If you have been reading my blogs regularly, you would know that Enliven conditioner is one of my favourite budget conditioners for co washing. So when I saw a gel from the same brand, I gave it no second thought before buying.

Price: 100 INR/£3.49 for 150 ml. You can buy it here (India), here (UK) or here (US).

<br />

Ingredient Analysis:

Water, PVP, Carbomer – Polymer, Triethanolamine –pH adjuster, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor oil – water soluble wax of castor oil, Propylene Glycol, Panthenol – Humectants, Rest – Preservatives, Perfume and colour.

Triethanolamine is an irritant in higher concentrations because of its alkalinity and this is the 3^rd ingredient so it may be corrosive to hair. It is Sulfate, Silicone, Paraffin, Mineral Oil, and Alcohol free.

CG Friendly: Yes, but that’s not all that matters. Read Ingredient Analysis.
Texture: Sticky and thick
Smell: Being designed for guys, the smell is very masculine
Packaging: Sturdy fat plastic tub

Performance:

How to apply gel – Curly hair gels : Everything you need to know

+ Forms a strong gel cast that protects and holds curls while it is drying

+ Prevents frizz

+ They have gels with varying hold – this one being the ultimate with hold 5

+ Scrunches out very well after drying and leaves no residues or flakes

– It’s very sticky to apply

– No botanical ingredients

– Dries my hair out. I am guessing it’s because of the Triethanolamine in high concentration.

In short: If you are looking for a good cheap gel with hold, enliven gel is perfect. You will have to see for yourself if it dries your hair out because a lot of my readers love this product! Here’s a List of Silicone free hair styling products(leave ins,creams,gels) in India and here’s a List of curly hair products in India that I’ve used

Enliven hair gel review

March 30, 2017

12 comments

Blog Comments

Preeti V

March 30, 2017 at 12:24 pm

I use the olive oil version of this gel and it’s not that drying. Even the masculine smell is less (or maybe I am used to it)! 🙂

Anjana

March 30, 2017 at 12:54 pm

But that also has Triethanolamine 🙁

Janhavi Jayant Kulkarni

June 8, 2019 at 3:54 pm

Dear Anjana,
I have started my CG journey around 7-8 months back and was quite happy with the results.
Meanwhile I started swimming everyday and still my curls was behaving fine except the definition.
Recently I tried the Enliven gel and was surprised to see that it didn’t form the cast at all…After that o tried set wet cool hold gel and again the same…No cast at all…I applied gel after conditioner in praying hands method and plopped it throughout the night still there was less than 1% cast on my hair in the morning.
I am very frustrated as the same product was giving my hair the cast earlier effortlessly and now it’s not at all working.
I am really not able to find the reason😓😓
Could you please help me with this issue?

June 11, 2019 at 1:46 pm

It could be because of many reasons like product build up (try clarifying), change in weather, other products used for the wash day, how you dried it, how wet your hair was etc.

Mansi

May 30, 2020 at 1:11 am

Have you tried Enliven mousse yet?

June 2, 2020 at 5:23 pm

No, I haven’t

Sreya Pal

June 15, 2020 at 1:02 pm

Hello . I am Sreya. I am transitioning since last 2months. I have started using enliven raspberry conditioner and olive oil gel. My scalp has become very very itchy and i started having hairfall. Can you please help ?