Hair Sprays

Hair Sprays

Hair sprays keep hair in place and protect it from moisture. They are used by both men and women to look good and presentable. The old types of hair sprays were made of lacquer (shellac dissolved in alcohol) while the newer ones contain polymer or elastesse - a liquid elastic that keeps the hair stiff and firm without snapping. Other ingredients are a solvent (often alcohol), conditioners and perfumes.

Hair sprays may make your hair more flammable both by depositing a layer of potentially flammable ingredients and by increasing the amount of flame-supporting oxygen circulating through your (teased or bouffant) hair.

Types of Hair Spray Products
There are several types of hair spray products that can set a style, increase shine, and promote volume. The most common types of this beauty product are categorized by how strong of a hold that they provide, generally characterized as flexible, medium, or maximum. Some include shine-enhancing and frizz-fighting properties in addition to setting the style, while others include ingredients that expand slightly when dry, providing lift to the roots of the hair.

In general, the main difference between hair spray products is the amount of hold that the spray provides. Products labeled as "flexible" typically give the least amount of staying power and are ideal for holding curls, waves, or flipped ends in place while still allowing for optimal movement. For short hair, flexible hair sprays are best for keeping hair under control without stiffness, and popular for everyday use.

1. Medium-hold hair spray: It is slightly stronger than flexible varieties, although they still allow for movement when applied sparingly. These tend to work best for softer up-dos and for keeping certain sections of the hair in place when the rest is down, particularly bangs. They are also typically preferred for more styled short haircuts, providing a fair amount of control with minimal stiffness.

Maximum hold sprays are the strongest, and tend to keep every strand in the same place for a significant amount of time. They are popular for slicking back or spiking up shorter hair when used in conjunction with a pomade or spray gel. For those with longer hair, these types of hair sprays are ideal for more dramatic up-dos, or on occasions when hair that is left down needs to stay in one place.

Hair spray products can also enhance shine, reduce frizz, and can come in either flexible, medium, or maximum hold. They may include light reflecting ingredients, a water resistant formula to fight humidity, or both of these. Typically, silicone is the primary ingredient in these types. In some cases, these hair spray products may include ingredients such as fine or coarse glitter that provide noticeable shimmer to the hair.


2. Volumizing hair sprays: Help to counteract the weighing-down effect that many stronger hair sprays have by utilizing slightly different ingredients than standard products. These are typically available in medium to maximum hold, and help to coat the roots of the hair, lifting them up. Some products utilize lightweight ingredients that expand once dry, giving hair body. In general, these types of hair sprays are meant only for the roots, although they can provide hold to the rest of the hair without weighing it down when applied sparingly.

Choose the Right Hair Spray
1. Flexible sprays aren't meant to do any heavy duty holding. Use a flexible spray when you just want to add a little bit of definition to a hairstyle that still needs to have some movement.

2. Strong and Extra Strength hairsprays work well for slightly more elaborate hair styles and more vigorous activities or weather.

3. Maximum Strength, Ultra Strength, Freeze are all terms you can expect on the strongest hair sprays. These are best for very elaborate, gravity-defying hair styles, or for times when you're going to be moving more, e.g. if you're going to dance or ice skate, or just really don't want your hair going anyway.

A few other deciding factors when choosing your hair spray:
1. Delivery: Some hair sprays come in aerosol cans so they can spray on continuously. This is easier for getting overall coverage,as for curls or updos. Other pump style hair sprays come out in short bursts that make it easier to control the amount, but harder to get consistent coverage.

2. Hair type: Some hair sprays are made for fine hair or for frizzy hair - consider your hair type when buying the sprays that specify.

3. Scent: If you use shampoo that has a strong scent, it may be a good idea to use an unscented hair spray. On the other hand, some hair sprays out there smell very nice, which could be a factor in how much you like it.

4. Special hair sprays that offer UV protection or humidity resistance might be a good idea in summer or in humid locations, since UV rays can dry out and damage your hair, and humidity can wreak havoc with hair spray and leave you with a sticky mess.

5. Feel can be another important factor. Hairspray doesn't have to be sticky to hold, but not all non-sticky hairsprays hold perfectly. You may need to experiment a little to find the design that's best for you.

Most Common Hair Spray Ingredients   
The most common hair spray ingredients are polyvinylpyrrolidone, polydimethylsiloxane, gum arabic, alcohols, hydrocarbons, and gum tragacanth. Hair spray was invented in the 1940s as a way to keep hair from moving around during the day. The same types of polymers in hair spray are found in wood glues, but they are water soluble for easy rinsing. Hair sprays are typically packaged in cans or bottles with a pressurized aerosol component.

