Naturals: A gel that doesn't leave white residue + dealing with criticisms?

AmyRose92

Well-Known Member
Hello everyone!

Yesterday I wore my hair out for the first time in nearly half a year and I got all sorts of opinions from all sides when I went to my place of worship! Some said that my hair was looking good today and even said sometimes my styles didn't turn out right! :blush: So I guess yesterday was a good hair day? :spinning: But nope, I had all sorts of comments/criticisms (mostly from my mother) like "Poukisa cheve w blanch?" (Haitian Creole for "Why is your hair white?") She's always said this whenever I style my hair and I can only assume that it's the Eco Styler Olive Oil gel that I use on top of my Shea Moisture conditioner that I use as a moisturizer (with aloe vera juice, castor oil, and jojoba oil). But yesterday I was feeling all kinds of insecure since I've been hiding under a wig all this time so the criticisms hit me kinda hard. My aunt agreed that my hair does in fact have a white-ish tint so that depressed me even more. Add on to the fact that a family friend I haven't seen in a while came up and said "Oh you're going natural too!? I don't like this natural hair movement!" She was also my regular hair stylist back when my hair was relaxed (I haven't gone to her since becoming natural) and she always talked about how my hair was being damaged because I don't go to her enough every single time I went to see her! And my mom just had to stick the nail in the coffin when she said "Just keep wearing your wig while your hair grows out and then you can style it however you want." :nono: In the end, I pretty much regretted revealing my hair last night.

So, naturals, I have two questions:
1) What's a good gel that doesn't leave a white residue? Or am I just doing something wrong (spraying my moisturized hair with water before applying gel)?
2) How do you deal with the excessive commentary about your hair?
 

Poohbear

Fearfully Wonderfully Made
If you want to avoid the white residue, it's best to use gels alone...not in combination with any other product. You put EcoStyler Gel on top of Shea Moisture Conditioner which is definitely going to leave a white coating to your hair.

And how I deal with comments... they don't affect me at all.
 

AmyRose92

Well-Known Member
Thanks Poohbear!

But I don't want to have dry hair at the same time. Needless to say, I didn't apply gel right after moisturizing my hair but the product was still very much present (about 5-6 days adding the condish) when I added gel. Is there a way for my hair to stay moisturized with gel as well?
 
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kweenameena

Well-Known Member
Perhaps you can use a water based leave-in (like Knot Today or the Shescentit coco creme leave-in) and then use a gel (I like Fantasia IC with the white top) over that.

As far as the comments, ignore them.
 

KimPossibli

Supergirl
I use gel and a leave in and I havent had this issue..

My gel is giovanni magnetise gel and the giovanni direct leave in...

not sure if its because they are from the same line or because I try to use dollar sisize amount of both in my damp hair..

when I was younger I found that greasy products plus gel usually meant you got a whitish cast or flakes
 

Pompous Blue

Well-Known Member
I use a leave-in, hair butter and Donna Marie Curling Cream or Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding. (My LI's and hair butters are KBB sweet ambrosia, KBB hair creme or hair butter, Oyin honey dew, Oyin Shine and Define, etc.)

NO WHITE RESIDUE AND I GOT A DEFINED BRAID-OUT OR TWIST-OUT with no crunchiness!

I've also tried other styling products that didn't give me as good of a hold as the two listed above. Shescentit macadamia fixing gel, Hairveda's whipped jelly or Afroveda's PUR whipped jelly.

I'm 4B/Z natural.
 

empressri

Well-Known Member
It's the leave in you're using underneath. Anything that isn't going to really absorb into your hair you can see when it dries, then adding gel on top of that makes it worse. That shea moisture stuff is nice but it doesn't really absorb.

Although I have and can use the restorative mask underneath gel on my hair and I don't get the residue but that's probably from technique.

These are a few things that I can use with gel that don't give me that white residue:

Karen's body beautiful hair milk or hair nectar
Alaffia beautiful curls leave in (I like the ones for babies)
Innersense quiet calm curl control
TIGI love peace and planet let it be leave in

Going back to technique...how are you applying your products?
 

Embyra

Well-Known Member
I use it all the time i mix it with world of curls in regular

sometimes i leave a light coating of tressemme naturals on my hair it doesn't leave it white


but like poohbear said you cant really leave a rich creamy leave in oyin have that hair dew stuff that looks like it would be a great leave in with gel:yep:
 

LongLeggedLife

New Member
I dont use gel, why/what are you using the gel for? Id cut it out altogether b/c it feels yucky, slimy even, and leaves a nasty residue.
 

Charla

New Member
No white residue when I used Giovanni Direct Leave-in, sealed with evco and then applied Ecostyler Olive Oil. I saw a lot of YT videos that said Shea Moisture does not work well with other products and it definitely leaves white residue behind with Ecostyler.

