The 7 best sea salt sprays for effortlessly beachy hair (2023)

You don’t need to actually be on the beach to achieve beachy hair – all you need is a bottle of the best sea salt spray.

When it’s hot, the last thing we want to do is spend time sweatily heat-styling our hair. In fact, we’d happily cast our best hairdryer, best hair straighteners, and best curling tongs aside between the months of June and August – if it wasn’t for the fact that we’d be left looking frizzy and disheveled. The other option, and it’s a good one, is to lean into undone hair with the help of a sea salt spray. “When misted onto dry or wet hair sea salt spray defines existing texture as well as enhancing and accentuating waves and curls,” says pro hairdresser Sam McKnight. Think how your hair looks after you’ve spent a sun-drenched day lounging on the beach – effortlessly good. Suddenly, low-maintenance hair styling feels like less of an overheated cry for help, and more of a chic, considered decision for the summer months.

The only downside with even the best sea salt spray is that it won’t necessarily suit all hair types. “It’s best on medium to thick hair that has some blonde in it, like highlights or balayage,” advises pro hairdresser Michael Douglas. “It works well on fine hair but you really have to be careful not to use too much. Hair length is not an issue and it works well on any hair length.” The more undone texture might not be to all tastes either. “It creates an interesting texture,” Douglas continues. “It’s not exactly sticky but more grippy, so on the bad side it can cause the hair to knot slightly, but that’s the price you pay for the beachy texture. It’s good at creating texture, but not good for shine and smoothness.” So, now that you know how to use sea salt spray, keep on reading to find out the best ones on the market right now.

Best sea salt sprays as tested by our beauty team

A sea salt spray that can do both, this spray combines natural sea salt with nourishing ingredients like pro-vitamin B5 and castor oil for a soft beachy texture that doesn’t leave hair feeling crispy. The spray itself is quite direct, which meant that when we used it on dry hair it made my hair quite wet. You’ll either like that or you won’t, but I thought it was a good thing as it helped to refresh my hair between washes.

It did take quite a while to dry though, so maybe not one to spritz just before you leave the house or head into a meeting. I was pleased that it didn’t rob my hair of its shine, instead just adding body and grip. The scent is the same signature botanical fragrance as the rest of the range, which feels very grown-up and left me smelling like I’d just left a fancy salon. As an added extra, there’s UVA and UVB protection within the formula too to shield your hair from the sun.

Bumble & Bumble are the first name in the best sea salt sprays, and we could see why this is such a cult favorite from the first spritz. It’s a really lovely fine mist, which manages to replicate the kind of damp, salty breeze that hazes over hair when you’re by the coast.

A couple of quick spritzes gave our hair an immediately matte texture that was the perfect remedy to day one hair that feels a bit too perfect and polished. You have to be careful not to spray too much though, as we think it’s quite easy to stray into matted rather than matte territory. A little goes a long way so we predict this little bottle of one of the best hair styling products will last for ages.

Lots of companies are making a commitment to being more environmentally friendly, but very few are going as far as Lush. At their Green Hub in Dorset, England, they’re working towards zero waste with schemes like recycling old packaging, reusing water where possible, and donating store seconds to local charities. So, if it’s a more sustainable salt spray you’re after, this is the brand to shop from.

It’s formulated with actual fresh seawater alongside fine salt to nod to their beach-side base, and the spray is far-reaching and super fine which means you don’t need very much. What we weren’t expecting was the scent, which is a mind-soothing combination of grapefruit and neroli, which leaves your hair smelling like a spa. It doesn’t give the hair a huge amount of hold but is great for quick zhoosh on strands lacking in oomph.

It’s the little details that count, and we loved that this bottle came all wrapped up in star-adorned printed paper – it felt like a real treat. Inside the parcel, we were impressed by the size of the bottle – it feels like really good value for money.

Of all the best sea salt sprays we tried we’d say this is the one you need to go the slowest with until you get to grips with how much you need. It’s quite sticky in texture, which is great for adding hold (especially close to the roots) but means it’s easy to go overboard and end up with slightly tacky hair. It also mattes hair a bit so just make sure you tease it out with your fingers at the end to avoid any tangles.

A good choice for anyone who finds that their hair can look lank and lacking in volume during the summer months, this is the best sea salt spray for bringing back volume. It can be used in two ways – either blow dry it in with one of the best hairdryers for fine hair to get that extra boost and hold as well as a smooth, rather than matte texture, or spritz on and air dry for a more relaxed finish.

It’s a bit annoying that it can only be used on damp hair, rather than dry too, but we imagine it’s as it’s quite sticky and heavy so needs moisture in the hair to dilute it slightly. For extra brownie points, the salt in the formula is from the Dead Sea and it has a really sweet, summery scent.

It feels slightly odd to be shopping for the best sea salt spray from a sunscreen brand, but Sun Bum actually has an entire range dedicated to caring for your hair when you’re on (or off) the beach.

This texturizing spray uses Hawaiian sea salt with sea kelp (a kind of algae that looks a bit like seaweed) to leave your hair looking like you might have just hopped off a surfboard. We spritzed and scrunched it into damp hair and found that it did a brilliant job of persuading a wavy hairstyle in hair that’s naturally straight or only normally verging on slightly bendy. It doesn’t leave any residue, so strands still feel soft too.

You know what they say, you shouldn’t judge a sea salt spray by its packaging but it’s almost impossible not to coo when confronted with this gorgeous, mermaid-inspired bottle. It can be used on damp or dry hair, which gives you the option to use it in two different ways, but if you naturally have a straight hairstyle then you might need to use it on both to get enough hold.

It does give a good amount of grip though, and would be good for anyone with fine hair who finds that waves and curls tend to drop out in a quarter of the time it’s taken to put them in. If you run your fingers through your hair after applying you can definitely feel there’s something there, but it doesn’t feel coated or tacky.

How we tested the best sea salt sprays

To see if each of the best sea salt sprays delivered the kind of beachy texture we were hoping for we used each of them on clean hair as well as slightly dishevelled day three hair. Most are recommended for use on both damp and dry hair, and we tested them on both. The ones that made the list were easy to use and added texture, movement, or hold to our hair.

How to choose the best sea salt spray

The good thing about shopping for the best sea salt spray is that they’re all pretty similar, so you can’t really go too far wrong. “I’ve never used a bad one,” says Douglas. “It’s not about the product but more about how much you use and where you use it. They’re all good, you just need to experiment until you find the right amount and technique to get your desired look.” The only things you’ll probably want to consider are:

• Price: There are some really cheap sea salt sprays and some really expensive ones. Choose based on your budget and your preferred brands.
• Scent: “One thing I would say is that sea salt sprays often don’t smell that nice due to the ingredients I think,” adds Douglas. “I’m not sure why but I’m guessing that perfume oil might not sit well with some of the other ingredients.” Of the ones that we tried, we found that some brands have definitely paid more attention to scent than others.