What is a heat protectant spray for hair?
A heat protectant hair spray is a hair styling product that has emerged in the wake of our great pleasure in curling and straightening our hair with hot curling irons and straighteners respectively.
A heat protectant spray puts a protective sheath around each strand of hair. At the same time, a good heat protectant spray also contains extra moisture for the hair to compensate for the moisture that evaporates when you straighten or curl your hair.
When using a heat protectant spray, it is therefore important to distribute it throughout the hair and especially at the exposed ends.
Many of the best heat protectant sprays contain silicone, which both protects hair and conducts heat away.
Keep your hair healthy and shiny with a heat protectant spray
Our hair is our pride and joy and we like to spend a lot of money on haircuts and styling products. But the market is awash with hair styling products and it can be hard to know which ones are the best and which ones to stay away from.
In this article, I’m focusing on heat protectant sprays. I have already reviewed the best heat protecting sprays on the market here and now with you and now I will go on to make you more knowledgeable about the heat protecting spray and why it is such an incredibly important step in your hair styling routine.
It’s important to stress that using blow dryers, straighteners and curling irons is unhealthy for your hair and that you can only protect your hair to a certain extent even with the best heat protecting spray. You should therefore try to minimize the use of hot hair styling tools if you want to grow your hair long and healthy.
Why is it important to use heat protectant spray if you blow dry or straighten your hair?
Our hair is not made to be styled and exposed to blow dryers, straighteners or curling irons. In fact, our hair doesn’t like temperatures above 100 degrees and that doesn’t sit well with the fact that we use straighteners that can often go as high as 230 degrees.
When we expose our hair to high temperatures, we dry it out because the moisture in our hair evaporates. When hair dries out, it becomes porous, it becomes vulnerable and breaks easily when you brush your hair or use elastics or crunchies. Dry hair also tends to become frizzy and unruly because the lack of moisture makes the surface of the hair rough.
Fortunately, you can do a lot to protect your hair when you style it. With the best heat protectant spray, you’ll put a protective coating around each strand.
The coating ensures that the moisture in your hair doesn’t evaporate when you heat it up. It also adds extra moisture and conditioning to help compensate for the treatment you’re putting your hair through when you style it with hot styling tools.
I can’t stress enough how important it is that you make the heat protectant spray a regular ritual EVERY TIME you style your hair with a blow dryer, straightener or similar.
Did you know that heating your hair to over 200 degrees will ruin it? – Our hair contains keratin protein, which is what gives your hair its strength. If you heat your hair too high with a straightener or curling iron, you simply melt the keratin protein in your hair. This causes split and frizzy hair.
How to use a heat protectant spray for hair
The best heat protectant spray can be used on both wet and dry hair. Even if you wash your hair often and will mostly use the heat protectant spray on wet hair, you should still choose a spray that can also be used on dry hair.
In fact, it’s important to remember to spray your hair with heat protectant spray, even if you just want to straighten your hair after in the morning.
Heat protectant spray is incredibly easy to apply:
- Wash your hair as you care for it with a good shampoo and conditioner
- Remove most moisture from your hair with a towel
- Spray your hair with the heat protectant spray, do not spray your roots
- If you use hair oil or leave-in conditioner, you can use it at the same time
- Gently detangle your hair with a hairbrush that suits your hair type
- Now you’re ready to blow-dry, straighten or curl your hair
If you’re using a flat iron or curling iron, don’t turn up the heat.
Almost all hair can be styled at 175 – 185 degrees. There’s no need to turn up the temperature, it will only damage your hair. If you style your hair at temperatures above 200 degrees, the keratin protein in your hair starts to melt, which means your hair suffers irreparable damage.
Avoid over-styling your hair – Your hair doesn’t benefit from heat treatment, no matter how well you protect it. You should therefore try to postpone your hair wash for one day, giving your hair a longer break between styling days.
Guide to the best heat protectant spray for YOUR hair
Hair is different and needs different hair care products. That’s why you should also choose your heat protectant spray wisely.
I’m going to give you some advice on what to keep in mind when buying a heat protectant spray for your hair.
Can the heat protectant spray withstand high temperatures?
The heat protectant spray’s job is to protect your hair from high temperatures when you style it.
Your focus should therefore be on choosing a heat protectant spray that protects your hair at high temperatures of up to 200 degrees. This way, you are sure to get effective protection for your hair.
Can the heat protection spray be used on both wet and dry hair?
The best heat protectant spray should be able to be used on both wet and dry hair. It’s important to protect your hair after you’ve washed it and before you dry and style it.
But it’s just as important that you also make sure to give your dry hair heat protection if you want to straighten your dry hair the next day or if you want to curl your hair.
Is the heat protection right for your hair type?
All hair needs heat protection if you style it with hot hair styling tools. But depending on your hair type, there are different things you should be aware of.
If you have fine and thin hair, you should choose a heat protector without a lot of oils that can weigh your hair down, making it lose its volume and look unwashed.
If your hair is thick and frizzy, you can choose a heat protectant with a lot of extra moisture. Among the heat protection sprays I’ve reviewed here, you’ll find products for all hair types.
Does the heat protectant spray add something extra to the hair besides heat protection?
When buying heat protection spray, you should briefly consider whether your spray should do more than heat protect your hair. You may already have dry hair, in which case you may want to choose a heat protectant spray that adds a whole lot of moisture to your hair.
It could also be that you suffer from frizzy hair that is difficult to control, in which case you could opt for a heat protectant spray with emollient oils that tame the hair.
You can also get heat protectant sprays that contain UV protection to protect your hair from the sun’s rays. This can be a great benefit if your hair is coloured.
These are all extra features that you can opt for when choosing heat protectant spray.
The best heat protectant spray also gives hair shine and then smells lovely
You can easily ask your heat protectant spray to also make your hair shiny while protecting it from high temperatures.
A good heat protectant spray will also add shine to your hair, making it look healthier and more vibrant.
Personally, I also think a heat protectant spray should smell nice, but in no way overpowering. A nice exclusive mild scent is nice to spray on your hair when you get ready in the morning. It refreshes the hair nicely.
3 tips when using a straightener or curling iron on your hair
- Always use a heat protectant spray – Always use a heat protectant spray, whether it’s freshly washed hair or hair to be styled on the 2nd or 3rd day.
- Curl or straighten only COMPLETELY dry hair – It may be tempting to use the curling or straightening iron on slightly damp hair, but you should never do so as tests show that hair takes more damage from being heated when it’s still damp.
- Don’t turn up the temperature on your straightener or curler – There’s no need to turn up the heat on your straightener. Especially if you’ve dyed your hair or if you have thin fine hair. In fact, you could end up ruining your hair if you use too hot hair styling tools. You will be able to both curl and heat your hair at 175 – 180 degrees.
Have you learned about heat protectant sprays and know which one to choose?
I’m glad you’ve read this far and I hope my review has been useful to you – and made your choice of heat protectant spray easier. If you choose one of the products I’ve reviewed here, I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the quality and see a difference in your hair.
The heat protectant sprays I’ve highlighted here are not randomly chosen, but the heat protectant sprays that have received the best reviews from experts in the field. They are also heat protectant sprays that are highly rated by consumers. Which has to be said, is the best seal of quality.
To make it as easy as possible for you, I have included links directly to all the retailers of the products. This makes it easy for you to compare prices and make the best purchase. To finish, I’ll give you 3 tips that you can use when straightening or curling your hair.
If you still have more questions about heat protectant spray, you can search the answer in my FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions about the best heat protectant spray.