ECO Style Professional Styling Gel with Olive Oil

rabar

Okay, I gave this gel a try (three times), and I have to say, I didn't like it.  Compared to my previous gel, my hair felt rougher, had way more frizz, had much less volume (my hairs felt more stuck together), my curls weren't as defined.  It was way thicker than my other gel, so I used less the second time and even less the third time, but I got the same results each time.  I didn't get very good 2nd-day hair, so I wore it up.  I wasn't completely satisfied with my previous gel, but it was working okay; maybe I was expecting too much out of a different product, especially since it cost half as much money.  But at least it was only $3 and not $20, although I hate to throw so much gel away.  Does anyone have any ideas on how to re-purpose hair gel?

My previous gel did not have glycerin in it, and I know I can't really pin down just one ingredient that didn't get along with my hair, but I'm wondering if that was the problem.  I tried a DIY conditioner a few weeks ago using coconut oil, my regular conditioner, and honey (I use the first two ingredients often, but have never used honey before), and my hair felt about the same way as using this gel.  I suspected the honey was the problem, and I'm wondering if my hair just doesn't play well with humectants.  Does anyone else have a problem with humectants?  It seems odd, because they are usually recommended for moisturizing (at least, according to everything I've read on the internet and curly hair books).

Guide 65

The way that humectants are supposed to work is they draw in moisture from the air, providing additional moisture to your hair.  If there is no moisture in the air, then they can draw moisture out of your hair.  So if the weather where you are is really dry, they may not work well.  You can check the dew points to see if it's it's dry or not.  But you also have to take into account indoor dew points.  If the air is still being heated, it may be very dry indoors as well.

You might want to hold onto the Eco gel until summer and try it again.  Summer is generally more humid and it may work better then.  That's assuming the problem is the humectants.  It could also be that the product just doesn't work well for your hair.  It may be some other ingredient, or just the whole formulation.

BrittanyM

I use the argan oil one and have grown to not care for it. It's not bad in my hair, just really really holds and defines my curls. But when they get too frizzy, it's a beast to comb out due to the hold.
For repurposing, (this is embarrassing) I use mine as an eyebrow gel sometime. I don't have thick eyebrows just really long hairs that fill in the sparse areas because of length alone. The gel just keeps them in place on days that I want to fool with my eyebrows.
You can also use it as edge control.

rabar

BrittanyM said:

For repurposing, (this is embarrassing) I use mine as an eyebrow gel sometime. I don't have thick eyebrows just really long hairs that fill in the sparse areas because of length alone. The gel just keeps them in place on days that I want to fool with my eyebrows.
You can also use it as edge control.

Thanks, @BrittanyM I didn't think of that!  My eyebrow hairs are unruly, thick, dark, very long, and curly, just like the hair on my scalp.  I may need to dilute the gel first, but that's a great idea!

Guide 65 said:

You might want to hold onto the Eco gel until summer and try it again.  Summer is generally more humid and it may work better then.  That's assuming the problem is the humectants.  It could also be that the product just doesn't work well for your hair.  It may be some other ingredient, or just the whole formulation.

Thank you @Guide 65 for the tip, but it's very humid year-round where I live; I don't think waiting for summer will help.  The humectants don't really dry out my hair, so I don't think that they're drawing moisture from my hair (it just feels very rough and stuck together).  And I'm not sure that it's all humectants that my hair doesn't like, but it seems to react this way with products high in aloe juice, glycerin, and then with the honey (so it wasn't very fair of me to say that earlier).  It may be due to lack of slip in the product, and not the humectants themselves (it seems to me that products with higher percentages of humectants don't have a lot of slip).  Not that I'm expecting a hair gel to have lots of slip, but I do need to be able to spread the product into my hair.  Maybe I will try diluting it with distilled water and see if that helps it spread better--maybe, because i doubt if diluting it will change the way it makes my hair feel.  Or maybe I'm just whining, because I'm stressed out lately!  Maybe I'm focusing on my hair too much!

But thanks, y'all, for listening and trying to help!

BrittanyM

If youre interested in trying it again. When I use eco styler, I use it on soaking wet hair and get a glob of it, run it under the tap and the spread in in my hands, then apply. This dilutes it a bit. My thing is just the hold, it's a pain to brush out when I want to wash my hair or do an updo.

rabar

Thanks for the tip, @BrittanyM!  

I tried diluting it this morning, 1 part gel and 2 parts warm water.  It was much better this way, but I think I diluted it too much!  No cast was formed (my curls feel very soft and hydrated, though).  My hair is still frizzy, but my curls look way better than when I used the gel straight--not crunchy, and not glued together.  I doubt I'll get 2nd day hair, but my hair doesn't feel like there's anything on it, so I may just add more of the diluted gel on damp hair tomorrow morning.  Next time I may try a 1:1 solution, and see how that works.