If you’re someone who loves the tousled locks they have after a day spent in the ocean air, then this is for you. Here's how you can create your own salt hair spray to recreate the look whilst nourishing your locks and using all natural ingredients.
It’s relatively easy to make once you have all of the ingredients and you can also tailor it to your own hair type.
If you do decide to give this a go, be sure to re-use an old spray bottle that you have kicking about or invest in a reusable glass one rather than buying more plastic!
The basic theory behind the spays that you find on the shelves is; that the salt adds volume and texture to fine and limp hair, then you can add ingredients to condition your hair and add shine.
The Ingredients Explained
It’s recommended to use distilled water as the base of the spray as distilled water is exceptionally pure and is free from all toxins and contaminants. Next you will want to add your salt, I choose to use Sea Salt flakes as they have the perfect balance of natural minerals. If you use table salt then all of the trace elements have been removed and anti-caking agents have been added. So I think it’s best to stick with the most natural form of salt and the closest to that you would get in the sea after a day in the surf.
I love the tropics and especially coconuts, therefore I choose to add coconut oil to my salt spray to nourish and moisturise whilst giving a bit of shine to hair. However if you live somewhere that isn’t often over 24 Celsius or 76 degrees Fahrenheit you will probably find that coconut oil is solid as it only turns to liquid at these temperatures. To combat this you can buy fractionated coconut oil which will be liquid in lower temperatures. This has been made possible through hydrolysis and steam distillation. You will still find that the oil floats on the distilled water but a good shake before use will sort this out. If you want to go a step further, you can add a solvent to allow the oil and water to mix thoroughly, however I have decided to keep it as natural as possible and have not used solvents in my Salt & Coconut beach hair spray.
Other oils that you could use include Argan Oil, Jojoba Oil, Lemongrass Oil and Lavender Oil. You don’t just have to stop at adding oils to your salt spray, you can add other supplements to benefit your locks too. I add organic Aloe Vera gel to my beach hair spray, this moisturises your tresses and helps hold the tousled effect on your hair.
Lastly why not add a drop or two of essential oils to aromatise your spray, certain fragrances will have the effect of whisking you off to happy memories, so pick your favourite scent and add a few drops to personalise your spray. Essential oils are aromatic compounds extracted from plant material and you will need to bland a few drops with a carrier oil (such as Coconut or Jojoba) and be sure not to use undiluted on the skin.
Recipe
For my Salt & Coconut Beach Hair spray here a guide on how to get the right ratios:
100 ml of distilled water
30 g of sea salt flakes
15 ml of oil
A drop of coconut essential oil in the chosen carrier oil above
20ml of organic aloe vera gel
Decant into a reusable glass bottle with spray pump (I opted for a 100ml bottle so I could take it away on holiday when flying with just cabin baggage) and you’re all set!
If you not so much of a crafty type and you don’t have a lot of the individual ingredients already, you might find it cheaper and prefer to buy a bottle of the pre-made product instead; Salt & Coconut Beach Waves Spray
