DIY Sea Salt Texturizing Hair Spray
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Oh my goodness, sorry for the radio silence on the DIY side of the blog lately! Busy season with lots of do-it-yourself cooking, versus projects. But today I’m back with a new and super-easy “recipe” that I’m currently obsessed with — DIY sea salt spray!
I will admit that I am totally a hair stylist’s customer-come-true when it comes to buying hair products. I never really seek them out on my own. But when my stylist works her magic and my thin, straight, flat hair suddenly has volume?!? Well, let’s just say that I’ll buy just about any products to try and re-create the look. One of those, of course, has been my trusty sea salt spray.
To be honest, I’m not quite sure why I love the stuff so much. Maybe it’s my undying love of all things salty, maybe it’s living just a little too far away from the ocean, or maybe it really is that effective. But whatever the reason, I’ve been hooked on using sea salt spray as a texturizing product for years. Something about it just seems to give my hair that extra “oomph” when it comes to volume, and also hold curl better all day long. (And, um, sometimes a few extra days.)
But paying $20+ for a bottle that’s practically just saltwater? Well, when my last bottle ran out, I decided to do a little improvising and see if I could make a homemade version instead. Turns out you can, turns out it only takes 4 ingredients, turns out works beautifully, and — the best part? — turns out that it literally costs pennies to make.
Here’s how I made mine:
How To Make DIY Sea Salt Texturizing Hair Spray | 1-Minute Video
Begin with 4 basic ingredients:
- 1 cup warm water (for spraying)
- 1 tablespoon sea salt (for texturizing)
- 1-2 teaspoons argan oil or avocado oil (for moisturizing)
- 4-5 drops essential oil (for smelling yummy — I used this lavender oil)
You’ll also want to have a nice spray bottle ready to go. I used this glass bottle from Amazon.
Heat the water in a measuring cup or small bowl until it comes to a simmer.
Stir in the salt until it is completely dissolved. Whisk in the oil and a few drops of the essential oil. Then pour it into your bottle (with the help of a funnel, if you’d like) and give it a good shake.
Spray it all over your hair while it’s still wet. Then once you blow it dry and style it…
…get ready for some extra texture!!!
The formula I’ve listed above works best for me. But if you have more:
- Dry hair, and you’d like a little extra moisture, add in an extra teaspoon or two of the oil.
- Oily hair, then I’d go light on the oil and just use 1 teaspoon.
- Curly hair or styled hair, and you want to really “set” or hold a style in place, you can add in a teaspoon or two of hair gel. (Otherwise, I’ll sometimes just use a bit of regular hair spray after styling my hair.)
Seriously, the sea salt creates that perfect “beachy” feel that’s perfect for curls, waves, or even just giving your straight look a little extra boost. Feel free to tinker around with the proportions to find the mix that’s perfect for you. But otherwise, enjoy this easy (and super affordable!) DIY alternative to the salon prices!
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I love this so much because I’ve been using a store-bought sea salt spray that sometimes just leaves my hair more sticky than anything else. I love natural products that actually work! Thanks for sharing!
Me too! And yep, this one doesn’t leave your hair sticky at all. (Although if you want extra “hold”, you can add in a teaspoon or so of hair gel to the mix.)
so how does your hair look if you spray this on while damp and let it air dry??
Works great! Granted, I have naturally straight hair, so I pretty much always blow dry to give it extra volume. But it still works well if you air-dry (especially if you scrunch it for waves).
Ahhh… I love this so much!!! You are so absolutely stunning my friend!!! DIY scares me but this really seems doable!! If you make challah I’ll try this, deal?
Ha! DEALLLL. :)
I love it! It’s fitting that my bottle of sea salt spray JUST ran out this week. Can’t wait to try this :)
Perfect timing! And yep, that’s exactly why I made a batch for myself. (Plus not wanting to pay $20 for another bottle of saltwater.) ;)
Wow that works so well! And what a great (and inexpensive!) way to feel really summery without even going to the beach!
Agreed! (Especially when you live in Missouri and basically nowhere near a beach like me.) ;)
This is so awesome! I almost bought some sea salt spray the other day, but this is way more up my alley. Question: Does the coconut oil ever re-solidify and kind of separate from the water? Or does it all stay pretty well mixed together after you initially make it?
Oooh, good question. I actually went in an hour ago and put in a note about coconut oil. It WILL re-solidify if you keep the spray somewhere cooler than 76 degrees. So if that’s the case, I recommend using olive or argan oil. I made mine with coconut oil and keep it near the shower, though, so it tends to heat up each time I use it. :)
Use fractionated coconut oil. It’s liquefied, and won’t go hard! ?
