- Kind of weird to think that this
is gonna go in my hair, honestly.
(lively music)
Today, I'm going to be creating two DIY hair gels
and then comparing those hair gels to the performance
of my store bough hair gel.
It's from the Gatsby Company and it's called
The Perfect Hold Wax Extra hard.
So I just put it on my fingertips,
just kind of brush it forward.
This is what my hair looks like when it
has the hair wax that I use every day.
The texture of my hair when the Gatsby is in it
is pretty soft.
It doesn't make my hair crunchy or greasy
and that's actually how I'm gonna be judging
the natural hair gels that I make today.
And then, also, the appearance of course is gonna
be a big factor in how I choose the gels.
The first recipe that I'm gonna be making today
is gelatin based.
This recipe is very simple.
So all I need is gelatin, lavender essential oil,
and some water.
The recipe requires me to double boil
some water and gelatin.
Basically, the recipe just said stir over low heat
until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
So anyone know any good jokes?
Once I've done that, I just add a few drops
of the lavender essential oil.
It's mostly just to give the gel a nice little smell.
It says I'm supposed to just add a few drops
of lavender essential oils.
Oh wow, this is strong smelling.
One, two, three, four, five, okay.
This is going in the fridge for one to two hours
and then I'll be able to try it out.
Now I'm going to make the second DIY hair gel.
This recipe calls for flaxseed and aloe vera gel
and a little bit of lavender essential oil.
The recipe told me that I needed
to soak my flaxseed in water overnight.
This recipe, because it doesn't use gelatin,
is apparently vegan, which is pretty cool.
It's a very grainy mixture.
It's steaming.
There's like a white froth that has developed
on the edge of the thing.
It definitely has the consistency of a gel.
So what I'm supposed to do is pour it through a cheesecloth
and then strain out the flaxseeds.
(dramatic music)
There we go.
It's a little gross looking, the used cheesecloths.
But there's really barely any flaxseed left in this.
I'm just trying to get the aloe vera gel to disintegrate
which is actually harder than it looks.
Who wants this in their hair?
(lively music)
This is my flaxseed hair gel.
It's much watery consistency than I anticipated,
but I'm going to let it set for a little bit
and then I'm gonna try the hair gels out.
(lively music)
It is time to try out my DIY hair gels.
I'm wearing a towel wrap right now because I washed
out all of the product that I used earlier
because I wanna actually give a fair judgment
on how well this hair gel works.
This is the first hair gel I made.
This is the gelatin based hair gel.
We let it cool for a few hours.
Usually if I shower and I have to get ready,
my hair is at about this level of dryness
before I apply gel.
So I think this is a pretty fair shake.
It's got a pretty solid texture.
I'm pressing with a decent amount of strain.
I am a little worried that once I start using it,
it will feel just like I'm putting Jell-O in my hair.
I don't know.
I think what I'm gonna do is crush it in between my hands
and apply it like I would any gel.
(lively music)
Oh, oh, so this is what it looks like after trying
to crush it in my hands and turn it into a gel.
It still doesn't really have that traditional gel texture.
I mean, I guess we should just go for it, right.
I don't know, again,
I'm gonna do what I normally do with my hair,
which is brush forward,
then through.
Gel smells nice.
I mean, it's holding its shape.
As it is right now, my hair looks pretty good.
There are little bits of jelly and gel that are just sort
of like sitting on the top of my hair.
That is gonna be a bit of a knock against it. (laughing)
My hair doesn't feel particularly greasy
and you can tell there is product in there.
I guess only time will tell.
- I think it looks like hair gel you bought form the store.
- Really? - Yeah.
- Oh cool.
Gotcha.
How do you guys think it compares to my usual hair?
- I like it 'cause it looks lighter.
It looks like a little bit lighter and a little wet.
- I think it looks different.
It doesn't push your hair up and back.
It just kind of leaves your hair doing
what it would naturally do with a little bit of hold.
(water running)
So my hair is again in a towel wrap because it is drying.
Most people thought that the first gel
performed pretty well.
Most people did notice that the volume of my hair
was a little bit less than it usually is
and I think people noticed that my hair
had a different texture than it normally does.
Now we are going to try hair gel number two.
I think gel is a very, very loose term for what this is.
My biggest concern with this gel is just that
it is not going to have much hold because it's so wet.
These were all the ingredients so you'd hope
it would look more like a gel, but then again,
we don't know how it's gonna perform
until I actually try it out.
Let's just remove my hair wrap.
Ooh, it smells very strongly of lavender,
just like the other product.
When you actually put it in your hand,
it is a little bit like a gel.
It's not super sticky, which I like.
So let's go.
Based on the way my hair looks in the mirror,
I think this is working okay.
This gel doesn't leave any residue in my hair.
I'm a little bit worried it's gonna be pretty oily
once it's dry, but we'll see.
I also am a a little bit concerned that when it dries,
it's going to lose its shape and lose its volume.
I like it so far.
- Sleek. - Okay.
- And subtle, but your hair looks in place.
- You think the texture is better than the first one?
- Yeah.
- Sure.
- I think it looks pretty normal.
It's a little less tall.
- Mm hmm, sure.
- I think usually it's taller on the top.
- Yeah.
- I wouldn't look at you and be like, Jen,
your hair is totally different today.
- Okay. - Unless you asked me.
- This one feels lighter, am I right?
- Yeah, it's a lot lighter than the other one, sure.
- I will say, I think I do like this one a little bit better
because the ends of your hair, for the last one,
were a little bit more sharp.
- Sure.
- And this looks a little bit more natural.
- People seem to be on board with this one.
The day is done.
I have tried both gels.
I have gathered a bunch of opinions.
I feel like the gel that we made with flaxseed
had a better texture when dry than the gel
that we made out of gelatin,
and the product wax that I normally use.
On the first DIY gel with the gelatin,
I didn't hate the way it looked.
I just didn't love the way it felt.
It's kind of cool that you can craft hair gels
that work and do look pretty comparable
to store-bought products in your own kitchen.
I think that's dope as (bleep).
And I think if you're inclined to try a product
that's more natural, or in the case of the flaxseed gel,
that is vegan, I think you should go for it,
'cause these DIY gels were honestly pretty easy to make.
But if you're a little bit lazy like me
and you just want to throw stuff on your head
and not worry about it, you're probably gonna stick
to your old store-bought gel and that's okay too.
DIY hair gels, lady tested, lady homemade.
Or lady pomade. (beep)
That's even better.
(lively music)
(sign squeaking)