Kurlee Belle Jelle Coconut Styling Gel

A gel that holds your curls without the shell you have to break afterwards.
This is a light, water based gel built on coconut oil rather than alcohol, so it gives a medium hold and dries soft. It suits a wash and go, and it is just as good for setting twist outs, braid outs and bantu knots. It doubles as an edge and ponytail smoother, and it is gentle enough to use on children. It is also sold alongside its matching cream in the Kurlee Belle Perfectly Defined Curls Bundle.

What makes it different

• No flaking and almost no crunch. The texture is closer to a hair paste than a traditional gel, so it sets your shape without the hard shell that most medium hold gels leave behind.
• Coconut oil is the second ingredient. That is unusual in a gel and it is why this one seals moisture in rather than drying the strand out as the water evaporates.
• It suits low porosity hair. Low porosity curls sit under heavy stylers and go flat. This one is light enough to hold without weight, which is a hard combination to find.

Worth knowing before you buy: this is a medium hold and it contains hydrolysed wheat protein. If you want definition that survives humidity all day you will need a firmer gel over the top, and if your hair is protein sensitive, introduce this one in small amounts and see how your curls respond.

Authorised Australian stockist. Genuine Kurlee Belle, shipped from our Gold Coast warehouse, backed by qualified curl specialists who use these products in the salon every day.

Apply to soaking wet or damp hair that has already been washed, conditioned and detangled. This gel sets what is already there, so do your cream or leave-in first.

1. Work in sections on soaking wet hair. Take roughly a golf ball of gel per section on shoulder length hair.
2. Scrunch it upwards from the ends towards the scalp until you hear it squelch. Do not rake it through. Raking pulls apart the clumps your cream has just made.
3. For a twist out or a braid out, apply the same amount to damp hair and set your twists or braids while the gel is still wet.
4. Cup a small amount in damp hands and smooth it over your edges and hairline if you want them laid flat.
5. Squeeze out the excess water with a microfibre towel or an old cotton tee, then air dry or diffuse on low heat.
6. Once your hair is completely dry, scrunch the light cast out with your hands. There is very little to break, so a few squeezes is enough.

Pro tip
Apply it to hair that is wetter than feels sensible. Almost every flat wash and go we see in the salon is gel applied to damp hair rather than soaking hair. Take it with its matching cream in the Kurlee Belle Perfectly Defined Curls Bundle.

Hero ingredients

• Coconut oil, second on the list, which is what keeps a gel this light from drying the hair out as it sets.
• PVP, the film former that does the actual holding, and the reason the cast stays soft rather than going hard and flaky.
• Glycerin, which draws water into the strand so the clump stays flexible instead of going brittle by the afternoon.
• Hydrolysed wheat protein, which adds strength and a little body. Worth noting if your hair is protein sensitive.

Full ingredient list

Water (Aqua), Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Polysorbate 20, Glycerin (Vegetable), Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sorbic Acid, Carbomer, Fragrance, PVP, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein.

Contains hydrolysed wheat protein and fragrance. No parabens, sulfates, paraffin, phthalates, mineral oil, PABA, DEA, synthetic colour, propylene glycol or petroleum.