Love how your hair looks after a dip in the sea? Well, no longer do you have to spend the day at the beach to get that gorgeous, tousled texture. Beachy boho holiday waves are easier than ever to create (without even stepping outside of your front door) with the help of a sea salt spray.
Exactly as the name suggests, sea salt sprays are infused with salt because it’s the seawater (naturally full of it) that defines natural texture when it comes into contact with our strands. The results from using these beach-in-a-bottle formulas vary from person to person, but those with even the slightest kink, wave or curl pattern will see an enhancement to their strands.
Best of all, using a sea salt spray to create texture takes zero effort. Simply spritz onto damp hair, twist or scrunch hair in sections to encourage pattern and then leave to air-dry – it’s that simple. Of course, if you want to use a diffuser alongside it, you can create a more polished look. And at the other end of the scale, if you prefer a more lived-in look, they also work well misted into dry manes.
Short, fine or super straight styles can also benefit from using a sea salt spray. It’s superb at creating lift at the roots or volume in length when used as a thickening spray. What’s more, you can also use it to add hold to updos, and grit to secure bobby pins or hair clips.
To help you unleash your inner mermaid and find the best sea salt spray that’s going to work for you, we’ve rounded up the best formulas that not only leave your strands sea-kissed but importantly, leave your hair feeling soft and flexible too.
Best sea salt sprays at a glance:
- Best for sun protection: Hair by Sam McKnight Sundaze Sea Spray - £26, Cult Beauty
- Best for iconic formula: Bumble and Bumble Sea Surf Spray - £26, lookfantastic
- Best for highstreet find: Lee Stafford Texturising Sea Salt Spray - £7.99, Boots
- Best for hairdresser favourite: Davines This is a Sea Salt Spray - £20.50, Cult Beauty
- Best for subtle fragrance: KMS Hairplay Sea Salt Spray - £21.70, Sephora
- Best for value: Schwarzkopf got2b Beach Matt Texturizing Salt Spray - £5, Amazon
- Best for dry hair: Philip B Maui Wowie Beach Mist - £25, Selfridges
- Best for natural formula: Moo and Yoo Sea Salt Spray - £24, Harrods
- Best for salt-free formula: Briogeo Superfoods Banana and Coconut Soft Wave Texture Spray - £22, Space NK
- Best for luxury formula: Rahua Enchanted Island Salt Spray - £31.90, Amazon
- Best for hold and thicker hair types: Maria Nila Ocean Spray - £21, Luxurious Look
Hair by Sam McKnight Sundaze Sea Spray
Best for: Sun protection
The legendary hairstylist’s lineup of products has been making waves since launch, but none as literal as this one. From soft definition to more full-on bounce, the more you layer the more volume you create.
It’s the perfect partner for the summer months, infused with a natural active from sunflower seed extract to protect strands from damaging and colour-fading UV rays. Mineral-rich sea salt in the formula is teamed with a blend of nourishing and strand-strengthening ingredients like pro-vitamin B5 that keeps hair feeling soft, weightless and full of shine.
Buy now £26.00, Cult Beauty
Bumble and Bumble Sea Surf Spray
Best for: Iconic formula
Few haircare products reach iconic status in the beauty world, but this original sea salt spray is definitely one. Loved by hairdressers, beauty editors and to be honest everyone that’s tried it, this is the product that made other brands follow suit and introduce one to their lines.
The hold is light, natural and long-lasting, and going with the beach theme, the salt infusion is joined with kelp and seaweed extracts for their moisturising abilities – this ensures your strands never feel dry.
Buy now £26.00, lookfantastic
Lee Stafford Texturising Sea Salt Spray
Best for: Highstreet find
Readily available on the high street, the bright pink haircare brand from UK hairstylist Lee Stafford has had a bit of a makeover and that includes this sea salt spray. It’s still the same effective and affordable formula – just with a new look.
Dead sea salt rich in minerals is teamed with sunflower extract to deliver soft, manageable, beach waves that ooze gloss. Less is more with this one thanks to its shine-finish, but that also results in a longer-lasting bottle. Win-win!
Buy now £7.99, Boots
Davines This is a Sea Salt Spray
Best for: Hairdresser favourite
The Italian sustainable haircare brand, Davines has this matte finish sea salt spray in its arsenal that sells out often. It’s been repeatedly recommended to us in salons by stylists because it leaves strands feeling so silky soft.
Not only does it enhance natural waves without any stickiness or drying out of strands, but it keeps them looking fresh all day long too with its natural hold that doesn’t weigh strands down.
