Sea Salt spray and summertime go hand in hand. I mean . . .who has time to be meticulously heat styling their hair just to walk out into the humidity and have it disappear in one second? Not me, and I’m guessing not you either.

Salt spray is a great way of adding texture to the hair without spending too much time on it, but like most things in life all salt sprays are not created equal. So what is the best sea salt spray? Well it depends on what you need. I tested about 12 million of them, and only some have made the cut. Here are a few of my favorites, for different situations and different hair needs:

LUSH Breath Of Fresh Air: This is not actually meant to be a hair product, it’s supposed to be a facial toner. But my awesome friend who used to work at Lush gave me a heads up that this works as an amazing low-hold salt spray for your hair so I HAD to give it a try. The first ingredient is sea water, so obviously it will add some salty texture. For me, It’s not QUITE enough hold and texture in humidity for my straight, limp hair. But it does add a small amount of texture and nice separation without making it crunchy, and works great in drier, cooler weather. My friend absolutely loves it for her coarse curly hair even in the steamy depths of summer though, so if your hair is a little more textured to begin with, then this is the one for you. It smells fresh and herbal and has a whole lot of natural healthy ingredients too. At under ten dollars for 3.3 oz it’s right in the middle of the price range, so it’s definitely a good buy.

Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray: I got a mini size of this in one of my subscription boxes last month, and it quickly became a regular part of my rotation. It’s got a medium amount of texture and hold which is ideal for most hair types, and if you have any amount of natural wave, this will give you some serious beachy goodness. It even give some nice waves in my blah, limp hair without a whole lot of scrunching. My only gripe with this one is that is has a STRONG coconut smell. I mean I love coconut and all, but I don’t love it as a scent in my hair on a regular basis. For the beach, sure… but I don’t want to smell like I just CAME from the beach when I’m out to dinner or something, ya know? If you don’t mind that, or are less sensitive to smells in your hair then this is an excellent spray that will give your hair a nice amount of texture without being crunchy. At around $20 for 4.2 oz it’s not exactly a bargain, but it’s not the most expensive either. Still a good buy, especially if you like coconut.

Tigi Catwalk Sea Salt Spray: I had to find a stock photo of this because I don’t have the original bottle for mine anymore, and in a moment I will explain why. First let’s talk about the product. This is pretty much equal to the Marc Anthony Dream Waves Spray in the amount of hold and texture that it adds to the hair. Perfect for most hair types as it adds enough texture to make a difference, but doesn’t get crunchy and crispy. What makes it even better than that is that it doesn’t have the beachy coconut smell that drives me crazy AND it’s under $20 for 9.3 oz! NINE! That’s a lot. Crazy good value right here. It’s pretty much perfect. But what’s the catch? It clogs. It clogs like a mothereffer. The first time it clogged I was like no problem I got this, I’ll just make a frankenbottle and it will be fine. That worked for a while, and then THAT clogged. So then I put it in an empty bottle of leave in conditioner spray . . .and then THAT clogged. It is now in its fourth container, and I’m hoping I finish it up before it clogs this one. For some reason the formula just clogs up all the nozzles. No sprayer is a match for this stuff. BUT if you don’t mind putting it in a new container every time it wreaks havoc on it’s last one, this stuff is the bomb. So much so that I will probably still buy more of it in spite of the spray nozzle issues.

Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray: This stuff is heavy duty. If your hair is naturally very limp and can’t hold texture in the humidity to save it’s life, then this is your stuff right here. Just a small amount of the fine mist that comes out of this bottle will add boat-loads of texture to your hair, that will hold up much better to the humidity than most things. Now I don’t use this every day . . . but if I need to look like my hair is styled, but don’t want to spend a lot of time on it (because I know the humidity is going to ruin all of my hard work grrr) I will let it air dry, then add a few waves with the curling wand or straightener, then spritz a little of this through the whole thing and scrunch it up. The result comes out like this:

Pro Tip: Strategic sun glare will hide the fact that you didn’t put any mascara on yet 😉

It will stay like that, pretty much all day, and if it starts to feel a little flat I can just scrunch it back up with my hands and it gets its life back. It can feel a little less soft and silky than is usually desirable, but that’s the trade you have to make for some texture in the summer heat. You can’t have everything kids. Life lessons here in this hair post. This one is a little more on the pricey side ($26 for 4oz) but a little goes a very long way, so I think you still get pretty good value for your money.

So those are (in my opinion) the best sea salt spray options for all your different sea salty needs. Let me know what you think of salt sprays in general, and which ones you like!