3 Reasons Why Your Botanical Gel Isn’t Drying
Botanical gels are gels that are plant-based and water soluble. They typically contain herbal extracts and humectant ingredients such as aloe, flaxseed, okra, elm and marshmallow root that help promote hydration by pulling moisture from the atmosphere and adding it to your hair.
One of the biggest challenges naturals face when using botanical gels is how long they take to dry. Over the years, Uncle Funky’s Daughter Curly Magic in particular has been a staple botanical gel in our backbar because of its formulation, performance and overall accessibility for both stylists and consumers.
Botanical gels behave very differently than other gels on the market that you may be used to, such as Wetline or Eco Styler, that contain synthetic ingredients like PVP and polymer.
This blog post will outline 3 reasons why we believe your botanical gel isn’t properly drying in your wash and go sets.
Reason #1: Your Hair Is Dehydrated
We define dehydration as a hair behavior. Many naturals experience dehydrated hair for a variety of different reasons including participating in hair care practices that aren’t the most beneficial, shampooing infrequently, having an excess amount of product build up, especially from oils and butters, frequently wearing protective styles back to back and much more.
Common signs that your hair may be dehydrated include your hair not properly absorbing water no matter how much you wet it, having an excessive amount of frizz, little to no curl definition, your styles not lasting past a few days and more.
“Pro Tip: Please note that proper hydration is a process that requires patience and grace. You cannot reverse years worth of damage and poor hair care practices overnight.”
Dehydrated hair is a common reason why your botanical gel does not dry properly. The best advice that we can provide to you if you’re experiencing this is to be patient. You’re not doing anything wrong, it’s just a process that requires much patience and grace.
As your hair becomes more hydrated over time, your overall drying time will improve as well. Continue to cleanse, condition and style every 7 to 10 days with water-soluble products. You can even try using less of your botanical gel during wash day to see if your drying time improves.
Reason #2: You’re Using Too Much Of Your Botanical Gel
In our educational spaces, we often observe that many naturals are using way too much of their botanical gel.
“Wash Day Pro Tip: Be sure to emulsify your botanical gel (rub together in your hands) until it’s well distributed. Apply to the ends first smoothing the hair between your hands. Work your way up the hair strands to distribute the product evenly. Add more water to your hair as you distribute the product thoroughly.”
Well how do I know if I’m using too much? Common signs that you’ve used too much of your botanical gel include tackiness, the product reconstitutes days later or that your hair never really feels dry.
To help with this, we would suggest to start using less of your botanical gel and make adjustments to the amount of water you add to it each wash day.
Reason #3: You Live In A Humid Climate
Humidity is defined as the concentration of water vapor in the air. If there is a lot of water vapor in the air, the humidity will be high. The higher the humidity, the wetter it feels outside.
“Humectants are hydrophilic (water loving) and will draw moisture from anywhere or anything and bring it straight to your curls. ”
However, in high humid conditions (around 90% or so), humectants can actually attract too much water in the air and have a reverse effect to your natural hair causing frizz, fluffiness and your style not lasting as long. So unfortunately for our naturals residing in Texas, Florida, Louisiana or even D.C.—you know firsthand that humidity can be a complete beast!
To help combat this, if you reside in a very humid climate we would actually recommend using much less of your botanical gel. Even though no one product is 100% humidity proof, we would highly advise the use of an anti-humectant topper gel to experience less frizz and increased longevity of your style.
Want professional recommendations on the best botanical gels to use? You can subscribe to The Black Girl Curls Digest which is the perfect resource for the busy natural on the go.
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