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❗️ Urgent please help my hair gel!
MY HAIR GEL NEEDS HELP!
Hey guys! I created a hair gel that defines curls. It defines the curls well and has lots of slip (desired) but it FLAKES LIKE CRAZY! Can anyone help with and suggestions please? Heres the formula:
Distilled water 91%
Glycerine 5%
Xanthum gum 2%
Organic hibiscus powder 1%
Aloe vera powder 1%
Preservative 1% -
9 Replies
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Maybe the Xanthan Gum and Aloe dont like each other. Maybe try making without Aloe powder and see how you go - just do a small batch so you dont waste ingredients.
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You have too much xanthan gum. Usually it is used 0.2%.
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Xanthan gum 2% - would be very sticky like a glue and flaky on drying.
Is this gel meant for black girls? I’m not sure it will perform well.
You may need to change to polymer.
Or if you want it natural, you have to wait for more experienced members. -
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Yes its for curly hair. The product performs well, just the flaking.
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0.2% seems like it wouldnt be enough to create the thickness of a gel. Currently the consistency is like strawberry jam. Seems like I have to do more testing.
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Not sure who but someone here on board mentioned in an older thread dehydroxanthan as better suited for hair care.My wife has curly hair and recently got a new product to try out… it’s mainly water and dehydroxanthan. She likes it (it’s not her favourite, though) and it doesn’t flake. -
Not sure what you have access to but you could try other natural polymers like carrageenan or guar. Try cutting xanthan in half, I doubt you will totally eliminate flaking but that could help reduce it
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What kind of concentration is your aloe vera powder? I’ve used xanthan in combination with aloe but I’ve not gone higher than 4% reconstituted aloe juice. Whether your powder is 100X or 200X that will be too many electrolytes for the xanthan to work well at reasonable non-flaking concentrations because the electrolytes affect the viscosity of the gel leading you to have to use way more to thicken effectively. So the first thing I’d do is reduce the aloe and see how that changes your gel’s viscosity. You may find that it becomes too thick for your liking.
I second cutting xanthan down to 1% and considering using other natural polymers with it.I’d double check the pH after cutting some of the aloe. You may find you need to readjust it to the level your hair prefers if you lose some of the aloe’s acidity which might be contributing to the slip you’re enjoying.
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