17 Best Hair Gels

Hair care

17 Best Hair Gels

Pantene and Garnier own the hair gel category according to our readers but guess which brand is number one?

December 23, 2008 | by Sarah Carrillo | 28 COMMENTS

No other product is as versatile; gel can add volume, tame curls or give our style hold. But it can also go very wrong, creating crunchy, '80s-style curls -- eek! Thankfully these highly rated gels did no such thing.

SEE NEXT PAGE: No. 17: L'Oreal Paris Studio Mega Gel, $3.99

1 of 19

products mentioned

L'Oréal Paris Studio Mega Gel

8.3

Biolage Gelee

8.1

Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Curl Scrunching Gel

8.0

Aussie Instant Freeze Sculpting Gel

8.5

Suave Basics Gel

8.8

Garnier Fructis Style Brilliantine Shine Cream-Gel

8.7

Aveda Confixor Liquid Gel

9.0

Aussie Sydney Smooth Tizz No Frizz Gel

8.5

Herbal Essences Set Me Up Max Hold Gel

8.8

TIGI Bed Head Small Talk

8.6

Matriz Biolage Bodifying Spray Gel

9.4

Garnier Fructis Style Super Stiff Gel

7.7

Ouidad Climate Control Heat & Humidity Gel

9.4

Paul Mitchell Super Sculpt

9.4

leave a comment

View old comments

This is a TREMENDOUS assortment of products, all at affordable prices. I'm not an expert at using these, so maybe I'll buy some and keep working at it.

by GigiSD Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 12:07PM Report as inappropriate

The Loreal studio line is simply amazing

by Misselizabeth Sunday, January 20, 2013 at 12:24AM Report as inappropriate

I want to try Small Talk.

by EricaF123 Tuesday, December 25, 2012 at 05:17PM Report as inappropriate

I hate pretty much the entire Herbal Essences curly line. It just makes my dry hair even drier.

by liquidlinernote Friday, November 30, 2012 at 05:24PM Report as inappropriate

That Biolage gelee works really well. I prefer mousse but will occasionally use gel depending on the look I'm going for.

by Lamexicana1 Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 01:39PM Report as inappropriate

Curly hair girls use all types of gels. I try use products without silicones and sulfates. That is what this article is missing. Actually I think that is what needs to be added to all of the products "an ingredients list". For all the products I have to do a search online for the ingredients which is time consuming. Since I started avoiding products with these ingredients my hair has transformed to more manageable and healthier.

by tiffanyg Sunday, September 16, 2012 at 03:52PM Report as inappropriate

I think the hair that would benefit the most from a hair gel, is a short spikey cut or maybe even a pixie. I have shoulder length fine and thin hair and gel doesn't give me the soft, touchable feel compared to say - mousse. I admit, I do use a spray gel, but only at the roots to give my hair more volume. I've tried a gel recently, I think it's called SAMY curling gel. It's supposed to give you "great curls". Only it doesn't. It didn't do anything for my hair. I have a natural wave so I can wear it curly or straight. But even for the curls, I prefer to use a mousse for body and hold.

by flirtygirl214 Friday, August 31, 2012 at 03:12PM Report as inappropriate