I love the natural hair movement because it has created opportunities for individuals to start doing various hair styles that are becoming popular and some that are easy to do.
One style that I love at the moment is the slick back afro with a bun or even with hair out. Now I remember when I first
went natural and a lot of products that are in the market now were not available at that time. Therefore, you could not even slick back your hair with any ecostyler or anything else. With the new products in the market now, there are so many options.
Gels
The first time I was given information about gels when I was younger is that they are not suitable for afro hair and should not be used at all. I think at that time that was true however in this day and age, that is not the case at all. I got my first product about 10 year ago to slick my hair back. I remember how excited I was because my hair was shiny.
However, the only draw back was that after a few hours the gel made your hair seem like a rock and my hair would get lots of white on it. At that time, I did not understand why my hair would not come out as it did, however I kept using it anyway. It was not often but it was quite frequent.
Gels now
Nowadays there are so many types of gels and most of them can be used on afro hair. You can look at Eco styler, Olive oil, Giovanni e.t.c and the list goes on. Now the problem with gels for me is that after a few days, I start developing white flakes on my hair, I am not sure why and that means I have to either use water to help with the flaking or just wash it out of my hair.
Recently I discovered that you can use a moisturiser on your hair before you place the gel on top and that normally helps in reducing the dryness that gels can cause. However the other problem I get with gels is that my scalp can become really itchy.
Gel free
Therefore to develop the same style as I would with a gel but without it, I discovered a technique that works quite easily for me.
1. Depending on the look you want to achieve, make sure that you put a leave in conditioner on your hair.
2. Comb through to get the desired look on your head.
3. Tie up your hair in whichever way you want to have your bun.
4. Place a head tie on the section for about 5 – 10 minutes.
5. Once the time is up, you can still get a bun without the gel but your hair still looks great.
That is the same look without any gel on it and it comes out looking exactly the same. I have the same look with gel and it looks slightly different, however as mentioned before I have to be careful not to let it get itchy on my scalp.
If you have tried any gels, which ones do you like to use often and which ones work for you?
6 replies on “Gel free styling”
Hello Michelle, it’s nice seeing an article talk talks on hair styling for this of us that are all natural. Since I was 15, I stopped making my hair and I have been keeping it all natural without gel. When I first started I would usually just comb and add some hair spray. Personally, I don’t like applying gel to my hair, but this time I’ll try this tips you have given on how to go without applying a gel. Thanks for sharing .
Hi Bella, give it a go it also took me some time to use a gel, try and let me know how it goes.
Hello! Nice post on hair gel it was helpful and interesting to me. I’ve had unruly hair my whole life. It’s naturally curly and puffs up into a fro after showers. I’ve been using hair gel since I was in middle school as a young student. Now, as an adult user of gel I think my favorite hair gel is Johnny B. Mode. What is your favorite hair gel? Have a good one!
One of my favourite gels is Kinky-curly custard, it seems to work well with my hair type but I think I would like to try others at this stage and see which one is the best.
Hello! this is rather an interesting one to see here. i am a big time fan of the afro hairs and i have a lot of feiends tgat are africans and also south Americans. thoigh my hair isnt in that way but often, i wear wigs to look the afro way. these that you have shared here are immense and most of them make use of the afro gel styling. this new technique is simply good and i value it a lot. thimbs up to you for sharing
Thanks Rodarrick great to hear that.