Seems mundane and pointless to me…
Okay, so you’ve seen the commercials for Axe hair styling products. Specifically, the women lamenting that the guy’s hair gel leaves his hair stiff and pointy. Example: dude strolling by a beach, chick grimacing wildly at his spiky hair that has points. Guy jumps off cliff into water, and then emerges with fish stuck on his hair spikes.
Nevermind that hair gel doesn’t stand up to water very well, the premise of the ad is to use Axe styling products because it gives you the “style you want without the stiffness” or whatever. But they show his hair after using Axe, and while it does stick up and look messy, it doesn’t have the points on it. Now how do you know he didn’t actually want the points? I use gel, and I never have points on my head. I would have to work to get them. Surely the reason his hairstyle was pointy was because that’s what he wanted.
Anyway, the real point of this thread… I have used hair gel since the mid-80s to style my hair because my hair is thick, and if I don’t I can’t get the style to stay. It gets weighed down and sags and looks straight and unstyled. I suppose I could use hairspray like an 80s chick and coat each strand, but I never liked hairspray. Anyway, I tried mousse, but then found gel, and it worked - it styled in, it held. So I’ve been using gel for over 2 decades.
But there’s this commercial that says they have a new product that’s better. Now I know I’m a stodgy old man and resistant to change, so I figure I’ll resist my natural tendencies and give it a try. After all, gel does leave my hair a little stiff and not quite excellent for the ladies to run their fingers through, and I loves me a good head massage.
So I go to the store and check out the product, turns out there were two types - one glossy and the other matte. But part of their ad campaign was against the glossy “wet” look of gel. Okay, I pick up a jar, check it out.
I take it home and try it. The major ingredient is lanolin wax. Okay. Get a dab, massage it on your hands, then rub in hair. Um, yep, it’s wax. Feels waxy, coats your hands with a waxy feel. Very hard to wash off the excess.
Yes, it did give my hair hold. Yes, my hair was not stiff. Instead, it was waxy and sticky and felt yucky to touch.
And then, add to that, it was hard to wash. I’m trying to shampoo the next day and it still feels waxy, and I can’t seem to get the old stuff out.
So, in summary, yes it does keep your hair from being hard, but no it is not an improvement in encouraging head massages.
I went back to gel.