Battle of the Hard Hold Gels: Biosilk Rock Hard Gelee vs. Beyond The Zone Bada Bing Extreme Hold Gel

Any curly girl, who wants definition, and the smallest amount of frizz possible knows the importance of products with good hold. I love a hard hold gel, they seem to be the only thing that will give me the hair I want. So what is it that I want? Definition, low frizz factor, volume/body, shine, and curls that will last through the day. I realize that’s asking a lot, especially living where I live. So, on my latest Sally’s excursion I decided to pick up a gel that I’ve read about on NC.com, Beyond the Zone Bada Bing Extreme Hold Gel.

Review: Biotera Styling Gel

Most curly girls realize the importance of a good gel. Gel is what gives the hold we need to combat frizz and just generally unruly hair. The other day I mentioned that I picked up a few things on my most recent Sally’s trip. In addition to the Biotera Volumizing Conditioner that I reviewed, I picked up the Biotera Styling Gel. So of course, it’s review time again!

Sally’s Says:

Biotera Styling Gel create soft, natural looking curls and styles. Compare to Biolage and save!  

• Nettle strengthens and adds luster to over-worked hair
• Arnica soothes scalp
• Restores body and bounce
• Sunscreen protects hair from sun’s harmful rays
• Never sticky or flaky

 The world isn’t always kind to your hair - let Biotera’s restorative botanicals defend your hair’s beauty. This styling gel is specially formulated to strengthen dry, brittle hair and restore natural body and movement. Won't leave hair sticky or flaky but creates healthier looking hair.

Mrs. Blacksten Says:

The Biotera Styling Gel is another affordable product, at $6.79 for 13.5 oz. Like most of the Biotera products, you can also get it in liter size for $10.49.

So first things first, it smells great, just like the Biotera Volumizing Conditioner, and the GVP Conditioning Balm. It’s a sweet smell, but it’s not overpowering. It smells like a high-end salon product. I’ve never used the actual Matrix Biolage line, so I can’t say whether or not it smells like them. Score 1 for Biotera.

 

The consistency of the Biotera Styling Gel is different than most gels I’ve used. It isn’t runny, but it isn’t thick either. It’s almost similar to the consistency of a clear shampoo. Immediately when I saw the consistency I knew it’d be easy to distribute, but I had some concerns about the amount of hold it would have. 

The Biotera Styling Gel is labeled as a firm hold gel, I have to disagree. On a scale of 1-5, I’d rate the hold as a 3. It has more hold than Devacurl Angel or Devacare ArcAngel, but less hold than L.A. Looks Sport or Power Spikes Gels. For me it’s more than enough, but it’s really gonna depend on your personal preference and hair needs. Score 2 for Biotera.

As I said before, it’s really easy to distribute, almost sort of slippery. With that being said, I do use a bit more Biotera Styling Gel than many of my other gels. In all fairness, most of my other gels are true firm hold gels though.

After applying and scrunching to my hearts desire, and of course diffusing, I got really great results. I get an ample amount of body, shine, and hold with Biotera Styling Gel. My hair lasts all day, and is really soft. Score 3 for Biotera. 

 

I should mention if your hair hates glycerin, than this isn’t going to be a good gel for you. Glycerin is pretty high on the ingredients. Awhile back, I thought my hair was disagreeing with glycerin, as it turns out it wasn’t. Maybe it was just a hair slump or something.
 
All in all I’d repurchase this is a second. On a scale of 1-5, I’d rate the Biotera Styling Gel a 3.5-4. 

Have you tried the Biotera Styling Gel or any of the other Biotera products? Leave me a comment about your experiences.

Review: L.A. Looks Power Spikes Gel

Most curlies will tell you that our hair changes as the seasons change. During the summer my hair has volume, it’s bouncy, it’s generally manageable and easy to style. During the winter, it’s another story all around. The loss of moisture in the air seriously affects my hair, and I have to tweak my routine to get the curls I want. Lately, I’ve noticed that my hair seems to have developed an aversion to glycerin, in my stylers anyway. Glycerin seems to turn my hair into a rat’s nest. It’s loses definition, it gets crazy frizzy, and looks a hot mess. So…….it was time to hunt for a new glycerin-free gel. Enter L.A. Looks Power Spikes Gel.

L.A. Looks Power Spikes Gel is a seriously hard-hold gel. It’s a 12 hold, on a scale of 1-12. L.A. Looks didn’t even have a 12 point scale until they came out with this gel, it only went to 10. In my opinion, Power Spikes is a fantastic alternative to Biosilk Rock Hard Gelee. It’s got just as much hold, and you get more than 3x the product for a fraction of the cost. I paid around $2 for a 20 oz container of Power Spikes at Wal-Mart, and in comparison I paid around $13 for a 6 oz container of Biosilk Rock Hard Gelee at CVS.

So how do I use L.A. Looks Power Spikes Gel? So far, I’ve only really used it in the winter, when my hair need more moisture. I typically use Boots Curl Crème, aka Pink Boots, right after my leave-in. Then I take a dime size amount of Power Spikes and start scrunching it in. Usually I do this 3 times, so I end up using probably slightly more than a quarter size amount of gel. Some days maybe a little more or a little less, depending on the weather and how my hair is behaving. Then I continue with the rest of my usual routine.

