When it comes to multitasking hair heroes, texturizing spray is perhaps the most important styling product to keep in your arsenal. With just a few spritzes, you can refresh a second- (or third-) day blowout, add volume and grip to hair that has trouble holding a curl, and even help braids and tousled updos keep their shape. To figure out the best texture spray for your specific hair type, however, you first want to break down the two main types of formulas: dry texturizing sprays, which have become increasingly popular, and salt sprays, the classic styling product synonymous with beachy waves. Both types will add some lift and grit to your hair, but otherwise, they work very differently.
Like its name suggests, dry texturizing sprays should be applied to dry hair. These sprays use a dry mist that includes minerals like zeolite and/or silica to absorb excess oil (similar to dry shampoo), while also adding texture. A hybrid volumizing spray, dry shampoo, and hairspray, some dry texturizing sprays can even offer protection from sun damage and pollution if you look for a formula that contains antioxidants.
Then, you have your sea salt sprays, which have been a longtime staple for achieving beachy waves. These texture-enhancing mists get sprayed through damp hair to help add lift and encourage waves as your hair dries. If you find that salt sprays are too drying on your hair, you can try a sugar spray instead. Similar to salt sprays, sugar will give your hair more texture, but with a shinier finish, compared to salt spray's matte look.
Scroll on to discover the best texturizing sprays for every hair type and budget.
There's a reason this dry texturizer tops every "best of" beauty list. Luxe hair care brand Oribe's take on the staple styling product is the ultimate multitasker, with its ability to simultaneously add volume, create texture, and absorb excess oil. But that's not all this cult-favorite styling spray does. The Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray even protects hair from UV damage and oxidative stress thanks to its antioxidant complex that includes ingredients like watermelon, lychee, and edelweiss flower extract.
The other great thing about this texturizing spray is that, unlike other similar styling products, it never dulls or hardens your hair. In fact, since the formula contains moisture-attracting humectants, damage-repairing wheat proteins, and hydrating aloe vera, it actually helps soften and nourish your hair, in addition to adding shine. Combine all of that with its dreamy scent — so popular, the brand made it into a perfume — and you'll feel like you just left the salon.
True to all of Moroccanoil's products, the brand's Dry Texture Spray uses argan oil, which is naturally high in antioxidants and fatty acids, to soften, hydrate, and improve hair's elasticity. In addition to helping fine hair hold a curl, this styling spray adds dimension and definition while providing much-needed grip for updos and braids. If you have hair that's naturally curly or dry, this spray will help keep it moisturized, making it more manageable and less frizzy in the process. While zeolite helps give hair the grit that's typical of a dry texturizer, Moroccanoil hits hair with even more nourishment, thanks to the hydrolyzed wheat protein in the formula. This is another formula that has a delicious scent to rival your favorite perfume, and it never leaves your hair sticky or crunchy.
For a more affordable option, there's the Garnier Fructis Texture Tease Dry Touch Finishing Spray. Thanks to the brand's micro-mineral powder formula, this dry texture spray helps enhance second-day hairstyles and add flexible grip to finer hair types that otherwise struggle to hold a curl. It can also be sprayed at the roots for added volume to create fuller-looking hair. Because it won't leave your hair crunchy, you can layer on as much as you like to get your desired look, whether it's undone waves, textured braids, or a tousled pony.
When it comes to those just-stepped-off-the-beach waves, John Frieda's Beach Blonde Sea Salt Spray is a classic. The drugstore-favorite uses sea salt to quite literally give you those natural waves that a quick dip in the ocean creates, and it even smells like a summer vacay in a bottle with its tropical coconut scent. Try twisting it into sections while you wait for your hair to dry, or spritz it onto braids and leave them in overnight for even more defined waves by morning.
If you love the texture sea salt sprays create but find them too drying, the Wella EIMI Sugar Lift Spray gives you a similar styling effect while being gentler and more moisturizing. Sugar is the secret ingredient here, which works to add texture and grip to all hair types without creating that stiff effect sea salt sprays can. It also helps add volume and enhance shine, and leaves behind a soft-matte (never greasy) finish.
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