Side by side
Herbal Essences Texturing Hair Styling Spray Gel for Wavy Hair vs Kenra Professional Styling Gel 17
94% function match · 7 of the 8 functions we compared match Formula overlap 0%. Herbal Essences Texturing Hair Styling Spray Gel for Wavy Hair and Kenra Professional Styling Gel 17 share no ingredient among each other's most prominent — which does not stop them doing the same job.
Which of these fits your hair?
We check your pattern, moisture need, scalp, fragrance tolerance, weight sensitivity and more against each formula — and say which one lines up.
Your profile at a glance
- Your answers appear here
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When each one is the right call
What each formula is built for, from its own ingredient list.
- Texturing Hair Styling Spray Gel for Wavy Hair — curl definition
- Styling Gel 17 — curly-method routines
Side by side
Every trait, aligned
One row per trait, read from each product’s own ingredient list and record. A dash means we have not researched that field for that product — it is not a “no”.
- Curl definitionfilm formers hold a clump together
- Short ingredient listsfifteen ingredients or fewer
- Tight budgetsit sits in the lower price tiers
- Curly-method routinesno sulfates and no water-insoluble silicones
- Curl definitionfilm formers hold a clump together
- Silicone-free routinesno silicones appear in the list
- Stretching wash daysnothing here needs a detergent to remove
- Scents bother youthis product carries a scent
- Anyone who dislikes a castthe film formers here can set firm
- Dry or very humid airwhere heavy humectants work against you
- Scents bother youthis product carries a scent
- Anyone who dislikes a castthe film formers here can set firm
- Soft, touchable finishesthe brand states a firm hold
More facts about each one
- sulfate-free
- silicone-free
- curly-method compatible
Facts as we recorded them. A dash means we have not researched that field for that product — it is not a "no".
The bottom line
The bottom line depends on your hair
Which of these two suits you is a question about your hair, not about them. The consultation answers it — and tells you what your routine needs around it.
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The detail behind the table
Where the readings above come from: the ingredient lists themselves, each brand’s claims checked against them, what owners report, and cost per ounce in context.
Shared and distinct ingredients
Shared and distinct ingredients
Computed from the ingredient lists as printed. "Shared" means both lists carry it; where it sits on each label is stated, because position is what tells you how much.
What both formulas carry
What only one of them carries
Texturing Hair Styling Spray Gel for Wavy Hair
Full ingredient list — Texturing Hair Styling Spray Gel for Wavy Hair (9)
-
1
Water
- solvent
- 2 Alcohol Denatured
-
3
Sodium Chloride
- salt
- thickener
-
4
Magnesium Sulfate
- salt
-
5
Sorbitol
- humectant
-
6
PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
- solubilizer
- emulsifier
-
7
PVP
- film former
- polymer
- Below about this point, order stops being meaningful — these are typically used at 1% or less.
-
8
Fragrance
- fragrance
- declared fragrance
-
9
Citric Acid
- pH adjuster
- hard-water chelator
Full ingredient list — Styling Gel 17 (23)
-
1
Water
- solvent
-
2
VP/VA Copolymer
- film former
- polymer
-
3
VP/Dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate Copolymer
- film former
- polymer
-
4
Carbomer
- thickener
- polymer
- film former
- Below about this point, order stops being meaningful — these are typically used at 1% or less.
-
5
Triethanolamine
- pH adjuster
-
6
Polysorbate 20
- solubilizer
- emulsifier
-
7
Imidazolidinyl Urea
- formaldehyde releaser
- preservative
-
8
DMDM Hydantoin
- formaldehyde releaser
- preservative
-
9
Fragrance
- fragrance
- declared fragrance
-
10
Methylparaben
- paraben
- preservative
-
11
Propylene Glycol
- humectant
- solvent
-
12
Ethoxydiglycol
- solvent
- humectant
-
13
Glucose
- humectant
-
14
Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract
- botanical extract
-
15
Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Extract
- botanical extract
-
16
Melissa Officinalis Leaf Extract
- botanical extract
-
17
Tussilago Farfara (Coltsfoot) Flower Extract
- botanical extract
-
18
Equisetum Arvense Extract
- botanical extract
-
19
Aesculus Hippocastanum (Horse Chestnut) Seed Extract
- botanical extract
-
20
Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
- botanical extract
- antioxidant
-
21
Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf Extract
- botanical extract
-
22
Hydrolyzed Silk
- film former
- protein
- hydrolysed protein
-
23
Benzophenone-9
- UV filter
Claims check
What each brand says, against what each formula shows
Claims are quoted from each brand. We only mark one supported, partly supported, or conflicting when that product’s ingredient list actually speaks to it.
