Aleesha Badkar
When styling your hair poker straight – if it's not naturally so – you probably know you need to put in some level of prep work. That's where the best hair straightening products come in; formulas that work to create an ultra-sleek finish, staving off damage, shielding strands from humidity and even imparting next level shine.
It goes without saying that curls, coils and waves are gorgeous, but there are times we want to wear our hair completely smooth and straight, too – that's the beauty of hairstyling after all. Using the best hair straighteners to create such a style is an easy route, but applying the right products as prep is equally important if you want all your hard work to last. But, happily, many balms, leave-in conditioners and sprays both boost smoothness and add heat protection for hair – a non-negotiable when heat styling.
To be clear, when we say "hair straightening products" we mean those that will help maintain a sleek, smooth and straight hairstyle. No styling product alone will replicate the results of a flat iron, a smooth blow dry or Brazilian blowout. But having spent weeks and months worth of time testing and styling our hair with smoothing products – as well as speaking to and spending time with some of the industry’s leading hairstylists – we know which buys are worth the money. Here is our tried-and-tested guide to the best products to keep hair straight and smooth...
The best hair straightening products, reviewed by our beauty team
Reviewed by: Lucy Abbersteen, Aleesha Badkar
RRP: £25.70 for 150ml | Type: Leave-in balm | Key features: Heat protects, repairs, smooths, strengthens
In our opinions, this leave-in balm is truly a smooth hair operator. The first thing that got our approval is that it comes with the added bonus of heat protection, shielding your hair from temperatures up to 230°C. This means there’s no need to apply a separate heat protection spray. This is down to its acidic pH, which staves off the damaging effects of colouring and heat styling.
Perhaps more importantly, we loved the results of this bond-repairing formula. We found the product itself seems to melt into damp hair with no stickiness, leaving it silky soft – partly down to its moisturising properties, but also because it works to repair and strengthen your hair. We also think it's ideal for both blow drying and straightening your hair to create that all-important smooth finish, leaving it looking shiny and feeling healthy. The wider Acidic Perfecting range also features one of the best shampoo and conditioner duos for damaged hair, so if you like the results of this treatment, we'd recommend picking those up, too.
Reasons to buy: Added heat protection, works to hair strands
Reasons to avoid: Doesn't add a ton of moisture; focus is on repair
Reviewed by: Lucy Abbersteen
RRP: £44 for 150ml | Type: Spray | Key features: Heat activated, prevents frizz, locks moisture, trademarked keratin protein
Ddesigned to both shield your hair from humidity while keeping the moisture it needs in, this spray almost sounds too good to be true. But, thankfully, Virtue’s Frizz Block Spray very much delivers. Applied to damp hair and then activated with heat from blow drying, it's a great pre-straightening step to weatherproof strands.
We tested this in the middle of a bleak (and very damp) English winter, when London sees high relative humidity levels, so this non-sticky spray had a challenge on its hands. But even rainy days didn't end in loads of frizz, so we feel very confident it’d hold up in a muggy heatwave or hot holiday abroad, too.
All Virtue products contain its trademarked Alpha Keratin 60ku, which is identical to the protein in our hair, meaning it binds directly to our strands to repair them. Pretty impressive, but that impressive science means these products come at a premium; this spray costs more than £40 for a 150ml bottle. If you can invest, trust us that you'll get a humidity shield you can rely on.
Reasons to buy: Trademarked protein is identical to that of our own hair; good humidity shield
Reasons to avoid: Quite an investment for the size; tricky to repurchase for smaller budgets
Reviewed by: Lucy Abbersteen, Aleesha Badkar
RRP: £9.99 for 200ml | Type: Rinse-off liquid conditioner | Key features: Lamellar technology
An excellent budget-friendly treatment that's won over more than one member of our beauty team, L'Oréal's original viral wonder water is excellent for boosting shine and smoothness. With lamellar technology, it works to target dry and uneven areas of the hair with lightweight, smoothing layers. Beauty eCommerce editor Aleesha Badkar uses it on repeat on her curly, coloured and frizz-prone hair. "It's especially helpful when dealing with my dyed hair, which tangles up as soon as it touches water," she says. "I find it softly loosens up the knots in seconds, making it really easy to comb out. For me, it's a must for every hair wash and is a product I truly can't live without."
We'll caveat this by saying that, for hair that needs a lot of nourishing conditioner, the brand recommends you still use a separate one. Contributing beauty editor Lucy Abbersteen, whose hair is naturally very dry, usually these formulas as a second step to really supercharge shine and smoothness. "I find that it's like top coat for my hair," she says. "It makes it shiny, touchably soft and is a nice 'boost' for whatever hair mask or conditioner I've used first."
