UPDATE: This post originally ran on May 23 2012, but we’re dreaming of an endless summer and wanted to share it again :)
I always think my hair looks best after a day at the beach, when the sea salt and sun combine to create loose, carefree waves that just don’t happen anywhere else. Sure, you can buy products to re-create the look, but you can also learn how to make sea salt spray to get beachy, wavy hair any time, any place. I did a little research online and tested out a few combinations before settling on the homemade sea salt spray below – it works like a charm and it also smells just like the beach!
What you need: an empty spray bottle, sea salt, coconut oil, a tiny bit of gel, measuring cup and teaspoon.
I used Himalayan Sea Salt, which is finely ground and contains a high amount of natural minerals, Nutiva Coconut Oil, and a dab of standard hair gel.
Fill the spray bottle with 1 cup (8 oz.) of water – use lukewarm water to help dissolve the salt and coconut oil.
Add one teaspoon of sea salt to the water.
Add about a half a teaspoon of coconut oil. When researching, I saw many types of homemade sea salt spray using different types of oil, the purpose of which is to help keep your hair from drying out from the sea salt. I chose coconut oil because of all the nutrients it contains – and also because it smells amazing!
Add a dab of hair gel (I used the amount pictured in photo above) – this is just for hold, so the waves stay in your hair.
Put the top on the spray bottle and shake thoroughly.
Spray it on damp or dry hair and scrunch the hair up towards your head to create waves.
Here’s my hair before and after!
Photos by Julia.
Try your hand at more DIY projects!
Other related posts: Jewelry Board DIY, Feather Hair Clips DIY
Comments
Looove this! Thanks for sharing! <3
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I’ve been waiting for this recipe! I love salt spray, it really helps out my natural wave. I was wondering how you mix the coconut oil back in to the spray.. I made a flax seed hair gel once, with coconut oil, and the oil re-solidified at room temp the next day. The coconut oil is good for wave definition though.
I make a salt spray with epsom salt, conditioner, and gel (natural organic brands) that enhanced my wave a lot, but I think I’ll try adding a little sea salt too, just to create a more beachy matte look :)
wooooow great great great post!!
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This is a wonderful idea for summer; I’m making it tonight since I have all the ingredients on-hand. Thanks so much!
i like to add lemon juice to mine to help bring out natural highlights!
Love it!
LOVE!!! Can’t wait to try it. Perfect for Mermaid hair!!
Your hair is pretty in the before but looks much healthier and exotic in the after picture, almost like you’re a Grecian goddess. I also agree with Brielle, it looks like mermaid hair. I love the pictures you took and the tutorial was very helpful, I can’t wait to try this on my hair!
Looks awesome! How long does this keep?
It looks amazing. Can’t wait to try
Oh hair that’s gotten all lovely by the sun and sea is about the only thing I’ll miss now that I have dreads, it sure looks great and has such a nice feel to it.
Yes! My hair is naturally wavy, but I would love to give the waves more definition. This is going on my to-do list. And I love coconut oil already, so that makes me even more excited to try this.
grace – i have pretty thin hair and it holds for several hours! it depends how much you use, and what your hair is like, but should hold for a while. hope this helps!
Does it feel like this damages your hair a lot? I know sea salt always makes my hair feel really dry, which I love because it gives it great texture, but if I’m in the ocean a lot it makes my ends split like crazy.
For how long can we keep the mixture?
How long is the mixture good for before I should make more?
I have coconut itself and I have coconut oil, and also I have only normal salt what I can do?
Can you use something besides coconut oil?
elle – no, salt can definitely dry out your hair but the coconut oil helps moisturize so this mixture doesn’t damage my hair :)
kerime and ash – you can keep it as long as you want! mine just ran out, so the bottle lasted about a month.
dylan – yes you can use another type of oil like avocado oil or tea tree oil, i just chose coconut because i love the smell!
I put a little of my favorite perfume in it!
So badass.
this may be a dumb question, but do you use it on dry hair or towel dried??
I just used this, thanks for the guidence! I have really straight hair naturally so I did the method you stated but I diffused my hair (hairdryer) after to dry it. It worked really well!
I tried it today, didn’t work. My hair isn’t curly and is separated into different pieces/sections.
