The Ultimate Guide to Men's Sea Salt Spray

The more hair changes, the more it stays the same. We've seen a shift from mousses of the ‘80s, to gels in the ‘90s, and clays and pomades in recent years. The newest shift in men's hair is to get back to the natural look, but with a bit more control and style. That's where Sea Salt Spray comes in.

Sea Salt Spray differs from most other styling products in that the goal is to work with the hair's natural tendencies—resulting in a more textured version of your natural hair.

Now, not all Sea Salt Sprays are created equally. Many cheap products are simply watered-down versions of gel and can leave hair sticky, and with product build-up. Higher-end products do a great job of mimicking seawater but leave out one of the most important parts of the ocean—the beach. Beardbrand Sea Salt Spray has been infused with kaolinite clay to give it that true grit and texture that you'd get from spending the day at the beach.

If you are completely new to Sea Salt Spray, you'll want to know how it works before you go off purchasing it—or running off to dunk your head in the nearest ocean. It will not give you rock hard hair, high shine hair, or waxy, sticky hair. it will give you textured, matte hair that is touchable and moves naturally. If you need a product to "freeze" your hair in place, Sea Salt Spray is not for you. If you want to show off your natural hair with a bit more movement, style, and texture then this is the product you are looking for.

Alright, let's get into the process for How to get textured hair with Sea Salt Spray in 5 simple steps.

1. Start With a Freshly Washed Head of Hair

Start with a freshly washed head of hair. After hopping out of the shower, pat your hair dry. From there, you can let your hair air dry until it is damp, or you can use a blow dryer to speed up the process.

2. Shake the Bottle Thoroughly

Be sure you have thoroughly shaken the sea salt spray before application. Separation between the clay and water is natural, so you’ll need to mix it up. Apply approximately 5 to 10 sprays into your hair (you can use less or more depending on hair length), and then work the product completely into your hair using your hands.

3. Use a Hairdryer

Grab your hairdryer—preferably use one with a condenser attachment. Hairdryers do more than just dry your hair, they help lock your hair into a style. This is where the magic and technique really comes into play. You'll want to start at the root of your hair and then blow it in the direction you want the hair to lay.

For me, it's starting at the crown of my head, and drying the hair backward in a pushed-back style. For variety, I will occasionally dry from the crown to my temples to get a forward-looking style. Work the air from your crown to your temples, and remember, it's very important to angle where your hair dryer is pointed while drying. With the sides and bangs, I will blow dry in an upward fashion to give my hair the volume that I want.

As I am blow drying my hair, I run my fingers through it so that I can feel how dry the hair is getting and make sure that the drying process is done evenly across my hair. When it comes to heat settings, I start off with high or medium, depending on how wet my hair is. As the hair drys, I cut down the temperature. I'll use cool blasts to lock the hair in place.

The speed of your hairdryer setting depends on the power of your hairdryer. I use the medium blow setting, as high is too intense, and move to low as I get to the refining stage.

4. Add Styling Balm (optional)

At this point, the hair will be styled to preference, but I prefer a little bit more hold throughout the day. Because I have finer, thinner hair, I must be careful when using additional products. This is where less is definitely more.

I work up a very small amount (about the size of two peas) of Styling Balm into my hands. My preferred product is Beardbrand Tree Ranger Styling Balm.

Work the product into the fingertips and—here is a very important process—focus on working the Styling Balm into the roots of the hair, avoiding the ends and hair shaft. If you start getting product all over the hair, you'll find that it can weigh down the hair and remove some of the volume you are aiming for. If you have thicker, fuller hair, this won't be a big issue.

I don't worry about getting my hair messy when applying the balm because I've already locked the hair memory into place using the Sea Salt Spray and blow dryer.

5. Blow Dry a Second Time (optional)

Once finished working the product throughout the hair, grab your blow dryer and blow it back into the final shape you are going for.

Boom! That's it; and you now have awesome textured hair that will hold throughout the day. Not only that, but it’s also touchable, moveable, and looks awesome.

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