Review of Wella Liquid Hair Brilliant Spray Gel

Usually in the summer time I will wear my hair up in a tight bun so the wind hits my neck on hot summer days. However on cooler days I like to let my hair down, and usually when I let it down I have to straighten it, which can take a lot of time. However when I want an easier way to let my hair down I simply add some gel, give it a scrunch a shake, and wallah, I have curly yet tamed hair.
I have used many different gels in my time, and some of them have worked wonders, while others even expensive name brand ones would leave my hair hard, flaky, and stiff.
When I came across a brand names Liquid Hair for the first time I was interested in it simply because the products looked clean, and the packaging looked appealing. I have seen many gels in my time where the gel actually looked cloudy or dirty, and when I spotted Wella Liquid Hair Brilliant Spray in a 6.8 ounce clear plastic bottle I was able to look right in and see the gel. It was clear, looked thick, and not a spot of any odd color additives.
The price however at the time was close to $11.00, and I had never spent that much money on hair gel before, and I knew that just because you spent more does not mean your getting better quality.
I had never seen gel come in a spray bottle before though, and I knew that applying it would be easy and mess free, with squeeze gels I had no choice but to bloop the gel into my hand and rub it into my hair. With this I simply had to spray and style. According to the bottle I could sculpt curls just using my finger. That this gel would provide control while styling, and it would not build up or flake up, not only that it also promised to add incredible shine. Sounded good to me, there is nothing I hate more than stiff hair that flakes up. Not many people see me with curly hair, so when I do curl it, I want to make sure it's looking its best.
I splurged on the the $11.00 spray gel and made my way home.
After showering I scrunched my hair up and began spraying the gel. The pump surprisingly gives a lot of squirt for it's small pump. I have long hair though, and using the pump to spray as I use my other hand to scrunch hair became a bit messier than I had initially imagines. The bottle became slippery and spraying it became quite difficult. I fumbled with the bottle though until I had a decent amount of gel in my hair.
The scent of the gel was actually pretty pleasant, and did not smell like an over chlorinated pool like most gels do. I liked it, and had no need to put in heavily scented creams afterward to mask the scent.
Now all I had to do was let my hair air dry and wait to see the results.
As time went by I noticed a few fly aways which I was not too fond of. After my hair was fully dry though it was left soft and curly, so the results were true to it's promise on the bottle. I however could have used a bit more hold than what I was getting from it. Don't get me wrong, I loved how the gel did not leave my hair sticky nor did it leave any flakes behind, but when it came to curls, they were present, but a little flat. The gel made my hair wavy and it was nice, but when I use gel I use it to get curls, not waves. My hair is already naturally wavy, and all this gel did for it was amp up the waves a tad and frizz was still very present. I wondered though if it were perhaps my fault for not scrunching my hair more as it dried.
However the second time I used it, I concentrated more on scrunching the hair thinking that perhaps it would cause more curls and not weak waves. No such luck though. The 'waves' were the same as they were the day before. Nice looking, but not quite what I was expecting. The hold was close to nothing and I had to use a defrizzer just to tame the frizz.
I do like the gel still though for when I want an easy wavy tattered beach look, but for when I want cute bouncy curls this gel fails miserably. It has its ups and it has its downs. Overall though I would by it again, only, and I mean ONLY if it went on major sale. $11.00 for gel is absurd. If it were to fall in the $3-$5 category I would restock time and time again, but until then, I will leave it on the counter and let it collect dust.
Availability:
I found this gel in Eckerds, but you may also purchase it online at www.beautydeals.net for $9.67. Again, the price is still too high. I would wait for it to go down to a price that is fair.