Conditioner & Styling Gel
A: Hair conditioner is designed to keep the hair moist and pliable and is formulated to be very different from styling gel.
Rinse-through conditioners are designed to be left on the hair for a short period of time and rinsed away. They have a heavy consistency and in many cases can leave a “greasy” appearance if left on the hair. Some conditioners are designed to act as either “rinse-through” or “leave-in” conditioners and will dry leaving the hair soft and shiny.
Styling gels on the other hand contain agents to coat the hair and give it added “substance”. Many gels contain adhesive agents which will make the hairs stick together, which as they dry in the configuration determined by the styling process gives the style added strength, allowing it to hold longer.
Gels also typically contain ingredients that encourage faster drying to speed styling times. This means that the gelled hair can dry yet be “stuck together” in the same manner in which wet hair behaves, which is where we get the term wet look.
According to the “faster drying” formulation, hair gel can be applied to dry hair to give added stiffness and substance to a specific area. Adding conditioner to dry hair will usually only make the hair wet, given that conditioner typically has a higher moisture content, and it will often dry looking greasier.
So, aside from a few exceptions based on your desired finished look and your hair’s specific texture and condition, don’t expect to use conditioner as a hair gel and get anything near similar results. You can use conditioners on dry hair, but you need to be aware that the results you will get will be different than those achieved from gel.
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See also:
How to use hair gels
Hair conditioners and conditioning treatments