Oh, how clever! I never would have thought to make my own! I’ve become obsessed with sea salt sprays myself of late – especially the Parlor version. But I love that this is an easy homemade version where you know exactly what’s in it. Thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to make a batch!
Thanks, Kara! I hope you love it as much as I do! : )
Very cool. Although my beach hair is usually a hot mess. Your hair is gorgeous! :)
Thank you, Stephanie!
How well does this work on short (just at the shoulders) hair? I have super straight hair and without a volumizer or blow dry it just lays! Would love to use this at the beach next week!
We’re not really sure, Tami, but it should work just as well! Have fun at the beach!
ooh these pictures are hawt ;)
Wow, your hair looks absolutely gorgeous! Trying this out. My hair could use some oomph and texture!
Thank you! :) Hope you enjoy it!
How long can you keep it? Definitely want to try this out!
It should keep for at least a month or two!
Your photography is exquisite. Best I have seen. Thanks for the ranch dressing recipe which is also the best I have have read.
Wow, thank you and thank you! I appreciate your encouragement!
I have been looking for such a “recipe.” So, thanks. And, how do you get such beautiful curls in naturally straight hair? I would really love to know!
Awesome! And I scrunched my hair partway, and then added some curls with a straightener (that I basically use as a curling wand). :)
thanks for posting this! i just bought an expensive bottle of sea salt spray and will now be taking it back!
We hope you love it! :)
My little 2yr old dude has killer curls but super sensitive skin. I found any store bought product seemed to flare up his eczema.
I’m excited to try this to tame his curls.
Awww we hope it helps him Kristy!
Kristy.. I know it’s been a long time but i wondered how this worked on your little guys curls. I got a curly toddler too
Thank you for that great idea – I’ve bought seasalt hairspray from my hairstylist and it is really expensive!! Now I can do it myself!!????
Fantastic! I was looking for a sea salt spray recipe because I’m trying to use natural products on my hair. I was happy to see your site come up because we use your recipes a lot. Thankfully it was all stuff I had in the house! I mixed peony essential oil and I can’t stop smelling my hair. :)
Awesome, we’re glad you like it (that peony essential oil sounds so lovely)!
Any notes on how it might work on dry hair? I have waves that are very pretty right after a wash + airdry, but the next day they fall kind of flat. Maybe this spray could pep the waves back up? Anyway, great recipe! I’m excited to try it! x
Hi Yasmine! We haven’t tried it on Yasmie, but it might work – we think it’s worth a shot! Let us know, we hope you like it. :)
Thanks Ali!
I will prepare it a day leT you know how it goes. My hubby found your blog when visiting Aldi and that’s when I got hooked up. Thanks for the recipes aND your tone in general when you write. It is super nice and welcoming.
Have a blessed 2016!
Alicia Menda.
Awesome, we hope you enjoy the spray! And thanks to you and your hubby for checkout out the blog, and for your sweet words! :)
Didn’t work!!!!!
Hi there, we’re sorry to hear this didn’t work for you. :(
Does this add volume or just texture? My hair is pretty fine/limp, but I’m trying to find something to give it some oomph without filling it with store-bought stuff. What do you think?
Can you use other oils instead of coconut oil? – what is the oil used for?
Hi Catherine! The coconut oil is used for moisturizing. It’s awesome stuff! :)
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! Thanks a million! I live in the PNW so coconut oil is solid ALWAYS haha! I’m going to try making it with some almond oil that I have on hand and see how it turns out ;-)
Awesome Brooke, we hope you love it! :D
Do you use all mixture at once or as you needed? I never use any hair product in my hair other than shampoo. My hair is about two feet long
We just mist a little here and there, while our hair is damp. Don’t use all of this at once (it will be too much)! :)
Definitely going to try this tomorrow! Such a simple recipe :) thanks for sharing! Also, you should be able to use fractionated coconut oil. It stays liquid so no worrying about it solidifying! It’s a little bit lighter than regular CO too, so if your hair is greasy (like mine), it’s a good alternative. Also, it doesn’t have a smell to it (although I do love good coconut smelling beachy waves).
Awesome Lynne — we hope you love it! And thanks for your tip about the coconut oil — that’s good to know! :)
DOESN’T THE SALT DRY OUT YOUR HAIR? I HAVE DRY WAVY HAIR AND IT IS ALSO VERY LONG.
Hi Loretta — we haven’t found that the salt dries out our hair. The coconut oil helps condition it too.
I recently made my own, instead of using coconut or normal argan oil, I used some of my beard oil (mixture of argan and some manly smelling stuff) and tee tree oil. The spray bottle is currently sitting by my sink. Should I store it in the fridge or is it fine where it is?