Reasons to buy: Smooths, adds shine, easy and quick to use
Reasons to avoid: Still requires regular conditioner for very dry hair
Reviewed by: Lucy Abbersteen
RRP: £14 for 200ml | Type: Spray | Key features: Heat activated, improves a style's longevity, heat and UV protection
Created by one of the UK’s top hairdressers, Adam Reed, the ARKIVE brand is only a few years old but is making huge waves on the global haircare market. We’ve tried nearly every product in the range and when it comes to creating a style that lasts, The Prologue is easily one of the best products to keep hair straight and smooth.
Firstly, we love that this heat-activated formula is almost water-light and doesn’t add any heaviness or stickiness to your strands, meaning we could apply it very liberally to our hair. The fragrance (one of two signatures across the ARKIVE range) is also mouth-wateringly good, a mix of rhubarb, tomato leaf and vetiver that Adam called “No One Elsie” after his grandmother. But this product's real superiority is in the longevity it adds to our strands, acting as a "memory maker" that works hard to keep your hair looking as you styled it. It's truly a godsend when you want to prolong the life of straight hair or a smooth style – and we're hooked.
Reasons to buy: Great price for its size, lightweight spray
Reasons to avoid: Isn't a moisturising product, for those who need lots of nourishment
Reviewed by: Lucy Abbersteen
RRP: £34.05 for 150ml | Type: Leave-in cream | Key features: Heat protects, smooths, shields against humidity
You’ve probably seen Kérastase’s iconic packaging adorning the front window displays of many hair salons and beauty stores. And if you’re looking to try a product that’s particularly great for styling thick hair straight, this is an excellent smoothing potion. Designed for thicker and coarser hair types specifically, this pre-blow dry cream is another multi-purpose formula: it smooths and shields from heat and humidity, as well as boosting shine for luxurious-feeling results.
When we put it to the test, it certainly reduced frizzy hair; though some other products in this round-up outperformed it in this area, we found it does smooth thick hair very well without weighing it down. Not only that, it also feels super luxurious to use, with the scent immediately transporting you to a high-end salon – classic for Kérastase. And that experiential side is half the fun, no?
Reasons to buy: Great for thick, dry and frizz-prone hair that loves a smoothing, moisturising product
Reasons to avoid: Won't suit very fine textured hair or strands that get on best with lightweight nourishment so well
Reviewed by: Lucy Abbersteen, Aleesha Badkar
RRP: £27 | Type: Spray | Key features: Heat protects, humidity shields, smooths, adds shine
Color Wow’s excellent styling products are famous all around the world and a hit with celebrity hairdressers, so our expectations were high before we’d even picked up this oh-so-shiny bottle. The mirror-like packaging is a very fitting tribute to the reflective shine that it imparts on strands. It delivered in terms of creating a smooth finish and keeping it there, thanks to its humidity-blocking technology – making it another bottle that’s on our holiday packing list.
If we’re being extremely picky, it does have a slightly unusual smell when you first spray it. However, this isn’t detectable on your hair afterwards, so it’s not really an issue; those who don’t have a sensitive nose probably wouldn’t otherwise pick up on it. Once applied, the formula is barely detectable on your hair and is quite lightweight, making it great for all hair types. Abbersteen recommends the Extra Strength version for hair that's very frizz-prone, but do note it only protects from temperatures up to 190ºC. The original Dream Coat is also a product that JLo’s hairdresser uses on her, which should tell you it’s up there as one of the best – as well as being a hit with our team, naturally.
Reasons to buy: Lightweight spray can be built easily on the hair, protecting from both heat and humidity
Reasons to avoid: Unscented; doesn't come with any moisturising benefits for those who want them
Reviewed by: Lucy Abbersteen
RRP: £28 for 200ml | Type: Spray treatment | Key features: Heat activated, heat protection, results last for up to 3 days
A heat-activated, heat protective, smoothing and moisturising leave-in treatment from Amika, the Frizz-Me-Not Treatment is an excellent product to use for any kind of smoothing style, including straightener hair. With "extended humidity shield technology", the nourishing formula contains ingredients like glycol and and panthenol to keep hair smooth – also protecting hair from temperatures up to 230ºC.
This relative newcomer to the Amika brand has already cemented itself as one of Abbersteen's favourite hairstyling products. "The silkiness it imparts on my hair is almost unrivalled; I apply it to damp, freshly washed hair and my hair definitely stays softer for longer in the days that follow," she says. While it doesn't have an especially thick consistency, it is billed as being designed for medium to thick textures, so do note this if your hair is very fine.
