair.
This doesn’t feel like your regular styling gel – it is much creamier for extra moisturization and frizz combat and is easy to disperse throughout your mane evenly. Without sulphates, mineral oil, parabens, and silicones this is also appropriate for those of you following the CGM regime.
Cantu’s Twist & Lock Gel works across all curl types, though you might have to adjust your dosage on looser curls. This makes the product ideal for families with different hair textures – it will work for everyone and will last you a while at 340g per pot.
Aunty Jackie’s – Flaxseed Tame My Edge Smoothing Gel
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As much as we love our curls, they can be complicated to work with when trying to accomplish that ultimate, Vlogger style look. Because it’s not only our curls we have to worry about, it’s those edges too and, as we all know – the struggle is real.
Things never seem to want to harmonize – when our curls are on point, our edges refuse to play it cool; when our edges happily lay back into submission, our curls decline to bounce. Whoever said we could have it all?
Aunt Jackie’s range of products, for one. This brand knows how to tame your edges and your curls, creating that harmony you’ve been craving all along.
Made with nourishing flaxseed that strengthens your hair follicles and protects your curls from breakage, Aunt Jackie’s Tame My Edge Smoothing Gel will provide that finishing touch to your passion twists and cornrows, by keeping those edges laid exactly right.
ORS – Lock N Twist Gel
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Ors Gel Lock & Twist 13oz Jar (3 Pack) | Check Price on Amazon |
Last update on 2023-09-14 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
A leader in the ethnic hair care market, ORS – formerly, Organic Root Stimulator – works and creates with a health-conscious, multi-cultural curly community in mind. Their products are designed to heal, nourish, and style.
The ORS Lock N Twist Gel has a fantastic hold whilst still feeding your curls with plenty of moisture, to keep them looking bright and feeling soft, without flakes. It’s ideal for Senegalese twist outs, coils, afros and puffs.
ORS’ products are made of natural ingredients such as olive oil, that bring the best out of natural hair and its curling potential. The Lock N Twist Gel feels smooth on your fingers and pleasant to work into your curls – you won’t have to worry about a gooey styling process.
This styling gel is long-lasting in its hold and existence, and all that at a very fair price. Cruelty-free and always keeping our scalp and curl health in mind, the ORS brand is one to keep on coming back to.
L’Oreal Studio Line – Invisi’Hold Extra Strength Styling Gel
Last update on 2023-09-14 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
We all want our gels to be strong enough to hold our curls and edges in place without them looking unnatural – wet and sticky, flaky and stiff. Why would we go out of our way to try new styles when the main attraction is going to be all that residue building up throughout the day?
The L’Oreal Studio Line knows how to do make-up, skin and hair products right. Just as their lipsticks don’t bleed, their Invisi’Hold Extra Strength Styling Gel won’t leave you with flake. Whether you apply it on dry or damp hair, the results will always be the same: perfect.
It is very gentle on the hair and scalp, and provides a natural-looking hold across most curl types, though it may be too heavy for wavy hair. It feels just as good as it looks – there’s no crunch and it won’t turn your hair into a solid mass either. It will move and groove, feeling silky smooth.
There’s no need to wash this gel out either, which is usually the case with strong-hold gels. The Invisi’Hold Extra Strength Styling Gel brushes out easily, with no tears and no visible or tactile sign of residue.