Texturing Hair Styling Spray Gel for Wavy Hair
PETA cruelty-free
SupportedMatches our researched record.paraben-free
SupportedPreserved without parabens.mineral-oil-free
Stated by brandCan’t be confirmed from label.silicone-free
Stated by brandCan’t be confirmed from label.color-safe
Stated by brandCan’t be confirmed from label.dye-free
Stated by brandCan’t be confirmed from label.pH-balanced
SupportedBrought to an acidic pH.
Styling Gel 17
Provides excellent support for any style
Stated by brandCan’t be confirmed from label.Creates fullness & adds shine
Stated by brandCan’t be confirmed from label.Controls coarse, unruly hair textures
Stated by brandCan’t be confirmed from label.Alcohol-free, non-drying, & non-flaking
SupportedNothing that flashes off dry.
What owners say
What people report
Recurring themes our researchers wrote in their own words from sourced reviews. We do not store or scrape star ratings, and we never balance one product’s themes against another’s by inventing them.
Kenra Professional Styling Gel 17 draws complaints about dryness and the scent.
Texturing Hair Styling Spray Gel for Wavy Hair
A minority of reviewers found it needed a lot of product for only slight hold, leaving residue, or found a reformulated version tacky and crunchy compared to what they remembered.
Reviewers with wavy or curly hair say it enhances and holds their natural texture without weighing hair down, drying to a light touch rather than a stiff cast.
Multiple loyal users report the product frequently out of stock or hard to find in stores and worry it has been discontinued.
The scent is widely praised as pleasant, though a couple of long-time users say a past reformulation changed it from the original fragrance to a less-liked one.
Styling Gel 17
Long-time user says it consistently produces full, soft curls she's happy with
multi-year repeat Ulta customerGives just the right amount of volume and lift without going overboard
Ulta reviewerFeels light rather than heavy when used on straight hair
straight-hair Ulta reviewerSmells like rubbing alcohol and left hair feeling dried out despite the alcohol-free claim
Ulta reviewerDoesn't let a brush glide smoothly through longer hair while blow-drying
long-hair Ulta reviewer blow-drying with a brushPrice check
Cost per ounce, in context
Cost per ounce against every product of this type we have priced, each at the size it is most often sold in. Value labels are computed from that percentile and from how many products that do the same job cost less; they are comparisons, not judgements about a brand.
$1.05/oz vs $3.17/oz — Kenra Professional Styling Gel 17 costs about 3× more per ounce than Herbal Essences Texturing Hair Styling Spray Gel for Wavy Hair.
Texturing Hair Styling Spray Gel for Wavy Hair
Against 58 texture sprays with a computable unit price.
Styling Gel 17
Against 155 gels with a computable unit price.
Computed from cost per ounce against every product of this type we have priced, and from how many products that do the same job cost less. It is a comparison, not a judgement about the brand.
Compare with something else
Close formulas to each of these, as their own comparison pages.
Texturing Hair Styling Spray Gel for Wavy Hair · Styling Gel 17 · All texture sprays in the library
How this page was made
- This page is assembled from the same researched records the individual product pages render: identity, each ingredient list as printed, each brand's own claims, dated price observations, and review themes written in our researchers' own words. Nothing on it is written per comparison.
- We do not rank these against each other. Which of them suits you depends on your hair, and that is what the consultation works out.
- The formula similarity percentage is a stored, precomputed number: position-weighted overlap of the two ingredient lists blended with agreement on the attributes we derive. It measures how alike two formulas are, not how well either works.
- The value band is a fixed label over two stored numbers: this product’s cost per ounce as a percentile of every product of this type we have priced, each at the size it is most often sold in, and how many products we score as doing the same job cost at least a quarter less per ounce.
- The "Is this right for you?" panel reads only your own consultation answers, and it applies exactly the filters our recommendation engine applies. It is computed when you load the page and is never stored on it.
- 5 sources were consulted across the products on this page.
- Ingredient order tells you relative amount only above roughly 1%. Prices are observations on the dates shown and change without notice. We do not sell these products and take no placement fees.
- This is cosmetic information, not medical advice, and nothing here diagnoses or treats a health condition.
- This particular combination is not listed in our sitemap: we only submit pairs of comparable products that our similarity data says people would actually weigh against each other.
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