Salt Spray Tips & Tricks.

My hair is very soft, and quite fine too so salt spray has become a daily essential for me – I really couldn’t live without it. I like quite a plumped, effortless look to my hair, I don’t like it looking sleek or straight so without salt spray it’s almost impossible to get it looking just right.

I’ve spoken about numerous salt sprays on here, I’m on a constant mission to find the right one – especially as I’m constantly changing my hair which makes a difference. I thought I would put together a few tips for those who also rely on salt spray to get any sort of texture to their hair.

Use On Damp Hair

I find that all salt sprays work best when they’re applied on damp hair, so I will towel-dry my freshly washed locks and then apply a small amount of leave-in conditioner to detangle, then work in a tiny amount of salt spray to the palms of my hands, rub them together and disperse through the hair, before brushing through my hair. This allows for a really even dispersion of product, as it’s SO easy to overdo salt spray on fine, thin or short hair. Then, I will lift up areas around the roots and spritz in a little more – so I give it two small applications to give a really even result.

Avoid The Roots

I actually try to avoid spraying salt spray on my roots because I find that it often takes away any shine, making the hair appear very dull or even greasy. To get around this, I will spray it through the lengths and mids of my hair (as mentioned above) and when it comes to that second application post-brushing, I will lift up sections around the crown and top-sides of my head and spritz a tiiiiny amount on the underside of my roots – before brushing through again. This way hair is plumped and full of texture, yet my hair still looks shiny and healthy because of that layer of untouched hair.

saltspray

I try to experiment with my brands of salt sprays because, well it’s kind of my job really. I’ve tried millions, but my two favourites are the Kerastase Spray A Porter (£16.80) which actually gives my hair true waves (!!), and now my most recent find which has actually knocked Spray A Porter off the top spot – the R+Co Rockaway Salt Spray (£23). This stuff is incredible, it really expands the hair and gives it the most unbelievable texture and beachy waves.
I recently got Jordan in to salt sprays and he swears by the Bleach London Swamp Spritz (£6) – although he now has been converted to the R+Co after running out of SS, so I’ll probably end up hiding the bottle as he goes through it so quick. Kidding, kind of. His hair is very thick and coarse though, so actually the opposite of mine. It’s trial and error really, although here’s a good recipe for a DIY version.

Mix Up Your Routine

I used to always apply hair oil and then salt spray, but I found that this didn’t really work because the oil was kind of counteracting the salt so nothing was really happening. I now try to avoid hair oils if I can, and instead stick to lightweight products that will work alongside the salt spray. What I tend to do now is apply my salt spray on unbrushed hair, and then apply my detangling product of choice and brush through afterwards. That way I get the benefits of the salt spray, and the oils in the detangling spray kind of lock in the salt. If you use salt spray alongside another product, just experiment with how you use it to see best results. It may be a case of applying salt spray, then leave-in conditioner and then a touch of salt spray – like I do.

Dry Naturally

Salt spray definitely works best when you leave your hair to dry naturally – it can be a liiiittle annoying but I like to avoid using heat as much as possible so I find it actually does me a favour. You could wash your hair the night before, liberally apply some salt spray and leave it to dry naturally before bed, rather than trying to find the time before work.

Experiment With Styles

My hair is pretty straight naturally so if I want curls or waves, I have to sort of scrunch my hair while it dries. I also twist sections to get the perfect amount of wave – I just sort of lightly wind round sections and leave them as my hair dries. If I want true beachy waves, I’ll lightly curl sections with my straighteners for a really low maintenance ‘do. They kind of half hold/half fall out so it looks great alongside all that beachy texture.

Hopefully some of these tips will guarantee you lovely beachy locks! Will you be trying them out?