Why Your Curly Hair Products are Not Working

So, I discovered something last week.

Honestly, I’m a little embarrassed to say that I didn’t try this ridiculously simple trick months ago.

If your hair has been misbehaving lately (like mine has) you should keep reading!

This shocking discovery has completely rocked my curly world!!

Let’s talk about why our curly hair products may not be working for us.

*It is important to note that this post includes affiliate links, which means that if you make a purchase via links in this post, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. With this being said, I only post and review products that I absolutely love and have personally used.

A Little Story

A few weeks ago, I tried a few new products for the fun of it.

One, in particular, was called Aussie Instant Freeze Gel. I’ve never read so many positive reviews on a drugstore gel. This stuff is so popular; I would be silly not to give it a try.

The reviews claimed that it would transform lifeless curls into beautiful, frizz-free ringlets.

The price was super affordable and the smell of Aussie makes me happy for some reason, so I was very excited!

Now, this is the weird part.

First, I used my Oligo Curl Balm and then topped it off with the Aussie Instant Freeze.

I could hardly wait for my hair to dry! After scrunching out the crunch I took a glance in my bathroom mirror. Hmm…

Well, my results were not what I was expecting, that’s for sure.

My hair looked okay, but something was off. I noticed some nice curls, but they were hidden beneath a blanket of frizz.

What is wrong here?

Immediately, I began racking my brain for answers. Why in the world are these two products not working well together?

There was only one thing to do, jump on Google for answers!!

What I Found

Did you know there is an incredibly easy method to test the functionality of your hair products (without having to apply them on your actual hair?)

Basically, ingredients don’t always play nice together. So essentially by mixing two separate products in the palm of your hand, you can quickly find out if two products love or hate each other. (Examples below)

Here’s What to do:

First, squirt a dab of your favorite curl cream (or gel) into the palm of your hand.

Next, grab the second product and squirt an equal amount of the (gel or cream) into the palm of your hand.

Mix the two products and take a look.

What do you see?

*If you notice any clumps or cottage cheese-like texture, it’s probably best not to use those two products together on your hair! (clashing ingredients)

*However, if you combine the two products into your palm and notice a shiny smooth mixture, there ya go! That’s a winning combo!

My entire life I have assumed that all gels and creams should mix well together. I mean, one’s a cream…and one’s a gel.

I was so wrong.

My Experiment

I needed to test this method.

I ran into my bathroom and grabbed all of my favorite curly hair products.

Which of these combinations would pass the palm mixing test? The anticipation was killing me.

Products tested (my holy grail list):

Oligo Curl Balm– Love this curl cream due to the amazing definition it gives to my finer textured hair.

Dippity-Do Gel– The best smelling gel ever! That alone and the fact that it provides a nice gel cast keeps me dipping into my Dippity-Do! (Oh, and the gel color is pink!)

Kinky Curly Curling Custard– One of the best gels I’ve ever used for fighting frizz. Great stuff! (A little goes a long way.)

Aussie Instant Freeze Gel– Still learning about this product, but so far it has impressed me.

Not Your Mothers Curl Talk Defining Cream– An affordable and excellent product for plumping up my curls. This one is a keeper!

My Shocking Results!!

As you will see below, I tested out several combinations. I did get fairly serious with my experiment and also extremely messy! It was like I transformed into a mad scientist right there in my own bathroom.

In the first photo you will notice that I combined the Oligo Curl Balm with the Kinky Curly Curling Custard. I couldn’t believe the result!

The clumpy consistency proved that these two products did not combine well together. I’m literally shaking my head on this one. What?! It looks like the Oligo Curl Cream will have to fly solo for a while. Such a bummer…

*The KCCC and Dippity-Do mixed were as smooth as silk. Yayyyy!

*The Aussie Instant Freeze paired perfectly with all of the products except for my Oligo Curl Balm. Again, I was stunned by these results and felt a bit foolish for not realizing my Oligo Curl Balm despised my other hair products.

Last but not least, the Curl Talk Cream scored big time! Thank goodness, because I was about to freak out.

So, I know what you are probably thinking…Looks like she wasted tons of product during this experiment. That may be somewhat true, but it was completely worth it!

The Last Step

Finally, it was time to test a few of these combinations on my hair.

Yes!! My hair told me everything I needed to know at that point. The palm mixing method turned out to be very accurate.

My first wash day I applied the Curl Talk Cream underneath the Aussie Instant Freeze Gel.

Then, I coated a very light layer of Dippity-Do Gel to seal everything in. (My curls had less frizz and overall my hair just looked better.) Not to mention, I had way more volume.

During my second wash day I replaced the Aussie Instant Freeze Gel with Kinky Curly Curling Custard. Again, my results were impressive!

What this tells me…

Testing curly hair products in the palm of my hand does work. I will continue to perform this method each time I purchase a new curly hair cream or gel.

My Final Thoughts

Seriously, guys, I have been waiting so long for a breakthrough like this. It’s like I hit the curly girl lottery on this one!

Of course, this doesn’t mean that our curls will always look and feel perfect every single day, but this concept gives us a better idea of how to correctly combine our curly hair products for maximum results.

If you have any awesome tips or recommendations for curly hair styling, please share it with us!

For more curl tips check this out!

Magic Curly Hair Tips!