In the morning, the definition is crisp. By noon, the edges of your strands have turned white. By evening, your hair crunches and a strand gives way under your hand. That’s the crunchy effect, and it rarely comes from the gel itself.
A gel holds a shape; it doesn’t nourish it, and that’s exactly why it works: it holds whatever you give it. On well-prepared hair, it makes a style last several days; on dry hair, it locks the dryness in as it is. Here are three plant gels you can make at home, with what each one does, who it suits and how long it keeps. For what needs to happen beforehand, our step-by-step tutorial walks through the six steps of the Rituel Texture®.
When I make flaxseed gel, I’m back to a gesture from my childhood. We used to crush hibiscus leaves and flowers until the mixture turned stringy between our fingers, and that’s exactly the texture you’re after: water thickened by the plant, which lets the strand glide while you work it, then holds it as it dries. A gel doesn’t nourish. It holds, and that’s already a lot.
Ghana Elin, founderWhat a plant gel changes
Shop-bought gels usually get their hold from polymers and alcohol. Alcohol has a real advantage: it evaporates quickly, which is what sets a style in a few minutes. It also comes at a cost: as it leaves, it takes some of the hair’s water with it. On coily hair, whose spiral already slows sebum on its way down to the ends, you pay the bill within a few weeks, in rough strands and ends that snap.
A plant gel works differently. It’s made of water thickened by mucilages, the viscous substances that seeds and leaves release when cooked or crushed. As it dries, this water forms a supple sheath around the strand that holds the shape without stiffening it. You break it by scrunching your hair between your palms once dry, and it leaves no white flakes and no crusty feel.
You can read the sign at the end of drying: a strand that bends under your finger and springs back, or a strand that cracks and turns white where it has rubbed. If you can hear your hair before you can feel it, change your gel, or change the amount.
Gel 1Flaxseed gel, the strongest hold
It’s the strongest hold of the three, and the best at taming frizz on dense hair. It suits styles whose shape needs to last: twists, flat braids, a sleek bun, or definition you want to find intact the next day.
Making it calls for care on just one point, the one everyone learns the hard way the first time. Allow about twenty grams of flaxseed for four glasses of water, bring to the boil, then let it thicken over a low heat until the mixture runs in strings from the spoon. Strain it right then, while it’s hot and runny: once cool, it’s impossible to strain, and that’s what gets the whole pan thrown out. One week in the fridge in a sealed jar, no longer.
To apply, a hazelnut-sized amount per section is enough, worked into a strand that’s still dripping wet. If it rolls under your fingers instead of gliding, there’s too much, or the strand isn’t wet enough any more: rewet rather than add more product.
Gel 2Oat gel, the gentlest
Its texture is close to a conditioner: creamier, less firm, rather detangling. It’s the gel for fine hair and for anyone who doesn’t like the coated feeling. It’s also the richest of the three, so the one that weighs hair down fastest if you’re heavy-handed.
Boil oat flakes in water, let it thicken for a few minutes, strain, and leave to cool covered. One week in the fridge. The leftover flakes keep for a day or two for a body scrub.
You judge the amount when it dries, not when you apply it. Start with a small amount on a single section, let it dry completely, and look before doing the rest of your head. Well dosed, this gel gives supple strands; overdosed, limp strands that drop within two hours.
Gel 3Aloe gel, the most versatile
Made up almost entirely of water, it softens and is well tolerated on the lengths as well as the scalp. It’s the most flexible of the three: it shapes without setting, which makes it the right choice when you want movement, or when you want to smooth your edges without stiffening the rest.
If you buy it, check that aloe comes first in the ingredients list: many gels sold as aloe are mostly water and alcohol. If you make it, cut the leaf lengthways, first let the yellow sap under the skin drain away, as it’s irritating, rinse the pulp, blend, then strain finely: unstrained particles show up as white residue when it dries. Three days in the fridge, no more.
Finally, one caveat that applies to all three: on an irritated scalp, scratched from itching or covered in small scabs, you put nothing at all. Treat the cause first, and our article on an itchy scalp explains how to go about it.
What happens before the gel
A successful gel is a gel applied to hair that’s already hydrated. It’s the order that makes the difference, far more than the recipe. The full Rituel Texture®, every seven to ten days, starts with Chadian finger detangling, with the fingers and on dry hair, section by section. Then comes the Hydrating Detox: a gentle clarifying cleanse, followed by Le Shampoing Réparateur. Le Masque Réparateur is then massaged in from ends to roots and left on for ten minutes, under a shower cap if you have one. Only then, on hair coated in treatment, does the comb come in, with Le Peigne de Man Dol’.
La Crème Coiffante goes on after rinsing, on damp hair. It helps hold on to the hydration brought by the wash, and it’s the cream, not the gel, that your hair keeps over the following days. The gel goes on top, last, to hold your chosen shape. Applied straight onto a dry, bare strand, it locks in the dryness: the definition is spectacular on day one and the strand snaps on day two. To see where each product fits, read our comparison of styling cream, leave-in and gel.
A word on the clarifying cleanse, which is often misunderstood: it isn’t an occasional catch-up. It opens every full routine, and it’s what lets you use a gel regularly without your hair getting weighed down.
Dosing, applying, making it last
Technique matters as much as the product. You work on very wet hair, section by section, coating the strand from root to tip rather than rubbing. A hazelnut-sized amount per section on medium-density hair, half that on fine hair. When you let go, the strand should be smooth and heavy with water, not sticky.
Then you leave it alone, and that’s the hard part: every touch while it dries creates frizz that the gel will fix just as faithfully as the definition. Between two routines, air-drying works perfectly well. Once your hair is completely dry, and only then, break the cast with a drop of light oil in your palms.
Over the next few days, you don’t start again: no rewetting your head to revive the definition, no layer of gel on top of the last one. A style done on well-prepared hair lasts three to four days, and it’s the night that makes it last: a few loose braids, a silk scarf, a silk pillowcase.
What a gel won’t do
It doesn’t hydrate deeply, even when it’s made from water and plants: that water evaporates as it dries, and what’s left is the cast. Nor does it repair anything or replace any of the steps that come before it. A gel on hair that hasn’t seen a mask in a month gives you a lovely first day and a rough morning after.
Nor will a styling technique alone give coily hair more definition. Plopping and scrunching, often recommended with gels, were designed for wavy hair and do little for a coily texture. For defined, bouncy curls without losing length, our house method is the Rituel Définition®, which is done in the salon.
The most common mistakes
- Applying gel to dry hair, or without La Crème Coiffante underneath.
- Choosing a gel with alcohol among the first three ingredients.
- Straining flaxseed gel once it’s cooled, when it can no longer be strained.
- Keeping a homemade gel past its time: a sour smell means it goes in the bin.
- Rewetting your head every morning to revive the definition.
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