Raise your hand if you’ve ever been personally victimized by hair gel.
For anyone with curly hair, the thought of applying hair gel probably triggers flashbacks of stiff, crunchy, flaky curls with absolutely zero movement or shine. Our founder, Sahar, felt the same way. That’s why since the launch of LUS (Love Ur Self), she vowed to steer clear of releasing a hair gel.
And yet, you—our community—didn’t give up. You requested (and sometimes demanded 😅) a gel for years.
So finally, Sahar sat down with the LUS (Love Ur Self) Research and Development team and challenged them to a not-so-simple task: innovate the hair gel category. After all, while hair gel has improved since the days of tacky, stick-to-your-skull formulations that many of us grew up with, to this day, most hair gels on the market contain an ingredient (that shall remain unnamed) that’s essentially like glue for your hair. It makes your strands stick together to provide definition and…well, that’s it. Over time, this could actually damage your hair. And you know that at LUS (Love Ur Self), we’re all about improving not only the appearance, but the overall health of your hair.
So if—and only if—it was possible to create a hair gel that provided curly hair with definition, hold and frizz control, was suitable for all curl types, and most importantly, actually helped to repair curls and contribute to the overall long-term health of hair (so basically, flip the hair gel category on its head), then maybe we would consider adding a gel to our range of product offerings.
Well, you know how that ended.
Our Irish Sea Moss Gel, which launched just six months ago, quickly became the biggest launch in LUS (Love Ur Self) history. It racked up over 900 5-star reviews, sold out TWICE, and ended up with a waitlist of 10,000 (!!!) customers. You love it, we love it, and of course, your curls love it. And now it’s officially BACK in stock.
Below, we dive into everything you need to know about our beloved Irish Sea Moss Gel. While you stock up and wait for your bottle to arrive, read up on the benefits of Irish sea moss for hair, and learn why this is truly an innovative, game-changing hair gel for curls.
What is Irish sea moss, anyway?
Irish sea moss is a type of algae (or seaweed) that’s gained a lot of popularity in the health food world. It’s considered a superfood thanks to the fact that it’s high in fiber and has gut-balancing bacteria, and has been found to have cholesterol-lowering effects—among many other things. But when LUS (Love Ur Self) Director of R&D, Michael Ajayi, dove into the benefits of Irish sea moss for hair, he discovered that it was an amazing hair hydrator, too. Irish sea moss can hold up to 50 times its weight in water, so it actually helps retain moisture when applied to your strands.
“It also has really good film-forming properties,” explains Michael. “I realized that we could manipulate these properties to form a soft, flexible hold on hair. We use a very specific Irish sea moss that comes from the sea—more specifically, the shallow waters along the Atlantic coast—and is very rich in minerals, so it provides a ton of health benefits to your hair while simultaneously offering a flexible hold.”
So it never gets stiff or crunchy?
We are so anti-crunch here at LUS (Love Ur Self). Our Irish Sea Moss Gel provides all of the extra hold and definition that gel is known to provide, but with none of the stiffness of traditional formulas. Like every other one of our products, our innovative Irish Sea Moss Gel was created to help emphasize and enhance your natural curl pattern. “It’s flexible and breathable,” says Michael. “It won’t look like you have some gooey product in your hair, and it doesn’t feel like glue.”
Because it’s formulated without that glue-like ingredient that most gels have?
Exactly. Irish Sea Moss Gel is made with a rich oil complex—a blend of passion fruit, açai, and rice bran oil—that acts as a natural silicone replacement. (As you know, all of our products are formulated without unnecessarily harsh and potentially damaging ingredients like silicones, sulfates, phthalates, synthetic dyes, and much more.) “When you combine these oils, they not only feel really great, but they also don’t prevent nutrients from penetrating into your hair like silicone would. The combination of these oils with Irish sea moss really rejuvenates and repairs your hair.“ Together, these ingredients fill in and repair cracks in the hair cuticle that form as a result of damage, so over time and with prolonged use of our gel, your curls become healthier, softer and more hydrated.
That’s why we call the Irish Sea Moss Gel the gel that’s actually good for your hair. Sure, it provides hold, frizz control, and definition, but it also provides your curls with nutrients, moisture and hydration.
Can Irish Sea Moss Gel be used with the LUS (Love Ur Self) 3-Step System?
Definitely. While for many, the 3-Step System is enough—after all, our All-In-One repairs, hydrates and defines your curls—for those days when you want a little bit more: more hold, more definition, more frizz control - or if you’ve just started your curl journey and are looking to speed up the repair process as you transition to the wonderful world of natural curly hair, our Irish Sea Moss Gel is an excellent option. In fact, the gel is formulated to be compatible with our All-In-One, so you can mix them together before applying to wet or damp hair (for what we like to think of as a ‘Supercharged Step 3’ rather than adding a fourth step to your routine). They enhance and complement each other, without ever getting sticky, stringy, or tacky. You can even use the Irish Sea Moss Gel to refresh your hair in between wash days.
Our anti-gel gel (that almost never was) really is everything you’ve ever needed in a gel—plus a few things you didn’t even know you needed. Want to learn even more about our formulations, ingredients and product lineup? Follow us on Instagram and TikTok for all of the curl talk you could ever want, and more!