Hair sprays are mostly made from synthetic ingredients such as vinyl acetate and acrylates. Two popular polymers, polyvinylpyrrolidone and polydimethylsiloxane, are responsible for hair spray's stickiness and long-lasting hold. Sprays that advertise as "all-day hold" tend to have more polydimethylsiloxane. Sometimes hair sprays contain pytocalcious chemicals, which deposit minerals at the hairs' roots to stiffen them up.

Other common hair spray ingredients include gums in alcohol solutions. Gum arabic, which comes from the hardened sap of African acacia trees, helps keep hair stiff for hours at a time. This ingredient is also used in paints, glues, inks, textiles, and cosmetics. It is usually harvested in the Middle East and sold to companies for a variety of purposes. For example, some Middle Eastern people use gum arabic to make sweet desserts.

Hair spray ingredients used to include chlorofluorocarbons, which propel the ingredients into a fine mist. CFCs, however, cause the ozone layer to deplete, so they are now banned in commercial sprays. Modern hair sprays use hydrocarbons and alcohol to create the mist effect.

Aminomethyl propanol is another ingredient used to control the pH of the hair spray solution. It keeps everything mixed together without separating too much, but usually one still needs to shake the can of hair spray to make sure everything is mixed together evenly. Another role of this ingredient is to make the hair spray resistant to humidity.


Sodium benzoate is a common preservative found in most commercial hair sprays. It also keeps the ingredients from rusting inside the can or getting infected with bacteria or viruses. Some hair sprays are advertised as moisturizing, and these usually contain Vitamin E or panthenol, which makes the hair shafts silky. Sodium PCA and butylene glycol are other common moisturizing ingredients. Additionally, Butylene glycol is the ingredient added to help hair spray retain its fragrances, which are frequently added to mask the smell of the synthetic ingredients.

Natural hair sprays typically include fewer ingredients and fewer chemicals. To totally control the ingredients in one's hair spray, there are recipes for making it at home. These generally involve simmering oranges and lemons in water to create a sticky liquid that can be sprayed on the hair.

How to Apply Hair Spray Properly
Meanwhile, there is a broad spectrum of hair nurturing sprays for certain hair structures (e. g. curly or colour-treated and therefore dry hair); there are also hair sprays, which protect against the effects of intense sun exposure. Perfume-free hair sprays are available for people who are sensitive to fragrances.

You should select hair spray according to its purpose. Use hair spray for light hold if you like your hair to still move naturally. Hair spray for strong hold keeps your hair in place in storm and most weather. You may have spent much effort on an elaborate hair style and would like to keep it intact for a while. In such a case, hair spray with ultra-strong hold serves your purpose.  Some hair varnishes are suitable for styling individual strands of your hair or very short hair styles.

1. Innovative hair sprays prevent hair strands from sticking together. To take advantage of these formulations you must however hold the spray nozzle at least 30 centimetres (almost 12") away from your hair and keep the spray can in constant motion.

2. Before using the hair spray, make sure that the spray nozzle is not gummed up. Otherwise, the hair spray will not leave the can as a fine mist but rather in sticky spurts/

3. Apply hair spray as follows if you want to give your hair more volume: Shake your hair while holding your head upside down. Then throw your hair back again without too much force. Lift individual strands of hair, and from a shorter distance apply a little hair spray underneath the strands. Allow the hair spray to dry before moving to the next strand.

4. Tip for women with bob haircuts: Slightly lift the covering hair and apply the hair spray at an angle from below toward the hair ends. This provides marvellous hold to bevelled side hair.

5. Please note if you have a sensitive scalp: Hair spray contains alcohol and therefore dries the hair and scalp. You should therefore apply the spray only to the hair ends.

6. You can give hair a lot of hold and bounce by spraying it liberally over your hair and then either put heated rollers into your hair, use a curling iron or pull the hair ends through a flat iron. Then apply some more hair spray to give your hairdo hold. This is how it is done backstage for the big fashion events.

7. If used unobtrusively hair spray also helps against oily hair roots. This is a nice trick to know in case your fringes tend to look oily before the rest of the hair. Simply pull the freshly washed fringes over a round brush to keep the hair away from the skin and apply a small amount of hair spray.

8. In case you have oily hair don’t use hair sprays, which are designed to provide shine (e. g. ultra shine, diamond gloss, glossy finish).

9. You can tame a few unruly strands of hair by simply spraying a little hair spray into your hands and then use them to smooth your hair.

10. Hair spray can also give eyebrows a beautiful line. Simply apply a little hair spray to an eyebrow brush before using it

Myotcstore Related Products:

LOreal Everstyle Strong Hold Styling Spray - 8.5 oz

Suave Max Hold Non-Aerosol Hairspray - 11 oz

Tresemme Freeze Hold tres two hair spray - 11 oz

Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Flexible Hair Hold Spray - 14 oz

Aqua Net Aerosol Extra Super Hold Professional Hair Spray - 11 Oz