How to Use Sea Salt Spray for Texture and Volume

What sea salt spray actually does

Sea salt spray roughs up the surface of each hair so strands grip each other and stand apart, which reads as texture and volume. The salt, usually sodium chloride or magnesium sulphate in water, draws a little moisture out and leaves a light crystalline film as it dries.

It is the effect you notice after a swim in the ocean: hair that is fuller, a little stiff and more willing to wave. On its own the hold is gentle, so we think of sea salt as the base coat, with clay or powder as the finish when a cut needs more structure.

How to apply sea salt spray on damp hair

Sea salt spray goes on damp hair, never dripping wet and never bone dry. Wet hair dilutes it until it does nothing, and dry hair gets crunchy patches where the mist landed.

1. Wash or rinse, then squeeze out water with a towel until the hair no longer drips.
2. Shake the bottle. Salt can settle at the bottom.
3. Hold it about 20 cm (8 in) from your head and mist the roots first, lifting sections with your fingers so the spray reaches the base.
4. Give the mid-lengths two or three more sprays. On short hair four sprays is often enough; medium hair may take eight.
5. Rake through with your fingers to spread it evenly.
6. Dry it: blow dry for volume, or scrunch with your hands and let it air dry for looser waves.

Blow drying with sea salt for maximum volume

Blow drying sea salt spray upward from the roots is how you get real lift, especially on fine or flat hair. The heat sets the salt film while the hair is standing up, so it stays up.

Use medium heat and point the nozzle at the roots, lifting the front with your fingers or a vent brush in the direction you want it to go. For a messy quiff, dry the front up and back; for a looser, forward style, dry it forward and let it fall. Finish with a blast on the cool setting to lock the shape. Our guide to blow drying men's hair explains nozzle direction in more detail.

Pairing sea salt spray with clay

Sea salt plus clay is the most reliable combination for textured, matte styles that need to last through a workday. The spray builds body underneath and the clay holds the finished shape.

Once the hair is dry from the blow dryer, warm a small amount of clay, about half what you would normally use, and work it into the roots. Because the salt already gives grip, you need less clay, which keeps fine hair from getting weighed down. This is a strong routine for a quiff or a longer textured crop, and the clay method itself is on our page about how to use hair clay.

Keeping sea salt from drying your hair out

Salt pulls moisture from hair, so daily use without care can leave it dry, brittle or frizzy, particularly in cold, dry Ontario winters. A few habits limit that.

• Use it on styling days, not every single day, if your hair already feels dry.
• Choose formulas that add a conditioning ingredient such as aloe, glycerin or a light oil.
• Rinse it out in the evening rather than sleeping in it night after night.
• Condition the lengths after washing; our page on whether men need conditioner explains why.
• Skip it on very coarse, curly or already frizzy hair, which usually needs moisture more than grit.