Structure Paste Flexible Adhesive

First of all, if you think this is going to be about some form of glue, glue sniffing or tips on what adhesive will get you tripping the light fantastic I will ‘fess up - this is actually about hair paste, for styling your hair.

*Whoosh* and everyone moves their cursor to the back button on their browser!

For those still reading (and without a nasty red rash and spots around their mouths) I’ll continue.

I’m not sure how the two samples of Structure Paste Flexible Adhesive came into my possession. One day it was another of those brands I’d never heard of, the next, there were two 15 ml sample sachets sat by the basin in the bathroom.

Paste was a product I hadn’t thought of using before - I’ve been through mousse (no thanks Nicky Clarke), wax (a deffo no-no Mr Wella), gel, cream and clay. Hell, at one stage in my youth I used hair spray - readers, picture a better looking Shaun Ryder* with his curtain hairstyle and that was me.

Paste had passed me by - to my shame.

After losing the Madchester compulsory cut of the 1990‘s I went to short spikes and that is how it has remained for years, and years and god knows, years.….

I’m trying to grow my hair out to sample a new style but with that comes the comments such as “your mullet is out of control - (JB**, 24 April 2014)”, which means that styling is a must. Gel has been tried and failed - the hold fades after a few hours and it doesn’t hold the style, wax is pointless in hair over 4 inches in length and clay would require a team of navvies to apply.

I wanted a sort of Beckham look with my hair swept back and staying back.

Structure claim that their Paste Flexible Adhesive defines and creates texture with a firm but flexible hold and a completely matte finish. Their strap-line to this is ‘Style is about instinct, creativity, passion. We’ll provide the tools. You build the structure.’

This is the first time I’ve read that and it has brightened my mood - someone somewhere thought that sounded cool or mysterious, and they probably were sniffing glue at the time!

On opening, the paste was stuck to the side of the packet - it’s like Polyfilla (that’s for filling cracks for those not familiar) it’s so thick and gooey. Fingers were dabbed in and it was like iron to a magnet. My fingers were covered and I had to wipe some off. It all wanted out!

It doesn’t really have a smell, or so I thought. My other half suggested it had a smell like Fructis hair products, which tended to have hints of apple. Personally I couldn’t tell.

My hair had just been washed and was damp when I extracted enough to rub between my palms - it spreads really easily and as you apply it onto the hair it soaks in quickly and almost immediately makes the hair pliable. It’s awesome for styling people.

After rubbing it into the strands of hair and down the sides I brushed in the swept back style. It was instant - where the brush had been the hair stayed and it was solid. Jumping up and down didn’t move the style.

My hair however wasn’t rock hard to the touch and wasn’t shining off the lights - it does have a great matte finish and how it feels is well….weird city.

I touch my hair throughout the day, and when I touch my hair with this in it feels a bit greasy - it doesn’t look it but one brush through with the hand and you are off to the bathrooms to wash your hands. It comes off to the touch.

That aside, after 15 hours the holding power is still there and you can’t grumble with that. If you are looking for bonus points for this, well there aren’t the slightest hints of white flakes, even in the morning. So no white flakes in your hair making you look like you haven’t heard of Head & Shoulders and no embarrassing flakes on your clothes while at work or out on the town. Result!

A 75 ml tune of this can be bought for around £9. Personally I’ve never, and I mean NEVER found a product that holds like this and is so easy to wash out. The only problem I find is that first thing in the morning I wake up looking like this….

Source

Forget the morning look, Structure has a styling product here that is simply fantastic for use on longer hair. A 15 ml sachet has lasted me a week up to now and I expect about another 3/4 uses out of what is left so this actually goes a long way for the price.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

*An image of Shaun Ryder is below - he was the lead singer of popular Manchester band Happy Mondays during the 1990’s at the start the mental music scene in my beautiful home town.

Source

**Names have not been changed to protect the guilty.

Thank you for reading, before you go I would love it if you could answer the two easy questions below. Please leave your thoughts in the comments:

1 - Should I continue to grow my hair out or go back to spikes like in the picture on my homepage?

2 - Should I dye my hair again? I've been going grey for 20 years, but haven't dyed my hair since I was 28 (7 years). 