As far as the criticism, do you have any natural friends for support in your family, neighborhood or church. Besides your own self confidence (which I'm sure seems to take a backseat when MAMA talks!) it's good to have some allies in this "movement"!
 

faithVA

Well-Known Member
It's the leave in you're using underneath. Anything that isn't going to really absorb into your hair you can see when it dries, then adding gel on top of that makes it worse. That shea moisture stuff is nice but it doesn't really absorb.

Although I have and can use the restorative mask underneath gel on my hair and I don't get the residue but that's probably from technique.

These are a few things that I can use with gel that don't give me that white residue:

Karen's body beautiful hair milk or hair nectar
Alaffia beautiful curls leave in (I like the ones for babies)
Innersense quiet calm curl control
TIGI love peace and planet let it be leave in

Going back to technique...how are you applying your products?

I agree with empressri. I had to let the Shea Moisture go period. I stick to leave ins that are translucent and definitely not creamy even if I'm not using a gel.

As far as the criticism, the more you feel better about your own look, the less impact the criticism will have on you. When you know you have it going on then you will be able to dismiss others views much easier. Now if I am having a bad hair day, then I just prep my mind to know that even with the crazy hair that I am still fabulous and this is just temporary. It's really an inside out type of job.
 

MissCrawford

Well-Known Member
It's hard to develop a tough skin but u will. U can't control what people say or think. With that being said who cares what they like or dislike. When it's your family I know its different. Family however can be worse with the negative comments. You remedy that by putting them all in the same bunch. Let them know u don't like it. With family u can say it respectfully w/ strangers (I don't think u need help with that) When u start to block it out, u become a better person. Oh I forgot about the gel, I like Eco styler.
 
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kandake

Well-Known Member
Shea Moisture didn't mix well with eco-styler for me. It seems as if you're having the same problem. You probably need to experiment with other leave-ins and moisturizers.

Right now I use a Oyin Hair Dew, my oil of choice and then eco-styler. I still get a white residue but it dries over time.

Another option is to do twist-outs instead. You don't have to worry about gel and the white residue.
 

SmilingElephant

Well-Known Member
Imma tell ya a secret bout that white residue.....try using V05 Moisture Milks conditioner as a leave in....it rubs on clear...so it'll be clear when you put your gel on top. Any conditioner that looks "clearish" is usually great under gels:yep:
 

whiteoleander91

stay at your best ♥
If you are wanting crunch-free hair (with no white residue), just use an activator gel underneath your regular styling gel. It's clear, moisturizing, and works better than creams and oils for softening. Like someone else said, Worlds of Curls is good, and I like using Proclaim. Long Aid gives me a loooot of extra shrinkage and can be greasy, but works great as well. But if you do use an activator underneath, use mostly the activator with just a tiny bit of styling gel because too much styling gel can still give you crunch. Proclaim gives a really good hold so sometimes I wear it by itself. Try blue Eco with an activator. It's a lighter hold already, so you won't have to do much to soften it.



My siggy is blue Eco with Long Aid underneath.
 

AmyRose92

Well-Known Member
empressri: Thank you! I don't really have a technique. I just spray a little water (w/ glycerin sometimes) and then smooth the gel on in the direction I want to place my banana clip in. I'm not good with doing hair styles (I can't even braid properly! :blush:) so I wouldn't be surprised if it was my own doing instead.

LongLeggedLife: I honestly don't like using gel but when I need to smooth my hair down to fit in my banana clip, I end up having to use it in most cases. I'm about SL/CL length, my hair shrinks up A LOT, and I have coarse hair so when I end up resorting to gel to get somewhat of a smooth look. This is from a year ago and I still style my hair like this, but back then, I used Parvenu's Tea-Tree leave-in mixed with aloe vera juice, castor oil, and jojoba oil. It was definitely a lighter moisturizer than what I use now and I don't think I had the white residue that I'm getting now.



Charla: My mother and my aunt are natural as well and the majority of the women in my church but I think they still have this "good hair/bad hair notion" so it's kind of hard to get support when they're telling me (or thinking) that my hair is "rough" or "nappy."

SmilingElephant: Thanks! One question: does my hair stay moisturized for days at a time using this condish?

Thank you everyone for the supportive words and encouragement! I'll definitely try to toughen up. :yep:
 

melisandre

Well-Known Member
2) How do you deal with the excessive commentary about your hair?

In my experience, the more that I appreciate and love what hair I have, the less other people's opinions matter. This is actually my second time being natural. The first time I transitioned for one year and then big chopped. At first, I wasn't happy with my hair, because it wasn't long/big enough. Then, when it finally grew, I still wasn't happy. I was too self-conscious to enjoy my big hair, because when I wore it out, sometimes people would stare or whisper.

