Hair styling products are used to help create specific looks or styles. They’re often utilized alongside tools like blow dryers and hot irons.
Medium short to thick hair requires texture and hold, so pomades, creams or wax can provide texture while adding gloss and smoothing out flyaways. Incorporating hair oil can add shine while smoothing any potential flyaways that arise.
Gel
Are You Searching For Hair Gel to Create Structure, Definition & Shine? Hair gel provides structure, definition & shine to all types of hair textures – be it sleek slicked back looks or undone textures. Shop salon-quality gels tailored specifically to each texture type like sculpting gel, curl defining gel and strong hold gel – find them all here at Salon Quality Hair Products. Gel usually offers stronger hold than mousse making it suitable for creating structured yet unruly styles.
For those with sensitive scalps, try this hypoallergenic gel that’s fragrance-free and free from harsh chemicals and irritants. Ideal for shaping waves and curls while infusing them with panthenol and shea butter for extra nourishment, use as either light or medium hold and layer well with creams and oils for hydration – plus use it as a heat protectant during blowouts; one of our top picks for wavy hair!
Pomades
Pomades are known for their high shine and firm hold, making them perfect for classic looks such as side parts or a sleek back chignon. Combed hair works best with this product. However, as these oils-based products build up over time without proper washing procedures being followed they may leave hair feeling heavy and greasy.
Pomades should generally be applied to clean, towel dried hair after being rubbed between your hands to emulsify them before working them into your locks. Be wary not to overdo it as this could create an unnatural look; alternatively use water-based pastes which allow for reworked throughout the day for an alternate natural style look.
Wax
Hair waxes are one of the easiest products in our selection to use, since they do not contain much water and can mold to your strands for a defined look. Lighter versions exist that offer more of an unassuming and natural finish.
A pea-sized amount of product should do the trick for most hair lengths, and rubbing it between your hands activates its ingredients to spread them out evenly onto your strands. The result is a flexible yet long-lasting medium-hold style ideal for spiky styles and the chic version of bedhead. With ingredients like kaolin clay which promotes capillary health, oxygenation increases and reduces excess sebum production while botanical scents such as lavender, tea tree and peppermint included to awaken the senses.
Root Lifts
Style the crown area of your hair can be tricky, yet essential for creating a fuller appearance. The key to getting and maintaining an all-day root lift lie within the products used.
Henson notes that volumizing formulas that come in spray or mousse form use polyvinylpyrrolidone/vinyl acetate copolymer to lift and expand hair strands at their roots without feeling dry or crunchy, helping create volume without dryness or crunchiness.
The Gold Root Lifting Spray Mousse is a heat-activated product designed to lift from the roots as you blow dry, making it easier to achieve fuller-bodied locks. Packed with carob seed extract and hydrolyzed wheat protein for additional body, stylist Gerard Caruso swears by this one and its heat protection features provide additional safety.
Shines & Glosses
But unlike waxes and gels, hair glosses only add shine – not texture. Instead, they enhance color vibrancy by helping color vibrancy shine through and can even reduce brassiness (an orangey-yellow hue that often results after bleaching or dying your locks).
Madison Reed’s Nourishing Hair Gloss from Madison Reed contains hydrating ingredients like kakadu plum, argan oil and jojoba esters that help prevent color fading while locking in moisture for up to 15 washes – two benefits she loves!
Other salon-inspired gloss treatments (e.g. Goldwell Colorance Gloss Tones and Wella Shinefinity) require professional application; for at-home use consider opting for clear formulas that do not deposit color pigments.
