Well, let’s talk about one of the first products I bought when I started the curly girl method: Novex’s famous fixing jelly!
Analyzing the ingredients…
PPG-5-Ceteth-20 is third on the list, an ingredient used as an emollient, surfactant and has lubricating properties. This ingredient gives a feeling of softness to the hair, reducing the effects of greasiness. Found very easily in many hair products, it has limitations on its dosage because it is suspected to be a toxin to the body.
The ingredient called Carbomer is a polymer used very often in gels. It helps mix powder or solid in a liquid. It’s also great to help separate oils from liquids as well as improving their consistency.
Then we have Sodium Hydroxide, some people do not like to use this ingredient because they think it causes some kind of hair chemical breakage or interferes with colorings/straightenings. There is no evidence that this causes any chemical breakage with commercial products.
Sodium Hydroxide is present in greater quantities in hairstyling products used to change the hair in any way (straightenings/bleaches, etc.) in order to change the pH of the hair and be able to modify the hair structure. In this situation yes, it can lead to chemical cutting especially if combined with several different types of hair modifications with products. In a commercial hair product its concentration is very low as it is used for the purpose of balancing the pH of the formula (buffer solution) and not for modifying hair in a chemical way.
It has some moisturizing ingredients such as: Glycerin, Benzyl Alcohol, Cinnamyl Alcohol and Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract.
It has a protein in its composition, Hydrolyzed Collagen, but it is the last ingredient in its composition so I won’t even consider its existence in the product since its quantity is very, very low.
My opinion about this product
I have mixed feelings about this fixing jelly, on one hand it can give me a good definition with the right styling cream, but on the other it seems to increase frizz in its application.
But first let’s go to the difference between gel and fixing jelly… the truth is that there isn’t a difference and this was probably a marketing move by NOVEX.
There are several different types of gels, for example, more liquid gels such as Fructis Style Structuring accepted in the method and others more similar to this gelatin, such as the ECO Gels.
They may differ in name, but in the end they all do the same: they help define hair!
This gelatin, like gels, should be used with a styling cream underneath, if used alone it will not look good on the hair as they do not have the ability to nourish and moisturize the hair.
Gel, gelatin and mousse are essentially defining products (there may be some that contain some moisturizing, nourishing or protein ingredients). They help with frizz.
Styling creams moisturize and nourish and help with shine and smoothness but very rarely have any defining power. These creams may have ingredients with some slight defining property but will never have the same holding power as gels/foams.
Final Notes on My Curls by Novex Super Fixing Jelly
This fixing jelly requires a good styling hair cream prior to application for optimum results and care needs to be taken when applying it, because in all applications I have noticed a bit of frizz increase.
I do not advise to use diffuser with this jelly, because the frizz increases exponentially!
It’s not one of my favorite products of my life, but it helped me when I started the method on how to style my hair in different ways so as not to have so much frizz. It was therefore a product with a dose of learning! 😝
My suggestion is: for those who have a hard time finding a good gel to define hair, because in supermarkets the only accepted gels in the method are very few, I think it’s a good bet that you can easily find it in Amazon or Ebay. It’s a different experience and gets you to see if your hair likes thicker gels!
It may weigh a little on hair on application, but when it’s dry I don’t think it weighs curls. It helps to give a good definition despite the frizz.
I strongly advise trying this jelly with different styling creams to see what your hair really likes!
And you? Have you tried this product? What is your opinion of it in your hair? 😘
INGREDIENTS: Water, Glycerin, PPG-5-Ceteth-20, Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxide, Benzyl Alcohol, Chlorphenesin, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Amyl Cinnamal, Amylcinnamyl Alcohol, Anise Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Cinnamal, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Coumarin, Limonene, Geraniol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool, Polyurethane-14, AMP-Acrylates Copolymer, Citral, Citronellol, Eugenol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Hydrolyzed Collagen
I have mostly wavy hair, 2 from the AC, and some 3A strands (my pride eheheh) and I thought that this product dried my hair A LOT, and it may be the difference that you mentioned of giving me better with more liquid gels, in compared to lola's gel my curl my life (which is a lot more liquid in comparison) I got along very well, and it doesn't dry much beyond normal because it is a gel. In addition thanks for all the information you make available to us, discovering you was fantastic, especially for your pro-science information, I like snake fat and spending money on things that are known to not work and unnecessary and misleading marketings, and for that reason a THANK YOU!!
Thank you so much for your feedback Inês! 😍 a huge kiss! ❤️❤️❤️
Hello, I have a lot of volume, a lot of hair, it's dry and thick, I've used Lolla's gelatin my curl my life, it gave me a lot of volume, I didn't like it.
I'm using coconut and ibiscus Shea Moister gelatine, control the volume yes! and the cream without going through Creole water, which is top, gelatin dries your hair a little bit, I was watching the feedbacks of this gelatin from Novex, but I don't think it convinced me either.
My saga of geltina continues ...
Thanks for the feedback.
Beijusss