Reasons to buy: Your hair is on the dry side and you want to boost softness post-wash
Reasons to avoid: Your strands are very fine; this is a little better suited to medium to thick hair types
Reviewed by: Lucy Abbersteen, Aleesha Badkar
RRP: £25 for 90ml | Type: Leave-in conditioner | Key features: Heat activated and protective; smoothing alternative to silicones
Everybody’s favourite Queer Eye grooming expert Jonathan Van Ness, a hairdresser by trade, answered a lot of prayers when they launched their own haircare range. The hero ingredient in all of the products (not just this one!) is something called hemisqualane, an alternative to silicones that both smooths hair and works to improve its health over time.
Blowout Styling Milk is one of the more recent additions to the initial lineup and part of the Complete range – the need-to-know is that it's an all-in-one smoothing, humidity shielding and heat protecting styling wonder. Despite its milky-serum texture, we could barely feel this fluid in our hair after applying it, and after working on a smooth blow dry we were wowed by the shine it had clearly added. Basically, we really love this reasonably priced multitasker, and think you will too.
Reasons to buy: Protects hair from temperatures up to 230ºC, adds a soft feel
Reasons to avoid: Could be a little too nourishing for very fine hair
Reviewed by: Lucy Abbersteen
RRP: £13 for 100ml | Type: Spray serum | Key features: Hydrating hyaluronic acid, up to 72 hours of hydration
By now you’re probably well-versed in the benefits of the best hyaluronic acid products for your skin. But what if we told you you could reap those same benefits in your hair? That’s precisely what L’Oréal Elvive has set out to do with its affordable skincare-inspired Hydra Hyaluronic range. If one product is particularly great for styling hair straight, we'd probably choose this shine-boosting and moisturising leave-in, which is particularly ideal for very dry and/or dehydrated hair. (That said, this range does come with one of the W&H-approved 8 Second Wonder Water liquid conditioners, too!)
Handily housed in a spray bottle, it claims to hydrate hair for up to 72 hours and, although we didn’t time it exactly, we can say that our strands still felt soft and smoothed-out by our next shampooing session. It can be applied to both wet and dry hair, but if your strands don't absorb product that easily when dry, you may find it better suited to use on the former.
Reasons to buy: Reasonably priced, works to boost hydration in dry strands
Reasons to avoid: Slightly thicker consistency rather than a water-like spray
How we tested the best hair straightening products
A selection of the products we tested for this feature
To decide how well a formula helps to create straight hair and keep it in place, and if it was worthy of inclusion here as a result, we washed our hair and styled it straight, judging a product both in terms of the user experience and how well the results lasted. We also tested on hair that is naturally curly and frizz-prone to really put each one through its paces. During the testing process, we considered all of the following factors in line with its performance.
- Price
- Packaging
- Formula type – e.g. balm, serum, spray
- Ease of use
- How it felt in the hair – barely detectable or slightly sticky?
- Fragrance
- How smooth and straight hair stayed through the day post-styling
How to style your hair straight, according to professionals
As well as giving you a list of the top-performing products, we also asked hairdresser Adam Reed, global brand ambassador for ghd and founder of the ARKIVE haircare brand and salon, to share his top tips for styling your hair straight.
- Style gently: It's tempting to roughly dry your hair if you're going to take to it with straighteners anyway, but this is actually a gateway to excess frizz. “Never rough dry your hair – rough drying opens up the cuticle, causing more frizz," Reed stresses.
- Direct the airflow: “Always blow dry hair by following the dryer in the direction of the hair from root to end, facing down the hair, and use a good brush, like the ghd oval dressing brush," Reed confirms. "This will help to keep cuticles sealed."
- Invest in quality straighteners: You've set a smooth foundation before you straighten your hair, but a quality tool will take the results to the next level. “Run the ghd Platinum+ styler over the hair; the perfect safe-for-hair temperature will immediately seal the cuticle," Reed says. "This will give incredible shine and smoothness, and prevent water or humidity from affecting the hair."
Our expert panel
Lucy is a freelance beauty editor and one of woman&home's contributing beauty editors. With nearly a decade of experience in the industry – and with hair as one of her specialisms – she's tested a lot of products on her curly and frizz-prone hair during her career. But when she puts the time and effort into smoothing it out, she wants the results to last, therefore knows which products help create a lasting straight finish – making her a perfect main tester for this guide.
Aleesha is Beauty eComm Editor at woman&home, where she shares her expertise in everything from the best beauty techniques and hair tools to the latest product launches. With hair that's naturally curly, she's got a lot of experience with styling products that have (and have not) helped her hair stay smooth after straightening it. As such, she also shared some of her testing insights for this guide.
Adam Reed is a leading hairdresser and the founder of the ARKIVE Headcare brand and salon. At the time of writing, he was also an ambassador for ghd.