Buy now £20.50, Cult Beauty
KMS Hairplay Sea Salt Spray
Best for: Subtle fragrance
Turn to this sea salt spray, if you’re looking for an uplifting fragrance to accompany your tousle. It’s a subtle fruity floral that just adds to the pleasure of using it. Dead sea salt is teamed with setting polymers that, in simple terms, provide excellent hold so there’s no drop to waves throughout the day.
A blast of grape seed oil rich in nourishing vitamin E, also locks in moisture so there’s no chance of the formula drying out strands. Expect a matte finish and waves that can be awakened on second-day hair with a light mist.
Buy now £21.70, Sephora
Schwarzkopf got2b Beach Matt Texturizing Salt Spray
Best for: Value
Proving purse-friendly products can still pack a punch, this sea salt spray has a medium hold for tousled waves that last all day. Unlike other value options that can leave a sticky crunch behind, this makes strands feel naturally soft just with a bit of gritty texture.
For best results, use on towel-dried hair and twirl sections around fingers to encourage sea-kissed waves to form or for a more tousled look scrunch dry. It leaves a gorgeous matte rather than shiny finish, so it’s also a top choice for blondes.
Buy now £5.00, Amazon
Philip B Maui Wowie Beach Mist
Best for: Dry hair
From leading Hollywood hair specialist Philip B comes this sea salt spray from across the Atlantic. Blended with a range of exotic plant oils like orchid, kukai and coconut for their hair-strengthening and moisturising abilities, this not only encourages volume and curl in strands but imparts a good hit of hydration too – making your hair not only look healthier but feel it too. It’s super body-building if you spray with your head upside down, but for more mermaid-inspired curls, spritz sections and twist with fingers.
Buy now £25.00, Selfridges
Moo and Yoo Sea Salt Spray
Best for: Natural formula
Moo and Yoo is a family-run, ethical, business from Edinburgh with a small selection of hair products, including this impressive sea salt spray. Give it a shake, as it’s a natural product so it can separate, and spritz over damp or dry hair to add lightweight texture and body that keeps strands still feeling soft.
Those with stands on the dry side will appreciate a dose of responsibly sourced marula oil and Icelandic moss that team up in the formula to impart nourishment and hydration too. Plus, you get a huge 250ml bottle that just keeps on giving.
Buy now £24.00, Harrods
Briogeo Superfoods Banana and Coconut Soft Wave Texture Spray
Best for: Salt-free formula
In Briogeo’s superfood range lies this salt and alcohol-free wave-promoting spritz. It uses coconut sugar instead of salt to create separation and piece-y texture for ‘I’ve just spent the day at the beach’ tresses without any stickiness or crunch.
If you’re not familiar with the brand, it prefers a natural approach to ingredients blocking harsh sulfates, silicones and parabens to name a few. Instead, the label has packed the formula with hair-strengthening vitamin B5 and antioxidants that leave hair feeling soft and oozing shine. And, of course, it smells like its delicious name with notes of vanilla, banana and coconut.
Buy now £22.00, Space NK
Rahua Enchanted Island Salt Spray
Best for: Luxury formula
Transport yourself somewhere exotic, with this luxe sea salt spray and its addictive natural tropical fragrance. It comes from the key ingredients in the formulation, including passion fruit high in vitamin C; hibiscus rich in antioxidants; guava for hair nourishment and star of the show pink sea salt.
Highly concentrated, less is more with this spray that can be used on wet or dry manes for loose, flexible waves that feel soft to the touch without any grease or stiffness – just beautifully light, brushable hold.
Buy now £31.90, Amazon
Maria Nila Ocean Spray
Best for: Hold and thicker hair types
Swedish vegan haircare brand Maria Nila has two first-class sea salt sprays in its collection, with this one offering more hold with a higher concentration of salt for thicker strands or those that are looking to create spray-in texture and structure for creative updos that stay put.
Other benefits include delicious fruity notes of apple and apricot that subtly linger, and UV protection to preserve your colour. If you prefer more flexibility to your styling mist, go for the brand’s alternative salty mist.
Buy now £21.00, Luxurious Look
Verdict
The new Hair by Sam McKnight Sundaze Sea Spray is the winning combination of wave-enhancer and nourishment that safeguards against dryness, so strands always feel soft, glossy and flexible – matching the carefree attitude of beach life. If you prefer a matte finish, Davines This is a Sea Salt Spray is another spritz worth every penny.
