Safeguarding the health and vibrancy of your curly hair during styling is a must, and the key to achieving this lies in choosing the right heat-protectant spray. Whether you’re facing the scorching heat of styling tools like a flat iron or blow dryer or tackling the sun’s rays, a reliable heat protectant becomes your hair’s shield against damage.
A heat protectant product forms a protective barrier, shielding your curls from the damaging effects of heat styling tools. By creating this barrier, heat protectants help prevent moisture loss, reduce frizz, and maintain your curly locks’ overall health and integrity.
15 Best Heat Protectants For Curly Hair
The best hair products to protect your curls should include the following:
✓ Have a light, non-greasy formula
✓ Are safe for color-treated hair
✓ Provide UV protection
✓ Contain natural oils/butter to help protect hair from heat damage
1. Cantu Thermal Shield Heat Protectant with Shea Butter
This product works great for chemically processed and color-treated textured hair. The shea butter is rich in fatty acids and has sealing properties that help to protect the hair from heat, including the sun’s rays. It also helps fight frizz during humid weather!
2. Pantene Heat Protectant Spray with Jojoba Oil for Curly Hair
This weightless heat protectant won’t leave your hair feeling greasy or heavy. The jojoba oil helps smoothen the cuticles and protects against heat damage. This spray offers 450°F heat protection! Please note this comes in a two-pack, so you can keep one at home and one in your purse for touch-ups on the go.
3. Design Essentials Natural Agave & Lavender Thermal Protectant Crème
The brilliant spray will protect your hair when using heat up to 420 degrees. It also protects against the humidity and leaves your hair feeling soft, manageable, and frizz-free.
4. Mielle Mongongo Oil Style Setting Spray
This natural hair styling spray is ideal for low- or no-heat styles and delivers a subtle hold with a radiant sheen. The key ingredient, Mongongo nuts, is high in vitamin E and magnesium and are good healthy fats for your hair.
5. Mixed Chicks Straightening Serum
Here is another thermal heat protectant product that is specifically designed for curly hair. This product will help to minimize frizz and resist humidity. It is infused with botanicals, including silk amino acids, hops, rosemary, chamomile, and witch hazel extracts.
6. Carol’s Daughter Monoi (Repair + Protect) Multi-Styling Milk
What you do before and after washing can help preserve your curl pattern while reducing heat damage. This multi-purpose leave-in treatment is perfect for prepping your hair for thermal styling or as a finisher. It can be used on damp or dry hair and provides heat protection up to 425 degrees. Not only does it help moisturize and strengthen hair, but it also helps to repair already damaged hair.
7. Eden BodyWorks Hibiscus Honey Hydration Blow Dry Cream
This blow-dry cream also helps protect strands from breakage and damage caused by heat styling while infusing hair with moisture. It penetrates hair with deep moisture and creates a barrier on the strands, thanks to the natural humectant key ingredient, honey.
8. Mizani Thermal Strength Heat Protecting Serum
This is a protective lightweight serum to help keep hair protected during heat styling. Formulated with Shea Butter and Anti-Breakage Ceramide technology, this product will help to reduce breakage and strengthen hair. Though this is only a 5 oz. bottle, a little goes a long way!
9. African Pride Black Castor Miracle Anti-Humidity Heat Protectant Spray
This heat protection spray is formulated with black castor oil and a keratin protein complex to help replenish moisture, reduce frizz, and protect hair from heat up to 400 degrees. It also helps to fortify and strengthen weak, brittle hair.
10. Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Heat Styling Spray
Living Proof’s Healthy Hair Molecule is in every bottle of this styling spray. This heat protectant spray for curly hair is a frontrunner because it does everything you would expect, plus more. In addition to protecting your hair from heat damage also leaves your locks looking smoother, shinier, and softer to the touch.
11. Aphogee Pro-Vitamin Leave-in Conditioner
This product is essential to use when using styling tools or blow dryers. It is a deep penetrating, leave-in conditioner that fortifies limp, lifeless hair. This product uses a combination of two key ingredients, panthenol and mucopolysaccharides, to help increase fullness and strengthen the hair. It also helps reduce frizz, add body, protect color-treated hair, and seal in moisture.
12. Curl Keeper Thermal Heat Defence
This product comes in the form of a cream and is best applied to damp hair before blow drying. It will help to reduce frizz and add shine. It protects curls from heat-styling tools like flat irons, curling irons, and direct blow-drying.
13. Creme of Nature Argan Oil Heat Defense Smooth & Shine Polisher
Argan oil and honey are two of this product’s key heat-protecting ingredients, but it doesn’t stop there — it also seals in moisture for long-lasting hydration, promoting shine.
14. Olaplex No.7 Bonding Oil
This weightless, reparative styling oil dramatically increases shine and softness while minimizing flyaways and frizz. It also protects hair from heat up to 450°. With over 32,000+ positive Amazon reviews, this best-selling product is definitely worth a try!
15. Ouai Hair Oil
Our hair is always asking for more moisture, and this product provides it. African galanga, ama, and Asian borage oils work together to protect and smooth your hair like you’ve never seen before. It prevents color loss, protects hair from heat (up to 450 degrees) and UV damage, softens split ends and frizz, and gives next-level shine to hair.
It can also be used as a leave-in for dry hair after a blowout, or overnight as an intensive hydrating mask.
Preserving Curly Brilliance: The Importance of Heat Protection for Healthy Hair
Maintaining moisture, preventing tangles and frizz, and overall hair health are persistent challenges for those with curly hair. If you’ve successfully transitioned from damaged to healthy hair, you understand the time and effort involved, making it crucial to avoid setbacks.
While the allure of straightening your hair may be tempting, especially if you’ve come a long way in your hair health journey, using hot styling tools without a good heat protectant is a risk you don’t want to take. Achieving a silk press or blowout while preserving your hair’s integrity is possible with the right precautions.
Incorporating a quality heat protectant into your routine is among the best practices for maintaining healthy curls while enjoying various styling options. Ensuring your strands are in optimal condition before applying a hot tool is crucial, as the structural proteins within each strand can be damaged when heat is applied without protection.
Once this damage occurs, it is, unfortunately permanent. Therefore, taking proactive measures to prevent heat damage becomes paramount in preserving the long-term health of your curls. Anyone with curly hair knows how hard it is to keep it moisturized, tangle-free, frizz-free, maintain it…the list goes on and on.
FAQs
What if my hair gets damaged from heat styling?
If your hair becomes damaged from heat styling, there are a few things you can do to help repair it. First, make sure you are using a heat protectant spray or product before you style your hair. This will help to create a barrier between your hair and the heat.
Next, try using a deep conditioning treatment or mask at least once a week. This will help to hydrate and nourish your strands, making them more resilient to heat damage. Finally, use a protein treatment every few weeks. This will help to strengthen and repair your hair.
Do you ever feel like your curls aren’t bouncing back after you wash them? You’re not alone. Your hair bonds need time to heal and reform.
When the flat iron, or curling iron, is set to high temperatures—such as 450 degrees—it may require several washes for the bonds in your hair to revert to their original state, even in the absence of apparent damage. Note: It’s crucial to never use a flat iron on wet hair to prevent potential damage.
Are there any negative effects of using silicone in a hair product, specifically a heat protectant spray?
Generally, no. Silicones often get a bad rap, but it is one of the best ingredients for heat protection.
Silicones can be very beneficial for your hair, as they can help smoothen the cuticles and add shine. However, using silicone too often can buildup on your hair and cause it to become greasy.
It’s best to use a little bit of silicone at a time and to make sure you’re using a clarifying shampoo every few weeks to prevent build-up.
