I have a confession to make. I love gel. Like seriously. I love how it penetrates my hair and clumps my curlies together, makes my hair shiny, and battles frizz like no other. However, in order to not dry out your hair to high hell or walk around with that funny little wet set a la the late great Michael Jackson (Rest in peace, MJ, I love you boo!), it is very important to a) make sure you are using an ALCOHOL-FREE gel (yes, Kanye CAPS for emphasis) and b) using another moisturizer underneath so you don’t dry out your hair. And I know I am always raving about KCCC, Darcy’s Curling Jelly and AfroVeda PUR Whipped Gelly, but you really don’t need to spend $25 on gel or order it via the internet to get the look you want.

Case in point – so I’m trying to decrease how many products I layer in my hair, because I don’t think I really need them, I just like smelling them as I put them in. Womp womp, it’s a waste of $$ and probably making my hair hard. Does not compute, and do not concur. Anyway, I hit up my cheapy gel today (like, seriously, I bought this on a whim in CVS at 1am) to see how it would work since I’ve done the Big Chop, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. I used TJTTT as my leave-in (again, YES, I friggin know, I ordered three new conditioners PROMISE), added some AfroVeda Curl Define for moisture, and for gel? Fantasia IC Gel with Sparkle Lites (wtf is a sparkle lite?!); y’all, this stuff is $5 for 16oz. Can’t beat that if you’re on vacay or need a quick fix. It can also be found in like, every drugstore in America. It’s mainly aloe and glycerin based, so it should not be too drying on hair. At the same time, it does contain a cone and some funky chems, so I wouldn’t use this everyday. Here is the full list of ingredients:

Ingredients
Purified WaterAqua,   , Glycerin,   , Carbomer,   , Triethanolamine,   , Aloe Vera Gel,   , Dimethicone Copolyol,   , Tocopherol Acetate,   , Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein,   , Polysorbate-20,   , Benzopehonoe-4,   , Methylchloroisothiazolinone,   , Methylisothiazolinone,   , Disodiium EDTA,   , Fragrance

And my results? Quite money, if I do say so myself. I did not get as much shrinkage as I get from KCCC and when I “scrunched” with a pomade, I got buttery, yet defined coils. I can dig it. And it’s so cheap, I have to keep this one in the arsenal! Maybe this can be my “Hey, sure, you can borrow my gel!!” selection. Heehee, just kidding, dolls!!

xoxo