Power Spikes is one of the only drugstore gels that I've found that can give me the hold I need. The only drawback I've noticed is that it sort of smells like a man. Like men's bodywash or something. However, I don't mind, because the smell dissipates as soon as my hair dries. All in all, Power Spikes is a keeper.

Have you tried it?

Review: Eco Styler Krystal Gel

Hey gals, it's time to talk about another cult-ish product in the curly world: Eco Styler Krystal Gel. To be fair Eco Styler gels are all cult-ish, but especially the Krystal and Olive Oil versions. Eco Styler has been repeatedly compared with Kinky-Curly Curling Custard. Unlike my beloved Kinky-Curly, the Eco Styler has a price tag of around $5 for a giant tub, and is readily available at Sally's, and numerous drugstores.

Have you ever tried a product, and as you were applying it to your hair, you thought for sure that you'd have a marvelous hair day? Only to be let down with how your hair looked when done. That's how the Eco Styler Krystal Gel was for me. When my hair was wet, and as I was applying it, it was awesome. I had amazing clumps, super chunky ringlets, and it seemed to be "grabbing" my hair, much in the way Kinky-Curly does. To be honest, even with the Kinky-Curly, it feels strange when a product seems to be grabbing your hair, but it works wonders at evening out my curl pattern and making my curls pop. So anyway, while my hair was wet and loaded with Eco Styler Krystal Gel it looked awesome, and I thought for sure that my hair would be awesome when dry. I was wrong, the Eco Styler may have felt like it had amazing hold while wet, but it didn't have enough hold when dry. My hair ended up frizzy and not so great. It certainly wasn't the worst product that I've ever used, but it wasn't the best either.

I haven't tried using the Eco Styler with many of my other stylers, simply because I'm satisfied with my current routine. However, I think it may work well with a hard hold gel on top, like Biosilk Rock Hard Gelee. I will try it with some other stylers soon, and I'll report back if anything awesome comes of it. I will say that I think the Eco Styler has some potential, simply based on my amazing clumpage with it.

Bottom line: The Eco Styler, for me, doesn't hold a candle to my KCCC.

Have you tried the Eco Styler Krystal Gel, or any of the Eco Styler Gels? Did it work for you?

Review: L.A. Looks Sport Hold Gel

What curly girl doesn't try almost anything they can get their hands on? I am constantly on the look out for new products, new techniques, and almost anything that may work for my curls. I've been reading all over the boards at Naturally Curly, about L.A. Looks Sport Hold Gel.

L.A. Looks Sport Hold Gel is readily available at almost any drugstore. It's also super cheap, I think I paid $2.50 for my bottle at Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, and I got the really big bottle. It seems like everytime I go to Wal-Mart, I bring something beauty-related home.

So I have a few things that I require in a gel: hold, no flakes, pleasant smell, non-drying, no silicones, no alcohol, and no mineral oil. Since I no longer shampoo my hair, making sure that I'm not using silicones or anything that isn't water-soluble is very important. L.A. Looks Sport Hold Gel meets all my criteria, so let's get on with the review.

I went about my normal hair routine: cleanse with No-Poo, condition with One Condition and I use a small mixture of One Condition and B'Leave-In as my leave-in. I then scrunch out excess water using an old t-shirt or Curls Like Us Curl Cloth. Then instead of using ArcAngell, I scrunched in L.A. Looks Sport Hold Gel. I could tell immediately, by the way it felt going into my hair, that it was indeed a hard hold gel. They just feel different, they don't have the same slip as a regular or light hold gel. In my experience, most hard hold gels also seem to dry faster, alcohol or none. Maybe this is what allows them to really set the hairstyle?

So, after I'd scrunched to my hearts desire, and used the Curls Like Us Curl Cloth to help set my curls, I diffused. Using my diffuser is the ultimate test for any hair product that I use, if it won't hold my curls in place while I diffuse, it probably won't hold them in place for the rest of my day. After all, I have a 4 year old little boy who likes to wrestle, and play crazy. Guess what, L.A. Looks Sport Hold Gel passed. After diffusing my curls, they looked awesome, super hard, but awesome. So I used a little MirrorCurls to SOTC, and my hair looked great. It's shiny, bouncy, and I think it would stay in place if a tornado happens to tough down.

Have you used L.A. Looks Sport Hold Gel? Did you like it? Any other awesome gels you think I should try?

Review: Garnier Fructis Curl Sculpting Cream-Gel

Garnier Fructis Curl Sculpting Cream-Gel unfortunately didn't cut it. My hair is naturally curly, and frizzy, and this cream-gel just did nothing for hold, and frizz. The product has a very slimy consistency, more liquid than cream or gel. In my experience this sort of consistency in a curl product doesn't equal good results or hold. Generally, I don't like to write a product off after only using it once. So I tried Garnier Fructis Curl Sculpting Cream Gel on several occassions and what I was left with was a mass of frizzy, unruly curls. Granted, curly hair is hard to manage and style, but I've been doing it for years. This was no case of user error, this cream-gel just doesn't have what it takes. This product may work for someone with a perm, or wavy hair, but for us naturally curly gals, this is a no-go. So the search continues.......