To preface this review, I am a stylist who's been using Bb products personally since long before I went to hair school. It's the only product line that I trust, and I've used every popular brand there is, both on myself and clients. I don't think every Bb product is perfect, but this line is the closest thing to perfection I've found in all my trials.


This is the first Bb product I became hooked on. It is indispensable. Long or shot, this product works. The more you use, the better the hold, and it doesn't feel sticky or gunky as pretty much every other similar hair product I've used does. You're left with clean volume and control.


Many people have trouble with the Bb line because they don't understand the philosophy and are used to low performance products. This might sound contradictory, but let me explain. Bb did not start as a consumer product company. The products are made for session and editorial stylists, and later became available to the public. Most products on drug store and salon shelves are the other way round. Consumers demand different things from their products than professionals. Pro stylists need consistent, reliable results and flexibility. Let's say you need to get volume in the hair, but the model's hair is oily and dense. If you used Bedhead Cocky on her, you'd get volume and shine for about 5 minutes, but it would fall because it's greasy. Styling Creme is for volume and control only. If you want shine, you use Bb Shine in the finishing stage, or mix it with Brilliantine (another excellent product).


In short, each Bb product does one or two things well, and are meant to be mixed or layered for individual results. Stylists want to be able to tailor their products to each model or client. Consumers might be expecting more because they don't know this isn't the same sort of product they're used to, made for mass consumption, promising to do it all and not delivering. If your hair is left dry, try Leave In conditioner under, or use Prep or Tonic for more moisture. Use Straight for straightening. Etc.


Unfortunately, due to an ingredient in Styling Creme that was deemed harmful for the environment by the state of California, Bb had to change this formula in 2007. It does not hold nearly as well. I know this from using it constantly for 5 or 6 years prior to the change. They say it works better according to their stylists but everyone I've talked to disagrees. I now have to use Thickening Spray (also recently reformulated, now Thickening Hairspray) to get the same oomph I had before. My stylist, a Bb salon owner, says that she was told they're changing the formula again due to complaints. I hope this is true. It does not work the same and that is very disappointing for my favorite Bb product. If you agree, I encourage you to contact Bb and complain. They will have to change if enough customers do so.


As for the smell complaints, I simply do not understand how people can think it smells bad or like glue. I don't get that at all. Scent has never been a deciding factor for me in using a product unless it's absolutely terrible. This, like other Bb products, simply has a fresh, clean, almost green smell, like crisp vegetables. It's very faint and does not linger on the hair. If you bought your product anywhere but a Bb salon or from the website you could likely have a defective, old product. Diversion is a huge problem, so stop supporting it.


Compare this to Toni and Guy products (another line I'm very familiar with) and there is a huge difference. Like I said before, powerful fragrance is simply an unnecessary ingredient meant to get you to buy the product. Every TiGi product I've ever used (almost all of them) again and again have been greasy, have this wacky candy smell and come in a goofy package that fails and leaks. It's a gimmick, people. Every one of their products make the hair fall flat within 30 minutes in my experience. I've used them on myself and many clients in the past. It's crappy, consumer-driven sludge, like the McDonalds of hair products, popular but horrible. I don't want to feel product in my hair. I want to run my fingers through it. I want my products to work. I don't want to smell like bubble gum. If you want your hair products to replace your perfume or make your bathroom counter look more colorful, enjoy. Bb is no-nonsense. Packaging works, product works, no screwing around. If it's not working for you, that's fair, but consider you may not know what you're doing with it, or that you need to be mixing it with something else to get the results you want. There are mixing guides and recommendation, as well as helpful video, on the Bb website.


As for the expense, I don't buy products that don't work. You can buy 10 drugstore mousses for the same price but that's quantity over quality. Why waste money on cheap stuff when you're just going to be disappointed? This is reasonable because it lasts a long time for me (3-5 months) and I know it works.


Edit: I want to reiterate on this already way-too-long review that this is, even reformulated, still the best structure product I've ever used, and use it almost daily on myself. This with Prep underneath is the perfect blow out combo for my A-line bob. Healthy, clean, no fuss.

I love this product! I've been using it for a month on my new textured bob cut and it's great. My hair is stick straight and flat normally... with this, I get amazing shape and volume that actually lasts all day! Seriously, this is great stuff and easy to apply onto damp hair. It's a bit pricey at $32ish Cdn a bottle, but I'm definitely buying this again if I'm keeping this type of cut.

