So many jokes with this product, particularly if you take it’s full name into account – "you can turn some ‘triqs’ with Hanz de Fuko" – boom boom! No, seriously, today and forever more (the Internet never forgets a wise man once told me) every time I apply this I pull my tee over my head and pretend that I‘m either Beavis or Butthead (of early 1990s MTV fame) crying out that they are the great buttholio!
Anyhow, I’m going off on one before I’ve even said what I’m going to be reviewing today – which is Hanz de Fuko Triq Extreme Hold Gel, which came as part of the beauty bag I lightly reviewed back in July here. Now, when I first wrote my review of the bag in July I hadn’t tried this so when I did finally get around to it I was shocked – especially when I saw that it was £14 for just 118ml of the stuff!
Dexter keeping guard over the gel..... |
This is what they say about the gel over on the Selfridges website here:
‘Hanz de Fuko's Gel Triq extreme hold gel is perfect for short dramatic styles or for total control over longer hair for the entire day. It dries quickly, won't flake and leaves hair with a high-shine finish. A little goes a long way.’
Having never used (or heard of) this before I was expecting the usual 99p crap that you can find as a filler for any blokes beauty bag, but boy have I been shocked, and this is why……
While it does have the consistency of the 99p gel that you could find in a corner shop that is where the similarity ends – it is thick when it leaves the tube, reassuringly so in fact, so that when applied to dry hair it means you can instantly style. Apply it to damp hair and while it takes a few minutes, run your palm through three or four times and it starts to set, and set it does, like glue, no, like cement.
To the touch it isn't the greatest – personally I hate my hair feeling crispy to the touch, but if you read on you’ll understand why I tolerate it. After a weekend in Manchester with no rain (I know, that never happened in the 24 years I lived here) on the Tuesday (this Tuesday) the heavens opened and the rain came in sideways it was so hard. Now, my hair was spiked, and after a good twenty minute walk in the rain, a quick dog like shake outside my hotel door and lo and behold, the style has not altered one jot. Even better (and something that happens a lot with hair styling products) it hadn’t run down my face leaving it all sticky – happy days.
When using in non-monsoon conditions (read London, rather than Manchester) this keeps short and spiky styles erect and looking good (with a wet look) for a good ten hours. In fact, I applied this at seven thirty on Monday morning and after waking on Tuesday morning my hair looked exactly the same – yes it had lost the wet look and had a matte finish but the spikes where still rock hard and stood up straight like a guardsman outside Buckingham Palace – excellent.
This isn’t cheap stuff, but for the fact that has the longevity of Tom Jones (if you don’t know who Tom Jones is, then please stop reading my blog) I can’t help but recommend it. Personally I find it has excellent hold, but for the price I prefer Osmo Clay – it does the same thing, in the same conditions for half the price. If you really don’t care about cost then go ahead.
I recommend this stuff, but purely down to the fact that it does what it says on the tube (not tin, sorry Cuprinol) and for that it cannot be faulted. Want a hair gel that will give you an extreme style? This’ll do the triq!