15 best heat protectant sprays to add to your haircare arsenal immediately
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Whether you're a fan of a weekly blow-out with your hair dryer or hot brush or you regularly use hot styling tools, heat protectant sprays are a truly essential addition to your selection of haircare products. Effectively acting as a barrier between your hair and heat styling tool of choice, these miracle sprays and mists help to preserve moisture and prevent the weakening of the strands — which is crucial if you're keen to avoid excess frizz, split ends, and breakage. Trust me.
As well as regularly booking in for a full-head of bleach highlights, I spent my teens clamping hair straighteners over my already-straight strands each morning before school — and I'd be lying if I said heat protection spray was ever particularly high up on my priorities list. As a result, I was left with pretty damaged hair by my twenties — so I now make a real conscious effort to give it proper love and attention.
Although it's now in much better nick, my fine hair is still quite prone to breakage. From sleeping on a silk pillowcase, to massaging a hair oil into my scalp every week, I take a lot of steps to look after it — but I firmly believe that always using a heat defence spray is still the most basic and important step.
While serums and masks are mostly reparative, heat protectant is preventative — and also helps strengthen and fortify your hair in the long-run. So, making it a non-negotiable part of your styling routine is key if you want sleek and hydrated hair.
SKIP TO: How do you use heat protection spray? | What ingredients should you look for in an effective heat protection spray? | How we tested heat protection sprays | Our full reviews.
The best heat protectant sprays at a glance:
- Best heat protectant spray overall: ghd Bodyguard Heat Protect Spray
- Best heat protectant for dealing with damage: Kérastase Genesis Defense Thermique Spray
- Best heat protectant for shine and softness: Beauty Works 10 in 1 Miracle Heat Protect Spray
- Best heat protectant that's also a conditioner: Redken One United Multi-Benefit Treatment
Meet the expert:
- Lewis Pallett — Celebrity Hair Stylist and Colourist.
How do you use heat protection spray?
In order for your heat protection spray to form a proper barrier between your hair and hot styling tools, you'll need to do more than just a quick spritz over the top of your head. “A good technique is to hold the spray bottle in one hand, and grab your hair with the other, and basically lift and drop each section while continuously spraying," Lewis explains.
It doesn't matter whether you're styling freshly-washed hair from scratch, or just doing a quick touch-up on day two or three, the spray has to be applied whenever you use even the smallest amount of heat. And remember to spritz it before you go in with any products like styling cream or mousse. “Everybody needs to be using some kind of heat protection spray — regardless of their hair type," Lewis adds.
But remember — although coating every single hair is definitely the aim, you'll need to wait for the formula to fully dry before getting out the straightener or curling tong if you want to avoid damage. In a hurry? A gentle blow dry will speed up the process.
What ingredients should you look for in an effective heat protection spray?
Forming a protective sealant that prevents the hair cuticle from being exposed to heat, many popular thermal protection sprays these days also provide other benefits. From nourishing and hydrating split ends, to helping with detangling, these are some of the hard-working ingredients you might want to look out for in your formulas.
Designed to attract and retain moisture, natural humectants like glycerin, hyaluronic acid, and aloe vera are often present in heat defence sprays. Commonly found in hair treatment products and leave-in conditioner formulas due to their hydrating properties, they're really beneficial for damaged and dry hair.
Strengthening ingredients like amino acids and keratin are also worth looking out for, as they can really help repair damage, prevent breakage, and are also rich in antioxidants. And for hair that’s left looking shiny, radiant, and free from excess frizz, you cant go wrong with a bit of argan oil.
How we tested heat protection sprays:
Throughout the years, the GLAMOUR team has collectively tried hundreds of heat protectant sprays on our wide range of different hair types, textures, and lengths. From straight and fine hair, to frizzy and curly hair, it's safe to say that we've got all possible bases covered. When reviewing each formula, we've scrutinised their ingredients and any special claims that they make, and have assessed everything from how quickly they dry, to how effective they actually seem to be at reducing heat damage. Read more about how we test here.