As a Curly Girl Method enthusiast I just cannot stop trying new product until I find the holly grail. Will I know it when I find it? No clue, but Treluxe was seriously speaking to me.
Treluxe is a haircare brand that focuses on natural ingredients and a simple routine. Their line has only a couple product that are supposed to be enough to master the whole cury hair routine. I am a big fan of gels so I picked up their Hi! Definition Curl Enhancer Styling Gel. It retails for $17 on their website so it's really not that expensive and you get 8 oz. (about 235ml) of product which is a lot.
It comes in a pot and it has a custard-like consistency. It's not sticky of glue-like, it's nice and jiggly. Remind me a lot of the Cantu Custard that I absolutelly love. The application is fairly simple, they advise to split hair into sections and apply the gel to each section from ends to roots and let it dry.
It should help to increase curl elasticity, improve flexibility of the hair, reduce moisture loss and hydrate at the same time, strengten the hair and improve its overall texture. This gel does contain protein in form of Keratin Amino Acids. It does contain humectans because it has aloe, propylene glycol, panthenol and also honey extract but it doesn't contain any glycerin. We'll see how it holds up in weather as well, don't worry.
There are no heavy oils in the ingredients so I assume that this gel won't weight down even finer hair textures. For me it's very important that it has protein because that's really what makes my hair defined for longer periods of time.
Wear test
Since the weather is pretty crazy and I do tend to go outside a couple times a week I decided to check how the gel holds up. I have 2B high porosity hair that's been bleached and it's currently blue as I used a pigment depositing mask a couple weeks back. It usually really loves protein and I've been struggling with my stretch test showing me overhydration for a couple weeks now.
My wash day was similar to all the other ones, I usually use similar types of products. I do like to style using the cream-mousse-gel method. I usually plop my hair for about 10 minutes and then I diffuse is with my Black Orchid until it's about 80% dry and then I just let it airdry to 100%. I scrunched out the crunch with my Verb Ghost Oil (not CGM approved).
Black Professional Color Lock Shampoo (low-poo)
Evelin Sweet Coconut Hair Mask
Superfoods for Hair Damage Control Conditioner
Giovanni L.A. Direct Leave-in Conditioner
Shea Moisture Coconut & Cactus Water Pump Me Up Spray
Cantu Moisturizing Curl Activator
Isana Curls & Waves Mousse
Treluxe Hi! Definition Curl Enhancer Styling Gel
My hair feels very lightweigh and soft and it's very defined. I really like this gel a lot and it makes amazing crunchy cast. It have quite a lot of volume but that's usually the case when I use the volumizing spray. I also sleep in a bonnet every night until my hair looks awful and then I just give up and switch to pineapple.
I had this hair on without any refresh for 5 days including wash day. I could probably go on for a couple more days since I usually wash my hair once a week but I'm going to work tomorrow and I want to look my best.
I would say the hair held up pretty well. I've been having problems with my front section because the hair is getting a little too long there but overall I like the volume, I don't mind the definition and it still looks presentable, especially with my Zazzy Band. Here's one photo for each day so you can track the progress. I didn't refresh or used any products at all and I just slept with my bonnet on. I was also outside for a couple hours in total for the past 4 days so there was plenty of time for the weather to ruin my hair. I would say it held up pretty well even in this awful weather.
Check out the progress from the wash day to the last day.
Final thoughts
Overall I would say that the Treluxe Hi! Definition Gel is one of my favorite gels ever so far. I am still trying more and more new products but this one is such a staple and I love using is because it has that high protein effect on my hair and helps it stay defined for a decent period of time. I like the consistency, it's easy to work with and it creates a nice cast. For me that means that I get less frizz on my wash day.
I am also impressed by how well it held up even in the winter weather. I am very much spooked to use any gels that have the tiniest bit of humectants because I just hate that "wrong frizz" I get from the weather. But here it seems fine so I might experiment with my other gels as well.
I quite like the pricepoint of it and I would say it's worth it because a little goes a long way and it spreads quite easily. I would recommend it to every wavy girl that's looking for a styling product with a nice dose of protein and loves a stronger hold.
Have you tried any of the Treluxe products? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!