Gelly Belly

So...lately I have been wearing either a puff...and most recently a baggied bun. My routine is very simple. When I am in a puff...I CW daily with a cheapie shampoo...and prepare my hair for a puff. When I am on a phony bun, I CW every other day and put my hair in a pony and add the baggy and the phony pony. One thing that I use for both...is GEL.
Back before I discovered the hair boards, I used Ampro's brown gel like it was going out of business. Well maybe a year or two ago, I discovered Fantasica IC Sparklites. This has been my holy grail when it comes to gel. It gives me GREAT hold, no flaking and it isn't hard as a brick either. Well last week I ran out my beloved Sparklites and decided to try one of my other gels (never tried benefit the counter). So here are my results:

Long Aid Curl Activator
Walmart (about 2 or 3 bucks)

I tried this gel on wet hair and then tied my hair down for the ride to work. This gel gave me GREAT hold. The only issue that I had with this gel was it left my hair feeling greasy and gummy. It was not hard mor crunchy...but VERY greasy and gummy.
I would ONLY use this gel as a last resort. If it does this in cold weather I am scared to see what it does in warm weather.

Smooth and Shine Curl Activator
Walmart (2 or 3 bucks)

I tried this gel and I LOVE it. It gave nice hold and was not at all greasy like the Long Aid. I did not even tie my hair down. I will DEFINATELT reuse this gel. The only downfall of this product was how small the jar is. But other than that...two thumbs up!

All in all...nothing has YET to touch my Fantasia gel. It still remains my FAVORITE and my holy grail. But it is good to know that I do have a back up.