Hello curly girls! The search for the perfect gel is a lot like searching for the Holy Grail. You’re willing to invest a lot, you wonder if the search will ever end, and you never give up hope. Haha! But seriously, when this curly girl finds a gel that works for her, she is SO happy. Keep reading to discover some of the best gels for curly hair.

Here’s my current list of the best gels for curly hair.

1. Jessicurl Spiralicious Gel

• Price Point: $$-$$$
• Hold: Strong
• Contains Glycerin: No
• Contains Protein: No

One of my favourite gels EVER! This gel gives me lots of volume, shine, and nice tight ringlets. It has a creamy consistency and includes jojoba seed oil for a little extra moisture. I’ve tried pairing it with curl enhancing products, but, honestly, it is just as fantastic if you use it alone! It is a bit more pricy but definitely worth it to me.

Read my full review here and buy here.

2. EcoStyler Olive Oil Gel

• Price Point: $
• Hold: Strong
• Contains Glycerin: Yes
• Contains Protein: Yes

This gel is a cult favourite in the Curly Girl world, and I’ve fallen in love with it, too. It’s affordable, has great ingredients, and has a very strong hold. It gives me bouncy, tight clumps of curls! I love that it contains olive oil for extra moisture.

Because it has such strong hold, make sure that your curls are spiralling properly before you apply it. And clip your wet hair carefully. If you have any really wonky curls that you don’t adjust, this gel will preserve them in their original (wonky) shape. If your curls need a little more encouragement, you can always try finger coiling them after applying gel.

Buy on Amazon here.

3. Aussie Instant Freeze Gel

• Price Point: $
• Hold: Strong
• Contains Glycerin: No
• Contains Protein: No

This budget-friendly gel is another favourite of mine. If you’re looking for distinct, well-defined curls, you’ll probably love this gel! It creates fantastic definition and works very well for curl clumping. Even though it’s a hard hold gel, it doesn’t weigh my hair down. This water-based gel is a definite winner!

Read my full review here, and buy on Amazon here (the pack of 2 is better value).

4. DevaCurl Ultra Defining Gel

• Price Point: $$
• Hold: Medium
• Contains Glycerin: Yes
• Contains Protein: Yes

This medium-hold gel is a great choice for curly girls as well. It contains a lot of proteins near the beginning of the ingredient list. This provides more structure and body for your curls. This gel also is free of silicones, parabens, sulfates, mineral oil, and alcohol. Also, it contains good polymers, which help your curls lock into pattern and stay in place.

I have gotten consistently great results from the DevaCurl Ultra Defining Gel–even in humid summer weather. It defines my curls and keeps them looking great for 2-3 days. Because each curl is well defined, my hair looks full and voluminous. 

Note: I know DevaCurl has been getting a lot of bad press lately. But, personally, I used this gel with a mix of other curly girl brands for a year or two and never had any issues. It’s important to rotate your products, instead of using one line exclusively. This will help you avoid developing allergies or even health issues due to overuse of certain ingredients. 

Read my full review here and buy on Amazon here.

5. Kinky Curly Curling Custard

• Price Point: $$ to $$$
• Hold: Light
• Contains Glycerin: No
• Contains Protein: No

This Curly Girl-approved gel works well for many different curl types. It gives a light hold and makes curls shiny and soft. Even better, it’s packed with amazing botanical ingredients like horsetail, marshmallow root, nettle, and more. This custard helps define waves and enhance natural curl pattern. It works best for curly and coily hair types, but not as well for wavy types. 

You can buy on Amazon here.

6. Curl Keeper Original Gel

• Price Point: $$
• Hold: Light to Medium
• Contains Glycerin: Yes
• Contains Protein: No

This water-based gel is very effective at reducing frizz in curly hair. Because it’s a fairly thin consistency, you have to use a lot of it to get good results.

For my low-porosity hair, this works very well in summer with humid conditions. It gives nice, defined curls and very little frizz. It didn’t work well in winter with drier conditions, though, because it’s not really moisturizing.

This product does have a couple nice benefits because it’s water-based:

• You can reactivate/refresh by just adding water.
• It doesn’t cause buildup.
• It washes out very easily.
• It reduces frizz dramatically in high humidity.

You can buy on Amazon here.

Let’s Chat:

What is your favourite Curly Girl approved gel? And which of these gels for curly hair have you tried before? I’d love to hear your experience in the comments!

love,

Claudine

p.s. Some of the items in this post are affiliate links. I only post about products that I love + think you’ll probably love, too! As an Amazon Associate or affiliate for other programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. When you purchase through my link, I receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thank you SO much for your support!