Very cool Amiel! Also, we think it should be fine to sit out where it is. We hope you’re enjoying it!
I am going to use this to spray on my back for my psiriosis. Since I life alone, no one around to give my back the salve needed for this disease. My friend let me use her salt water pool & just one dip helped my skin so much!!! Thanks for this recipe
You’re so welcome Angela — we hope it helps!
Love this , thank you for this post. And sorry about the other chai seed post didn’t see your response first thank you for that also :) Love love love this blog.
Aloe vera is a good natural hair gel, if you don’t like using unnecessary chemicals. I just grow aloe vera and harvest as needed for my beauty requirements :)
Yes, aloe vera is amazing — we love it too! :)
I have thick, dead straight hair and this didn’t do a thing for me except make my skin hella itchy. When you wrote “style” perhaps you should mention in the article that you used a hair iron to get those results, not just in the comments. It would be cool to see what it did without any sort of styling. I’ve been looking for a natural way to add texture with only a blow or air dry involved, without having to use a hair iron, so I was kind of thrown off by the results..
Hi just use fractionated coconut oil and it won’t harden. It will stay liquified regardless of the tempature! I use it in my roller balls with my essential oils!!
Ooh, thanks for this great tip, Susan — we appreciate it! :)
I havnt tried it in my hair yet.. but Love the smell!! I used Himalayan Pink Salt for my texturizer and added a little more lavendar…I cant wait to use it!!
We hope you love it, Jessika! :)
Thank you for this! I’m mixing my first bottle now! It’s okay to use a plastic spray bottle, right? That’s all I have.
You’re welcome! We hope you enjoy! And plastic should be okay.
Thank you so much!! Definitely gonna give it a try!!!❤❤❤?
You’re welcome, Lesha — we hope you love it!
OR …. simply go to your favourite beach and your whole body will benefit from sea salt , sunshine , magnesium , fresh air and exercise …apart from the joy of a beautiful day out and perhaps a lovely meal prepared by somebody that could become a new friend !!
Haha! Of course, but not all of us can get to the beach whenever we want. :)
Can you use this everyday?
We don’t see why not! :)
This is AWESOME! I will definitely give it a try! Thank you! :)
Thanks, Alix — we hope you love it!
Sounds terrific, I’m going to make this tomorrow morning & add a few drops peppermint oil to it, along with coconut oil. Thanx for the great tip. ?
Awesome, we hope you love it as much as we do, Marti!
Where did you buy the glass spray bottle? Great tutorial! x
Hi Sarah! You can find them on Etsy!
Thanks for the post. I hate paying so much for salt spray as well so, I’m excited to try this! Thanks also for the bottle recommendation I was actually trying to figure out an alternative to the traditional nozzle spray bottles.
I am going to have to try this I always wanted to try sea salt spray
Awesome, we hope you love it, Shannon!
I’m starting to wonder if it’s necessary to spend $50 on sea salt hair spray anymore lol. You hit two birds with one stone on this one, girl: full wallets + full hair!!
I love your choice of oil for this recipe too. It’s moisture-loaded which is good for me, as my hair and skin dry easily. Arganand avo are some of the most penetrating oils, along with jojoba, emu (can penetrate through all 7 layers of the skin??), and mahabhrigraj.
Also because I love salty things too. There’s this treat, sea salt ice cream (from a video game I used to play back in the day) I want to make myself. I’m sure there’s a DIY if you skim Pinterest long enough, but it’d be cool if you made some for the summer :)
This year I want all summer-related things coming my way.. I’m sick of the Minnesota weather ?⛄️
Thank you for sharing with us
You’re very welcome, we’re glad you enjoy this! :)
Thank you so much for providing this sea salt hair spray DIY recipe!
You said it!! $20+ for a 3oz bottle is absurd! I’m a single momma with no help so I need every penny I can get.
And better yet, I have every item you have listed under ingredients so I’m going to make it right after I send this thank you note! :)
Thanks again & keep blogging my friend!
Courtney
You’re so welcome, Courtney, we hope you love this DIY as much as we do! :)
i am very interested in this DIY SEA SALT TEXTURIZING HAIR SPRAY. is this safe for bleached blonde hair?
It should be! We hope you enjoy!
Hi, All I have in Himalayan salt, do you think it will work?
Hey there, we think that should be just fine!
Thanks for sharing. I really want to try this DIY. My hair is fine and I have trouble getting a curl to last.
Awesome, hope you like the spray!
I just tried this and it worked perfectly!! I have short bob-length hair, and this is a perfect way to style it everyday without using heat. Thank you so much for this!!
I’m looking forward to trying this! I’m a California girl that loves the sea salt effect on my hair, but living in Missouri now for the past 20 years, I never even see the ocean!