I just want a hairspray, how hard can it be? - Q Hair & Beauty

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I just want a hairspray, how hard can it be?

I Just Want A Hairspray

Hairspray, spray gel, sculpting gel, finishing spray, sculpting foam, spray wax: overwhelming, I know! but what exactly is it all and what should it be used for? Well here is where I have done my research. Many of these products surprised me, concerning the benefits they actually hold. Brace yourselves! This is a long post but I have tried to be thorough!

So I have grouped the products into families; soft, flexible and firm holds. I will also be referring to a scale, 1 being the lowest hold and 3 being the strongest. To begin with, I’ll explain about the softer products in the salon. All of the softer holds are from Paul Mitchell.

Soft Hold

The Soft Spray gives a very natural look, hence why it falls in the softer family. The Soft Spray is a finishing spray which secures fly aways leaving a texturised yet touchable finish, making it easy to brush through.The Soft Spray reactivates with heat and water for easy restyling. This means, if you slept over night with the product in your hair and blow-dried in the morning, it would be possible to restyle the hair once again. Interestingly, the Soft Spray also creates a barrier between the hair and the damaging UV rays from the sun.

Another product in the soft family is the Soft Sculpting Spray Gel. This is amazing for curly and wavy styles as it boosts body yet still controls the hair . The best method to use it would be spraying into towel dried hair and leaving to dry naturally. However, if you’re anything like me and never have time for the desired ‘naturally dried’ look, there is a solution! You can get more or less the same effect by scrunching the hair whilst blow-drying with the hairdryer on a lower setting. Both methods leave the hair feeling soft rather than crunchy, yet still providing a flexible hold. This is perfect for curls.

Hot Off The Press! Personally I love the name of this one. As well as having hold, Hot Off The Press also contains a level of heat protect which helps protect the fragile strands in particular. I think this makes the name quite clever! It works best sprayed into dry hair before using tongs, wands or GHDs. Another great feature of this product is the wheat proteins which help to boost the strength of the hair and help fight the natural frizz in hair. This product holds memory meaning the style can last for a couple of days and will go back into style after uncontrollable elements such as rain.

Now we can move on to the flexible hold group. We have a mixture of Paul Mitchell, Paul Mitchell’s Awapuhi Wild Ginger range and Moroccanoil.

Flexible Hold

I shall begin with the Paul Mitchell products, the first being Spray Wax. This is highly recommended for people with short hair or short layers, making the hair more maluable and enabling easy manipulation. Although it can be used for all hair types, as it does give great texture with ease. The fact that this product has a flexible hold means it holds well yet still has a lightweight feel whilst still looking natural, in fact it delivers quite a satin finish. A quick tip when using this product: spray it in quick short bursts to prevent the opening from becoming blocked as this is still a type of wax, making it easy to become clogged. If the opening does become blocked it can be easily cleaned with warm water.

Next is Hold Me Tight. Despite the name it doesn’t quite fall in the firm family as it is still quite a flexible finishing spray. It will secure any style with a long-lasting hold whilst maximising the shine and holding down those irritating fly aways! Paul Mitchell describe the scent of this hairspray as ‘a lusciously sweet and fruity fragrance, blending tangerine, orange and grapefruit with ripe mango and papaya. White blossoms and hints of green leaves contribute to luxurious fragrance.’ I think I shall just describe is as fruity and fresh! This spray dries quickly, avoiding the undesired stickiness or stiffness other hairsprays leave.

Super Sculpt! It sounds like some sort of hero product. Not quite our salon favourite but still it provides great effects. Super Sculpt works particularly well when applied to wet hair before blow-drying. Due to the flexible hold, it isn’t too heavy in the hair, providing a lovely shine and texture afterwards. This is another product with long-lasting hold and memory. Perfect for styles desired to last for a day or two.

The Sculpting Foam is also in the flexible family. This is quite a moisturising foam which is best worked in to wet hair, for people with slightly dehydrated or dry hair. Again this product also possesses the long-lasting memory like many others, whilst enhancing texture yet still managing to control unwanted frizz. It’s brilliant for long bouncy hair! This product provides high shine and the fragrance is often described as coconut like. Perfect to get you feeling those holiday vibes! I love this even more because it’s one of the very first product that Paul Mitchell and John Paul DeJoria launched, 2 years ago we even created a tribute video for the late Paul Mitchell to show how much he influences the salon still today. I have inserted the video at the bottom of the page!

Next is the Hair Sculpting Lotion. This product would be ideal for people who already have a lot of volume or body in their hair, looking to tone down the texture a little. It provides you with maximum control for those hard-to-hold styles whilst smoothing the surface of the hair and minimising fly aways! This is another product which has the long-lasting memory advantage, as well as having the ability to reactivate with water or heat. So when the unexpected downpour attacks your beloved style, no fear! Hair Sculpting Lotion will keep your hair where it should be.

The Fast Drying Sculpting Spray provides great hold for those weekly sets. It’s a working spray, meaning you spray into the hair whilst styling making sure it gets right into the hair rather than a finishing spray which sits on top. Due to the fact that it is a working spray, it helps give the hair some added body. Not only does this product give a flexible hold and desired shine, it also helps protect the hair from various forms of damage, including heat.

