Salt Spray

oliviarrington

HI! I am new to the curly girl method and have 2b waves. I use a natural sea salt spray from Gnarly Whale, and it is silicone, sulfate and paraben free, but am unsure about the effects of salt on hair. Is it curly girl approved, or will it ruin my definition after repeated use? Any help is greatly appreciated! 

Therese1

Sea salt sprays can be drying to the hair, and some people's hair is more sensitive to that than others'. I would keep an eye on your hair, and if you notice excessive drying, try deep conditioning and maybe using less of the product.

oliviarrington

Thank you for your help! I'll try it for a bit and see what happens

Gretchen

Hi @oliviarrington !  How's your hair doing with the salt spray? 

jeepcurlygurl

I just saw a video by Lorraine Massey and she mentioned using saline solution (for cleaning contacts, eye drops, etc) like you would a salt spray. She figures that if it is safe enough for eyes it should be safe for hair. I put some in a spray bottle and have used it a few times as a refresher/volumizer on the top of my hair that tends to get flat. So far it works and doesn't seem drying at all. 

Gretchen

jeepcurlygurl said:

I just saw a video by Lorraine Massey and she mentioned using saline solution (for cleaning contacts, eye drops, etc) like you would a salt spray. She figures that if it is safe enough for eyes it should be safe for hair. I put some in a spray bottle and have used it a few times as a refresher/volumizer on the top of my hair that tends to get flat. So far it works and doesn't seem drying at all. 

Excellent tip! 

Amylizabeth

Cake Beauty has a great Wave Maker spray that is sugar-based instead of salt for giving textured beachy hair... I don't find it near as drying on my hair, gives me a lot less frizz, and it smells like cotton candy!

Gretchen

Amylizabeth said:

Cake Beauty has a great Wave Maker spray that is sugar-based instead of salt for giving textured beachy hair... I don't find it near as drying on my hair, gives me a lot less frizz, and it smells like cotton candy!

OH wow!  How fun!  I'll keep an eye out for it!  

Ondulee

I use CHS Rev Up! Voluming mist which is a salt spray and to ensure it doesn't over dry my hair, I also use my DIY aloe gel spray on dry hair.  So far so good.

Gretchen

Ondulee said:

I use CHS Rev Up! Voluming mist which is a salt spray and to ensure it doesn't over dry my hair, I also use my DIY aloe gel spray on dry hair.  So far so good.

Glad you found a combo that works!

BeinDeb

I would urge great caution in the using of any salt sprays. When I first found out about CG, and was wondering if I did really have curly hair, I used them exclusively as a styler for 4 or 5 months. They made my hair very curly, and while I did learn that I truly had curly hair, it was a HUGE mistake on my very porous and fine textured hair! They fried it every bit as much as using heat or chemical processes would have, It took a long time to coax my fragile hair into regaining the moisture it so desperately needed.

Gretchen

BeinDeb said:

I would urge great caution in the using of any salt sprays. When I first found out about CG, and was wondering if I did really have curly hair, I used them exclusively as a styler for 4 or 5 months. They made my hair very curly, and while I did learn that I truly had curly hair, it was a HUGE mistake on my very porous and fine textured hair! They fried it every bit as much as using heat or chemical processes would have, It took a long time to coax my fragile hair into regaining the moisture it so desperately needed.

WOW!  Interesting. I hadn't heard of salt sprays doing this. I'm so glad you shared your cautionary tale. 

curlypearl

I also have had a very bad experience with products containing magnesium sulfate (which is a type of salt).  At first it worked wonders for my hair but after using it several times, all of a sudden my hair felt really nasty, very rough.  It took a few very long, deep conditioning treatments for my hair to get back to normal.  Never again - not for me!