This did NOT work for my hair…i have very thin long-ish hair and it just didnt work…on to trying some different recipes!!
what can you use in place of coconut oil??
Thanks for the great recipe. And to the few that say it didn’t work b/c it didn’t make their hair curly….that’s not what sea salt/beach spray does. It can’t create curls where there is none. It can enhance curls or waves where there is already that texture. But the main thing it does is separate, define or “chunk” hair. It creates “piece-y-ness”, just like you get at the beach. It’s a texturizer, not a curler, if that makes sense. You could, though, curl your hair and then spray this into it to get that chunky, piece-y-ness that is so trendy.
What if I don’t have coconut oil? what else can I use? :)
Such a great idea! I will definitely try this out :)
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I can’t wait to try this!!! awesome!
Does the sea salt matter? Wanted to use black sea salt that I had, but didn’t know if it would change the mixture or not.
Does this go bad? How long is it good for?
Thanks!
i’m sooo gonna try this and love your blog too <3 :D
can i use table salt instead of the sea salt? and my hair is curly but soft.. do you think it will work on it?! THANKS xo
loving the mermaid hair @lainaa11
just made this yesterday [in my empty bumble to bumble surf spray bottle :) ]. i love it! the coconut oil smells amazing in my hair and it actually felt way softer than when i use store bought spray. so happy! thanks for posting!
Made this up with a couple of drops of lavender. Instead of putting the coconut oil in the bottle because it solidifies when the water cools, I put a little on my hands and applied it after the spray like a hairdressing. Works like a charm and encourages my curls.
i will def try this!!! :)
I have a cream for hair with avocado oil and shea butter. And I would know if this cream could replace the coconut oil ?
(Sorry if there are spelling mistakes, I am French).
Interesting product. Coconut oil is great, I wouldn’t use anything in place of it. Thanks for the review and info!
Don’t use straight tea tree oil – it can burn or irritate your skin. Jojoba oil may also work very well. I’ve used it in the past and it was wonderful, doesn’t solidify when cool, but also didn’t have that great coconut smell.
This is great and it smells amazing, my only problem was that the hair gel I used wasn’t water soluble so I had this gross chunky gel in my spray.
Thank you! This came up in conversation while getting my hair cut and styled. My new stylist is so cool she told me about this mixture and told me to make it instead of buy it! I am from Montana and now live in Colorado and never knew how great the ocean was for my hair till a trip to San Diego when my son graduated from MCRD and became a Marine. He took me to the beach and for the first time in my life, my hair was curly!!
I love this so much!! I keep my hair in braids as it’s drying to give it a bit of an extra curve- but I would warn against drying out your hair too much, the salt takes the moisture away… So drink lost of water to keep your precious mermaid locks soft and healthy!!
hart hart hart hilarious
My hair is a bit more than wavy so do I just spray it on my hair in the morning and scrunch it or should I straighten my hair first? Also does it stay in the whole day or does the beach effect wear off? This looks like a great recipe xx
My hair is a bit more than wavy so do I just spray it on my hair in the morning and scrunch it or should I straighten my hair first? Also does it stay in the whole day or does the beach effect wear off? This looks like a great recipe xx :)
My hair type is silky black straight hair. how do I scrunch it so that it would look like yours? :)
Great recipe! Can I use a liquid coconut oil instead of the solid?
I made this today and it is great! My hair is so much more stylish now that I have pretty beach waves. Love it!
I used conditioner in mine, because I didn’t have coconut oil. I was so bummed that I didn’t have any, but I had conditioner on hand, so it was all good! I just like how this makes my hair look when it’s seccond day hair. My hair is stick straight, and it’s nice to have some different textures going on, without using heat to achieve them.
Thanks for this recipe! It livened up my simply shiny, straight locks!
this is the worst recipe, it didn’t do anything but make my hair look greasy
I only have liquid almond oil -will that work?
Super bummed that this didn’t work for my hair. I’m not sure why, but my hair just stays stick straight. :(
Does the Nutiva coconut oil stay in a liquid form once it has been added to the mix? I see a lot of comments that the coconut oil solidifies once it reaches room temperature again. How did you keep reusing your bottle for one month?
Hi can i use regular salt?
Where do you get the coconut oil from?