The Super Clean Spray is still classed as a flexible spray as it leaves ‘run-your-fingers-through-it’ results, however, it is edging towards the firmer sprays. This particular product adds body to the hair, providing a fuller look and adding more texture. It dries faster than most sprays and has hidden talents such as helping to protect against sun damage.

Now I can discuss the flexible products in the Awaphui Wild Ginger range of Paul Mitchell. This particular range is quite interesting as Paul Mitchell have their very own Awapuhi farm in Hawaii. It’s self-sustaining, solar-powered and the ginger is organically grown. The farm is not open to the public, however, a selected few lucky guests are invited each year for a tour and once-in-a-lifetime education opportunities.

The first product in this range is the Awapuhi Wild Ginger Finishing spray. It’s shiny and easy to use hence why it fall into the flexible family of products. This still gives a touchable hold at the same time as securing the hair. The additional features of this product is the UV protection which shields the strands from the damage caused by the sun. The Awapuhi Finishing spray also adds shine and resits against humidity throughout the day.

The second Awapuhi spray is the Hydromist Blow-Out spray. It’s so easy to apply, with just five sprays onto the hair in a dice like formation, then comb it through and blow-dry. The flexible hold provides a weightless feel, preparing the hair for a flawless blow-dry. This product also adds volume and protection from a variety of elements as well as boosting volume and hydrating the dry strands.

Finally the last of the flexible family, from Moroccanoil is the Luminous hairspray. This is very popular with the girls in the salon! it’s lightweight yet still gives a reasonable hold without feeling stiff or crunchy. This particular spray can still be easily brushed out. To create an even firmer hold, the Moroccanoil Luminous can be layered up but this can begin to create a crispier finish. Another feature of this spray is the smell! I asked all the girls in the salon to describe it. However, the only word they could come up with was ‘holiday’. Trust me, it’s so good!

Firm Hold

The last family of products are the firm holds, all of which are from Paul Mitchell. These are the kinds of sprays for serious styles! The first is Super Clean Extra. This is a finishing spray which provides a much firmer hold than the ordinary Super Clean spray. There isn’t much of a difference between the two other than the hold. This spray adds body and boosts shine, also helping to protect against sun damage as well as drying fast for quick and easy styling. So pretty much exactly the same as the Super Clean spray.

Now Stay Strong. It’s in the name really! As well as being a very firm hairspray, it is still remains workable. It’s hidden multi-uses surprised me. As well as being a hairspray, Stay Strong works amazingly as a make-up fixing spray! Anyway, going back to hair. considering the firm hold and ultimate style support, the spray doesn’t give a sticky texture. This is also an advantage if you are looking for natural looking curls to last.

The next product is the Super Clean Sculpting Gel. This provides firm hold again for the hard-to-hold styles (not quite as firm as the Super Clean extra spray) at the same time as delivering high shine and bolder textures. This spray gel can be worked into wet hair or dry hair, both providing brilliant results.

The next few products are part of the Paul Mitchell Extra Body range. The first one being the Extra Body Finishing spray which brings a firm, maximum hold to the hair. It’s great for lasting styles, such as a night out on the town! Yet it’s still easy to wash out. This one is best for fixing the style once it’s in place, as it says ‘finishing’ spray. It also has UV protection whilst adding body and shine. It fights frizz and secures the hair, drying instantly without flakiness. The only downside can be the stickiness, making it not ideal for the most natural look. More of an up do!

The following product is the Extra Body Firm Finishing spray. This is similar to the finishing spray but firmer. So it still possesses the maximum volume, high shine, fullness and texture of Extra Body Finishing spray. This spray provides all day hold and can fight frizz in any climate and can protect against sun damage.

The final Extra Body product is the Extra Body Sculpting Gel which has a firm hold yet is weightless as well as being strong. You wouldn’t be able to tell there was product in your hair. As it says in the name, it boosts the volume in the hair and keeps it shiny and manageable. This product is generally more suited to finer. The finish achieved is brush-through body without stickiness or flakiness in the hair allowing a sleek bouncy look.

The very final product to talk about in this blog is quite possibly the salon favourite: Freeze and Shine. The owner Anthony, wouldn’t use anything else and the same goes for some of his guests. It’s tight hold has lead to the nickname ‘concrete in a bottle’ here at Q Hair and Beauty. Despite the extreme hold, it brushes out without leaving a sticky residue. This spray can hold sets and various styles for up to a week with small intermittent top ups! It’s also available in a handbag sized bottle, perfect to carry around at the races or at a weekend festival. Again this product helps to protect from sun damage, like many others. It’s powerful hold along with lasting memory and shine continue to make this product a winner.

So if you were clueless in the beginning about which product is for you, or you found yourself thinking ‘I just want a hairspray, how difficult can that be?’, I hope that I have confused you a little less and helped lead you to the perfect product for you!

Danielle x

Below is the link to our Paul Mitchell tribute video if you would like to watch!

https://youtu.be/C8u95a0RRHw


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