Styling agents, especially gels, can be a curly girl’s best friend. Some prefer soft, touchable curls while others want firm hold. Finding the perfect product that allows your hair to be great is everything. Finding the perfect product that allows your hair to be great and saves a few coins is masterful, but we want that greatness without compromising our hair’s health. Curlyhead101 from Curly Q&A asked about a popular and unique styling gel.
Question
“Gorilla snot gel (alcohol”> ingredient
I really want to try out this gel! Its protein free but it has alcohol in it. And someone had commented on the gel and said that it breaks off their hair and their doctor told them not to use it. I have low porosity hair so I fear that it might make my hair break off. Should I risk it?”
Ingredients
Water (Aqua”>, Pvp, Alcohol, Peg-150, Sorbitol, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Triethanolamine, Carbomer, Cyamopsis, Tetragonoloba (Guar”> Gum, Fragrance (Parfum”>, Yellow 10 (Ci 47005″>, Yellow 6 (Ci 15985″>, Green 8 (Ci 59040″>, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone
Answer
Not all alcohols are bad despite the negative rap they get. Fatty alcohols like lauryl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, or stearyl alcohol are usually derived from natural sources and have a higher amount of carbon content, which makes them oilier and used as softeners or emollients in skin and hair products. The short chain alcohols like SD alcohol, SD alcohol 40, or propyl alcohol have less carbon and evaporate quickly due to their low molecular weight. Alcohol is the third ingredient in this gel so we are not sure if it is a fatty alcohols, but we do have some information on some other ingredients in this product.
The Beauty Brains discusses what polyVinlyyrrolidone is and what it does. “PVP is used in stylers because it’s cheap and it gives a very hard crunchy hold. As long as there’s no moisture in the air. Because if there is, the PVP will absorb it and become sticky. Some people love the PVP crunch but it’s certainly NOT a state of the art styling aid.”
Beauty brains goes on to say how sorbitol is not all that great either, especially since PVP does not do well when exposed to water and that the sorbitol may only make matters worse. There are plenty of women who love Gorilla Snot Gel because it is inexpensive and gets the job done, but that might not be the same for all.
The bottom line
This relatively inexpensive product is a popular one. It seems to be an excellent gel with hold and many curly girls use it so give it a try. However, it is not the best styling gel to use nor one for touchable soft curls. We are not aware of what type of alcohol (good or bad”> is in it, but PVP is an ingredient to watch out for because it can make the hair sticky. With you having low porosity hair, you could potentially try this once to see how it goes, but if it does not work out then know you only wasted less than $5.