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Wella Shockwaves Ultra Strong Power Hold Hair Gel

I have probably spent the last week praising Soho Fish products but behold, for man has several hundred hair products and brands to choose from.

I have to say, after having my ‘Happy Mondays’ cut shaved off and spiked at aged 24 (after people said my hair made me look 40) it was recommended by the butcher of my locks that Wella’s styling mousse was best for the hair type and length.

For a while it did the trick but as the length of the spikes increased they started to droop. Another product was required. I tried everything (and it cost me a fortune) and in the end I settled on Wella’s Shockwave range and the Ultra Strong Power Hold gel.

In terms of hold, only the Shockwaves Tuff Stuff beats this gel.

There you go; you don’t have to read any more unless you want the full analysis.

Ultra Hold became a mainstay in my bathroom - it was cheap and widely available, and remains so to this day. A small 200ml tube costs between £2-£3 and you can often find them on multi-buy offers.

Back when I first started using this in 2003 the packaging used to provide the same promises as every other Wella styling product. The gel has a special micro-defuse system that separates individual strands leading to a firmer, longer lasting hold with the added advantage of easier styling. In addition to this, the gel should (in theory) brush out when required. Now, they have the ‘re-style with H2O’ marketing blurb that says you can reactivate the gel with wet hands to reset.  No offence, but of course you can re-style it if you wet it! It’s a gel!

So, with this being ‘Ultra Strong’ I expected amazing results.

Application and results:

When applying gel, it’s always recommended that you apply to fresh washed hair that is slightly damp. Not only does this mean your hair is clean before application, it also makes the gel go further as it is mixed in with the moisture already present in your hair.

I applied the gel to my hair after it had been dried slightly with my hair dryer. The gel’s fragrance when it leaves the tube is quite strong, with a fresh clean aroma with hints of apple. Although the smell was pleasant, the fragrance died down as soon as it was applied.

Taking into account the length of my hair (3-4 inches usually) and the messy look I go, a lot of the gel was needed to cover every strand. In fact, approximately 25ml was required. It was absorbed fairly quickly and was extremely easy to apply to the actual strands of hair.

The gel seemed thicker than the Wet Look version and this did become apparent when styling. It was far, far easier than using a wax, putty or clay. The spikes in my hair stood up immediately and once gentle heat was applied, dried very quickly meaning that further hair inspections weren’t needed prior to leaving the house.

Once dried, the gel set my hair like cement. I’m not joking here; nothing would possibly move it. I could jump up and down, shake my head and not a hair would move. As this is the major function of a hair gel, and the main criteria for any future purchases, it scored 10/10.

But, I don’t just take final results into consideration when making the decision which gel to use and the overall performance of the gel has to be taken into account.

Yes, it has fabulous hold, it made my hair look shinier, but, to the touch my hair felt far too crisp and a greasy residue was left on my hands after touching it.

The gel didn’t leave me with any white flakes on my clothing while out and about, but in the morning the usual problems that occur with gel were evident. My hair was full of white flakes, so much so, simply applying more gel was not an option. My hair had to be washed to remove the flakes. Brushing it out was not an option. I have since had my hair cut and don’t use as much of this gel as I had previously, but I still wake in the mornings to find a head full of white flakes. So, it wasn’t a problem with the amount of gel used, it is a problem with the gel.

Apart from the crispy feel and the white flakes in the morning, this gel was great; it kept my long(ish) hair in place for well over 8 hours which is an achievement.

So the good points:

• It’s easy to apply
• Cheap, especially when bought on offer
• Holds hair in place for in excess of 8 hours
• Made styling easier
• Dried quickly when left to dry naturally
• Makes hair look shiny
• Easy to wash out
• Only a little is required to style short lengths of hair
• Smells clean and fresh

The bad points:

• A lot of gel is required to style longer lengths
• Makes hair crispy tot he touch
• Leaves hair looking fluffy in the morning
• White residue in hair once the gel was worn out

Would I recommend this product? Yes I would. It has downsides, but most styling products have these and the ones applicable to the Ultra Strong are nowhere near as bad as other products I’ve used in the past. The amazing hold it provides is worth the little drawbacks detailed above.

If you need a strong product to style your hair, this is for you.

RECOMMENDED for short hair, messy styles and people who don’t touch their hair a lot.

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