Hair gel with strong hold

got2b Glued Spiking Hair Glue has the best record: 39 of 39 shoppers said it held their style, and none said it failed. Curl gels follow, with Kinky-Curly Original Curling Custard at 19 of 22 and Aunt Jackie's Flaxseed Don't Shrink Curling Gel at 20 of 25. This page ranks gels for curls and gels for spiking or slicking together, and Garnier, Aussie and Eco Style at the bottom drew more weak-hold reports than the others.

  • 302 store reviews counted
  • Target shoppers
  • Aug 2020 to Oct 2026

Updated . How we count

Did it hold the style? What shoppers said
  1. got2b Glued Spiking Hair Glue 39 said either way
  2. Kinky-Curly Original Curling Custard 22 said either way
  3. Aunt Jackie's Flaxseed Don't Shrink Curling Gel 25 said either way
  4. SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curling Gel 13 said either way
  5. Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Extra Strong Hold Gel 26 said either way
  6. Aussie Instant Freeze Hair Gel 33 said either way
  7. Eco Style Argan Oil Styling Gel 35 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for hold. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Best record got2b Glued Spiking Hair Glue 39 of 39 say it held their style See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

Weak hold is the common complaint at the bottom: 46% of Aussie reviews, 45% of Eco Style reviews and 25% of Garnier reviews. Shoppers often write when a gel lets them down, so read the shares as a way to compare gels, not as a promise.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points reviewers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1

got2b

Glued Spiking Hair Glue

Best for spiking styles

39/39 say it held their style

39 of 39 said it held their style, and none said it didn't. It is a spiking glue, so hold is the whole point. 8% call it sticky and 5% call it crunchy or hard. Reviews copied from got2b's own site, which we show but don't count, are more mixed at 4 of 8.

What buyers praise

  • Good value 10%
  • No flakes 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Sticky 8%
  • Crunchy or hard 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 39 of 39
  • Brand site 4 of 8 shown, not counted
2

Kinky-Curly

Original Curling Custard

Best for defined curls

19/22 say it held their style

19 of 22 said it held their style, and it gets credit for feel too: 28% say no crunch and 22% say it defines curls. Price is the catch, with 25% calling it too expensive, and 15% still found it crunchy or hard.

What buyers praise

  • No crunch 28%
  • Defines curls 23%
  • No flakes 13%
  • Good value 10%
  • Adds shine 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Too expensive 25%
  • Crunchy or hard 15%
  • Flakes 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 19 of 22

Share of 40 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

3 Aunt Jackie's Flaxseed Don't Shrink Curling Gel

Aunt Jackie's

Flaxseed Don't Shrink Curling Gel

Best for curl definition

20/25 say it held their style

Shoppers like the feel: 32% say no crunch, 30% say it defines curls and 25% say no flakes. 20 of 25 said it held. Complaints are spread out, with 20% calling it crunchy or hard, 15% reporting weak hold and 12% reporting flakes.

What buyers praise

  • No crunch 33%
  • Defines curls 30%
  • No flakes 25%
  • Good value 10%
  • Adds shine 8%

What buyers complain about

  • Crunchy or hard 20%
  • Flakes 13%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 20 of 25
4

SheaMoisture

Coconut & Hibiscus Curling Gel

10/13 say it held their style

A smaller group of 13 weighed in, and 10 of 13 said it held. Sticky is the common complaint at 21%, and 12% report weak hold. 21% say it defines curls.

What buyers praise

  • Defines curls 21%
  • No crunch 8%

What buyers complain about

  • Sticky 21%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 10 of 13
  • Brand site 3 of 5 shown, not counted
5 Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Extra Strong Hold Gel

Garnier

Fructis Pure Clean Extra Strong Hold Gel

16/26 say it held their style

Shoppers are split: 16 of 26 said it held, while 25% of its reviews report weak hold. Fans point to no crunch (18%) and no flakes (12%). Reviews copied from Garnier's own site, which we show but don't count, were less sure at 2 of 7.

