Do you find product choice more important, or styling technique? I feel like finding a good technique matters more in getting your hair shape (curly, wavy, straight) to look good and hold, and product choice relates to hair type - thick or thin, coarse or fine, porous or resistant.
For the look of my hair I will go with technique. If I couldn’t have the products I love I think I could still get a pretty good result by leaving something in it and doing the rake, scrunch and diffuse, and that there is no product that would give me a good looking wash and go.
I think product ends up being more important at first, then technique follows from there. I struggled at first since everything was like “moisture moisture moisture” and when I finally saw “btw, sometimes people need to push more in the protein direction, or at least less heavy on the moisture” it was almost a night and day difference. Now, I can focus on my technique and be more flexible with how I want to style for the day/etc.