This time around, I didn't really do a transition. I big chopped a month post relaxer and I took the time to enjoy my hair as it grew out, instead of constantly hiding it under braids, weave, etc. It's almost been a year. I right now I'm just glad I have hair on my head period. Lol. I know that wearing my hair in it's natural state might make me stand out or look different at times, but it's something that I've come to enjoy. :yep:
 

Lucia

Well-Known Member
You could try some of your favorite oil under the Eco styler. I do that when I use it and never got any white stuff.
 

discodumpling

Well-Known Member
Make your own gel! Flax is a great natural option...
When I was a new-napp :) and family members had comments I just **CHUPTZ** and keep it moving. It gets tiring trying to come up with snappy come back lines all the time...
 

naturalmanenyc

Well-Known Member
Unfortunately I have found that a lot of my leave-in products did not play nice under gel. I had white dots/flakes.

I had good results with Kinky Curly (using Knot today underneath). I also have good results with my mixologist leave-in (Aussie moist with oils and aloe vera juice) with aloe vera gel added on top.
 

mizspecialk

Well-Known Member
The white residue may be an indication of product overload. Also, some products don't mix well when you put them together. I find that gel blends in nicely with oil or grease. Gel + moisturizer always gives me white residue.

As you become more confident criticism from others will bother you less and less. My mother asking when I was going to "fix" my hair, which to her meant relaxer or press and curl, used to drive me crazy. Nowadays, I don't pay her any attention. At the same time, I try to stay open to constructive criticism. I mean, if everybody says that a particular look is a mess then it probably is.
 

Tiye

New Member
The white residue may be an indication of product overload. Also, some products don't mix well when you put them together. I find that gel blends in nicely with oil or grease. Gel + moisturizer always gives me white residue.

As you become more confident criticism from others will bother you less and less. My mother asking when I was going to "fix" my hair, which to her meant relaxer or press and curl, used to drive me crazy. Nowadays, I don't pay her any attention. At the same time, I try to stay open to constructive criticism. I mean, if everybody says that a particular look is a mess then it probably is.

I agree with this. If you have white residue on your head days after you apply any product then that was way too much product. You probably need to try applying product with a much lighter hand. Less is usually more, so maybe try simplifying. Don't worry about having moisture that lasts for days - if you have to spend a minute applying a little moisturizer everyday then that's no big deal.
 

Carrie A

Well-Known Member
I used the curl junkie combo of Beauticurls Argan Olive oil daily conditioner followed by the Aloe gel. No white stuff. I did a braid out last night.
 

SmilingElephant

Well-Known Member
empressri: Thank you! I don't really have a technique. I just spray a little water (w/ glycerin sometimes) and then smooth the gel on in the direction I want to place my banana clip in. I'm not good with doing hair styles (I can't even braid properly! :blush:) so I wouldn't be surprised if it was my own doing instead.

LongLeggedLife: I honestly don't like using gel but when I need to smooth my hair down to fit in my banana clip, I end up having to use it in most cases. I'm about SL/CL length, my hair shrinks up A LOT, and I have coarse hair so when I end up resorting to gel to get somewhat of a smooth look. This is from a year ago and I still style my hair like this, but back then, I used Parvenu's Tea-Tree leave-in mixed with aloe vera juice, castor oil, and jojoba oil. It was definitely a lighter moisturizer than what I use now and I don't think I had the white residue that I'm getting now.



Charla: My mother and my aunt are natural as well and the majority of the women in my church but I think they still have this "good hair/bad hair notion" so it's kind of hard to get support when they're telling me (or thinking) that my hair is "rough" or "nappy."

SmilingElephant: Thanks! One question: does my hair stay moisturized for days at a time using this condish?

Thank you everyone for the supportive words and encouragement! I'll definitely try to toughen up. :yep:

It should! :yep:....mine does. I get at least 3-4 days with it.
 

LoveCraze

Naturalista
I also wanted to reiterate the use of curl activator gels underneath your ecostyler. It keeps your hair soft and moisturized with hold and no white residue. Hawaiian Silky has a good curl activator gel also in addition to the ones that have already been mentioned.
 

Dare~to~Dream

Well-Known Member
naturalmanenyc said:
Unfortunately I have found that a lot of my leave-in products did not play nice under gel. I had white dots/flakes.
I am getting this now...since I only wear buns or puffs..I use styling gel to smooth my hair. I use a spray moisturizer...usually African Royale diluted with water but I ran out and the freaking drugstore didn't have any. UGH. I'm using a backup product (it's also a spray ) that is marketed for kids and I got these freaking white balls on the ends of my hair which I pick/pull off. :wallbash: I plan on going to Sally's during lunch to get my usual spray...but I'm open to new suggestions.
 
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