What buyers praise

  • No crunch 18%
  • No flakes 13%
  • Good value 8%
  • Defines curls 5%
  • Adds shine 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Sticky 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 16 of 26
  • Brand site 2 of 7 shown, not counted
6

Aussie

Instant Freeze Hair Gel

18/33 say it held their style

Weak hold is the story here. 46% of its reviews report it, and 15 of 33 shoppers who judged the hold said it fell short. 21% mention flakes. Reviews copied from Aussie's own site, which we show but don't count, say it held in 0 of 10.

What buyers praise

  • No flakes 8%
  • Good value 8%
  • Defines curls 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Flakes 21%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 18 of 33
  • Brand site 0 of 10 shown, not counted

Share of 39 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

7

Eco Style

Argan Oil Styling Gel

18/35 say it held their style

18 of 35 said it held, the weakest record here, and 45% of its reviews report weak hold. Value is the draw, with 15% calling it good value and 12% saying no crunch.

What buyers praise

  • Good value 15%
  • No crunch 13%
  • Defines curls 8%
  • Adds shine 8%
  • No flakes 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Flakes 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 18 of 35

Share of 40 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 3,125 reviews at Target. We read the newest reviews of each product (up to a thousand per listing), kept the ones that talk about hold, and counted up to 40 per product, posted between Aug 2020 and Oct 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (36 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Target also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. We show them on product cards but never count them, because brand-site reviews run more positive than store reviews of the same products.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Skin type, skin tone and age splits use what reviewers chose on Sephora's review form (and age on Ulta's when given). We only show a split when enough reviewers fall on each side.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. got2b Glued Spiking Hair Glue Target (40 reviews counted)
  2. Kinky-Curly Original Curling Custard Target (40 reviews counted)
  3. Aunt Jackie's Flaxseed Don't Shrink Curling Gel Target (40 reviews counted)
  4. SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curling Gel Target (24 reviews counted)
  5. Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Extra Strong Hold Gel Target (40 reviews counted)
  6. Aussie Instant Freeze Hair Gel Target (39 reviews counted)
  7. Eco Style Argan Oil Styling Gel Target (40 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which hair gel gives strong hold?

got2b Glued Spiking Hair Glue has the best record (39 of 39), followed by Kinky-Curly Original Curling Custard (19 of 22) and Aunt Jackie's Flaxseed Don't Shrink Curling Gel (20 of 25). The first is a spiking glue and the next two are curl gels, so pick by the style you want.

Is Aussie Instant Freeze Hair Gel a strong hold gel?

Shoppers are split. 18 of 33 said it held, and 46% of its reviews report weak hold. It sits near the bottom of this page.

Should I pick a curl gel or a spiking gel for strong hold?

Both kinds are ranked together here. got2b Glued Spiking Hair Glue is a spiking glue at 39 of 39, while the curl gels Kinky-Curly Original Curling Custard and Aunt Jackie's Flaxseed Don't Shrink Curling Gel also hold well. Curl gel reviewers talk about crunch and curl definition too, with 32% of Aunt Jackie's reviews saying no crunch.

Do strong hold gels feel sticky or crunchy?

Some do. 8% of got2b reviews say sticky, 21% of SheaMoisture reviews say sticky, and 20% of Aunt Jackie's reviews say crunchy or hard. Kinky-Curly Original Curling Custard gets praise for no crunch at 28%, though 15% still found it crunchy or hard.

Related problems

Hair gel Hair gel that doesn't flake Top pick: Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Extra Strong Hold Gel 299 buyer reports Hairspray Hairspray that holds all day Top pick: Sexy Hair Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray 193 buyer reports Curl cream Curl cream that defines curls without crunch Top pick: Fenty Beauty Homecurl Curl-Defining Cream 146 buyer reports Hair mousse Mousse that defines curls without crunch Top pick: OGX Locking + Coconut Curls Mousse 320 buyer reports

HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.