The 8 best gels for defined curls, according to Consumer Reports

A curl gel that fights frizz on day one can still leave hair crunchy, tangled or covered in white flakes by day three, and results vary widely depending on hair type and texture. Dispensing, scent and how evenly a gel spreads through wet hair all factor into whether a formula earns a permanent spot in someone's routine.

Consumer Reports had a panel of testers use each gel over four weeks of normal styling, so curly-haired shoppers can find a formula worth repurchasing.

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The Ouidad Advanced Climate Control Heat & Humidity Gel costs $13 and earned Consumer Reports' pick for good hold, despite one tester's note about knots. One longtime user found it provided light hold without weighing curls down, controlled frizz well and spread evenly thanks to a silky texture, while another tester reported soft, moisturized results on braids and perm rod curls with less frizz than usual. A third tester had a rockier experience, noting increasingly poufy, wavy hair the day after styling and unusually difficult tangles by the next wash. CR noted the travel-sized bottle's hard plastic can be tricky to squeeze, and at $3.06 per fluid ounce it ranks among the pricier gels tested, though it takes only a small amount to cover a full head of hair.

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The Rizos Curls Strong Hold Gel costs $11 and earned Consumer Reports' pick for nice curls, despite a tangling tradeoff some testers encountered. One tester found curls looked moisturized and frizz-free, while another reported bouncy, well-defined results on a child's wet hair using the gel, and CR noted the sticky formula spread evenly through wet hair despite easy dispensing from its tube. Other testers had a tougher time, with one finding tangled, undefined curls that stayed messy even after adding water on day two, and another needing significantly more time than usual to detangle hair on the next wash day. CR also found the gel caused white flakes and a crunchy feel when applied to hair that wasn't sufficiently wet, and its stickiness made even distribution harder on drier strands.

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The Pattern Curl Gel costs $29 and earned Consumer Reports' pick for volume, with frizz as the tradeoff testers noted in its name. Multiple testers who'd used this formula before found consistent results, soft hair, defined curls and pleasing volume, and CR praised the smooth, almost cream-like texture as easy to spread and dispense, along with a floral scent that lingered pleasantly for several days. That same volume became a drawback by days two and three for one tester, who needed a claw clip to control frizz and found her hair looking wider than she liked, while another tester found the formula stopped working well once combined with her current product routine. CR also noted, as with several other gels tested, that applying it to insufficiently wet hair led to white flakes and streaking.

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The Miche Tropical Oasis Anti-Humidity Gel, Frizz-Free Firm Hold costs $25 and earned Consumer Reports' pick for good curl definition, with a crunchy tradeoff testers noted. One tester felt her curls weren't as defined as she'd like, though her partner praised how her hair looked, while a second tester reported strong, long-lasting curl definition on a child's hair with no flakes and a subtle fruity scent that held up even a day later. A third tester had the opposite experience, ending up with stringy, crunchy, stiff hair with no curl definition and an uncomfortably heavy feel that made her want to rewash immediately. CR flagged the gel's jar packaging as a shared frustration among testers, since jars risk product contamination from hands that have touched other products.

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The Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Defining Styling Gel costs $9.47, priced lower than every other gel in this lineup per fluid ounce, and earned Consumer Reports' pick for soft curls, with a big-hair tradeoff testers noted. This gel became one tester's favorite of the entire lineup, delivering defined, shiny, frizz-free curls, while a second tester reported soft, moisturized results on a child's hair with no flakes and called the strong coconut scent her personal favorite among all the gels tested. A third tester had a starkly different result, describing hair that felt like dry straw, along with frizzy, oversized volume and a sticky texture that made spreading the product difficult. CR noted the scoopable jar format drew complaints from multiple testers, who found it hard to control product amounts and worried about contaminating what remained in the jar.

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The Curlsmith Hydro Style Flexi Jelly costs $28 and earned Consumer Reports' pick for strong first-day curls, with frizz creeping in afterward according to testers. Results split along familiar lines, with one tester finding soft, defined curls once the firm cast shook out, and a similar experience reported for wash-and-go styling and braids on a child's hair, while CR noted the lightweight, non-thick formula dispensed easily from its tube. Frizz control proved to be this gel's weak point, with one tester developing a full halo of frizz requiring a claw clip by day two and a slicked-back ponytail by day three, while another felt her curl definition had mostly vanished by the next morning despite hair that still felt soft. CR noted this formula ranked pricier per fluid ounce than every gel tested except one.

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The Camille Rose Curl Maker costs $18.54 and earned Consumer Reports' pick for fantastic curls, though testers noted clumping issues with the gel itself. One tester who struggled with dispensing and had to carefully smooth out clumps still ended up pleased with the finished, dried results, calling it her second-favorite gel of the lineup with curls that held up soft and moisturized through day three. CR found the travel-size packaging nearly impossible for any tester to dispense properly, requiring extended shaking, squeezing and patting to release usable product, though a pump on the full-size bottle may ease that issue. Another tester struggled to spread the thick gel evenly and ended up with limp, undefined, frizzier-than-usual curls that turned mostly straight and poofy within two days.

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The Briogeo Curl Charisma Rice Amino + Quinoa Frizz Control Gel costs $24 and earned Consumer Reports' pick for definition, with flaking as the tradeoff testers noted, and it stood out as the only gel every tester agreed didn't work well for curly hair overall. One tester found the easy-to-dispense, moderately thick formula gave slightly defined curls around the face on day one, though frizz took over by day two even after using a bonnet overnight, while CR reported another tester saw extensive white flaking on a child's perm rod curls along with patchy spots that resisted combing. Two more testers avoided the flaking issue entirely but still ended up with stiff, crunchy hair that fell short of expected curl definition. CR noted this formula cost more per fluid ounce than any other gel tested, at $4.36.