I love this product! My other review didn't post for some reason, so I will redo- I love it that much! This stuff is great for my growing out phase. It is almost one length, and a chin length bob. My hair is fine yet thick. Love the fresh scent and there are no flakies in my hair that some products can do. Will repurchase, as I am on bottle three-or four.

I love this product! I have used it for years now, Im also a hairstylist so I use it on my clients. My hair is very fine and sometime it just needs some extra grip to hold my style when I blow dry! Use about a nickle (mixed between palms then distributed) on crown for extra lift and pull throughout for extra grip hold, not recommended if you dont blow dry! If you have a little bit of thicker hair or like a beachy gritty texture use a bit more! One of the best from Bumble!

The stuff is expensive, but I still gave it a five rating because it is honestly one of the best styling products I've ever used on my hair. I have fine, naturally wavy hair that I usually let air dry, yet sometimes blow dry straight. I can use BB Styling Creme for both hair styles, and it works perfectly. It gives my waves definition and my blow out volume and texture without ever weighing my hair down. It's great for smoothing bangs too!

Sometimes the price gets to me, and I think that I can find a more affordable substitute. My lesson is learned very quickly because I'd rather pay the money for a product that I know is going to work rather than spend it on a bunch of product that won't. I also find that I don't need to apply a lot... about a quarter size at the most, so the bottle lasts a really long time.

If anyone has found something comparable, please let me know! Otherwise this will be in my bathroom for a while!

I've been using this for a year on my thick, dark hair. it gives me so much body, it's unreal. i have tried other gels, mousse, and creams, but never anything as good as this. it's not sticky (like aveda whip - no no no!) and it honestly makes my hair a little curly if i just let it air dry. my hair used to be super straight but as i've gotten older i have a wave in it now and this brings it out nicely. when i blowdry it just has lots of body without the curl. i bought the sample bottle twice thinking i didn't really like it, and then went six months without it. i will never be without this product again. my hair still looks good 12 hours after fixing it, seriously. it could just be my fantastic hair itself, the amazing haircut i got last week, i don't know. but this stuff holds all day. i follow it up with Spray De Mode and these are the only two bb products i would rebuy, i go to a bumble salon and believe me - I'VE TRIED THEM ALL! This styling creme is the best styling product i've ever used.

I use this every day and it does not make my hair greasy and I use about a quarter sized amount.

This is super expensive, but is a HG for me.


I love the way my hair looks when I blow it out using this product.

I have to be careful though, because even though my hair is very thick, it is fine and if I use more than about a nickle sized amount on my shoulder length hair....it gets really greasy...and the only remedy is to wash it out....

So, I use a little at a time...and that works. And, I love it!

My hair blows out straight easily with it and is shiny and bouncy all day!!!

I bought this as part of a kit with the coconut shampoo/conditioner and found that it did nothing for me. The whole line was atrocious and left my hair hard, sticky, and dry. I've used everyting from Kerastase to Herbal Essence and it all works sooo much better than this stuff. Also, the price is rediculous. If you're willing to spend close $30 for a bottle of this stuff, just go straight to Kerastase.

I know a 2 is a pretty harsh score... this product works fine, but the smell is just atrocious! I can't explain the smell - it's almost like a mix of cucumber and licorice. And once it's in your hair, the smell doesn't lessen. You can smell it on your head. If I'm gonna pay big money for a hair product, I don't want it to smell like garbage!

I recently got my hair cut short again (chin length) and I wanted to find a product I could use to let my hair air dry so I could just "scrunch and go". My stylist told me to try mixing this with the defrizz, combing it through, and then using the BB curl creme and comb it through, and then scrunch or twirl sections of hair. I don't think this product is exactly what I needed. I have very thick hair and I combed this through when my hair was damp and scrunched and let it air dry but I got so much volume just from doing that that it was ridiculous. I was also put off slightly by the scent--it smells like celery and isn't exactly pleasant (I'm not sure if they changed the fragrance or what since other reviewers feel that it smells good). It also gave my hair a pretty matte finish so I suppose I would have to mix it with something ilke brilliantine to get more shine. I was disappointed with how big it made my hair when air drying so I got my hair damp again with a spray bottle and got a round brush and blew out all of the waves. This produced a style that wasn't over the top HUGE but yet still had the holding power to still look nice the next day. It also appeared much more shiny than it did when I let it air dry, even though it does change the texture of your hair to have more "oomph". I don't think I will try to use this product to air dry again since it gave me so much volume, I will probably just use it as a blow drying product.