Our Styling Product Top Picks
You don't need a team of professionals to get the hair you were born to wear. Achieving crowning glory is easy with the right products. Here are all the essentials for making ordinary tresses a mane event.
Click on a category to see comparisons of our top picks.
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Proteins and vitamins keep frizz at bay even on a rainy day. | Salon-quality straightening is achieved the old-fashioned way, without a chemical in sight. | Work it through damp hair from root to tip before styling. |
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Irons out all the kinks while hydrating, softening and protecting tresses from styling tools. | Go ahead, turn up the heat. A blow dryer sets this styler in motion. | The more often you use it, the smoother and shinier your hair will be. |
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Do all the moving and shaking you want: This superstar styling product is made to withstand whatever conditions the day may bring. | Tackles humidity head-on by keeping locks in line with a herbal base that also mends split ends. | Apply evenly through damp hair. Blow-dry, using tension with a brush. |
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Sometimes, you just want your hair to play it straight. Styling tools can cause damage over time, but applying this smoothing spray first—which contains nutrients, antioxidants and UV-protectors—helps to keep your hair sleek and healthy looking as you wield your blow-dryer or flat iron. | Its memory power trains your hair to return to the straight style you desire it to be each time you use it. | Towel-dry tresses and coat entire head before styling. |
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Puts more spring in each strand by using softening ingredients like honey nectar and ginseng to keep curls supple, not stiff. | Botanical extracts, proteins and vitamins smooth strands to get crazy curls under control. | Apply to towel-dried hair, and air-dry or diffuse to define curls. |
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Now you can catch a wave without setting foot on the beach. This mist creates those coveted tousled twists anytime. | Imparts the look of a day in the surf and sand without feeling as if you were really there. No stiff, sticky or salty strands with this spray. | Mist onto damp hair and dry using your fingers to create a tousled texture. To form natural waves, apply after blow-drying and scrunch hair. |
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Carrying what feels like the weight of every curl on your shoulders? This product lightens up that mop with softer, bouncier coils. | Gives curls the nutrients they need to neatly cascade through all climates in a formula that is free of parabens, PABA and salt. | Distribute through damp hair. Diffuse dry for touchable curls and waves. |
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Helps course, kinky curls mind their manners by training them with proteins and conditioners. | A protein-enriched whipped-gel texture keeps curls soft not crunchy and touchable not tacky—and it keeps frizz at bay. | Work into wet hair while smoothing with your fingers. What you see wet is how your hair will set. |
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Sprays away oils and buildup, so hair looks and feels freshly washed even though it's not. Did we mention it boosts volume, too? And it contains vitamin E and wheat proteins to strengthen the hair shaft. | Sprays on clear, making it completely undetectable and suitable for any color. | Hold can 6 to 8 inches away from your head and spray onto hair, especially at roots. Let dry and use fingers to shake out excess product. Brush and style hair as desired. |
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Absorbs excess oil with cornstarch and volumizes hair at the roots. | Contains a pure-protein blend of amaranth, lupine and wheat that extends the life span of a salon blowout by never letting locks go limp. | Divide hair into sections and squeeze until poufs of powder appear. Rub into scalp and brush through. |
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The talc-free formula gently absorbs excess oils, product buildup and impurities. The volume it creates will blow you away. | Melanin from plants protects color from UVA, UVB and fadeout. Your hair will always look like it has a new hue. | For extra va-va voom, instead of using a brush, use your fingers to work powder through hair from root to tips. Style stays fresh an extra day. |
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Cotton, corn and rice starch clean up oil and create the illusion of a faux blow. | Cares for hair with a natural, plant-based formula that's free of sulfates, parabens, dyes and synthetic fragrances. | On dry hair, lightly shake onto root area. Massage with fingertips and brush through. |
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Like boot camp in a bottle, shapes up frizz with an olive oil-infused formula. Even the worst-behaved hair will surprise you with sleekness. | Infuses new shine into strands all day long for tresses that'll turn heads. | Rub a small amount between palms and distribute throughout hair before and after blow-drying for added manageability and shine. |
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Instantly calms an out-of-control coif with a formula that's so lightweight, you won't even know it's there. | Makes strands glossy, not greasy. Reapply to keep up the shine anytime. | Distribute throughout damp or dry hair with fingertips focusing on the ends. Use throughout the day to keep locks looking sleek. |
Macadamia
Buy NowNatural Oil Healing Oil Treatment Reg. $36 |
Dry, damaged hair desperately seeking smoothness has finally met its match. Lets you live happily ever after with silky smooth, weightless strands. | There isn't much this styler can't do: It protects color from fadeout and reduces drying time by 40 to 50 percent. | Run a small amount through damp or dry hair. For extra nourishment, blend with a leave-in cream. |
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The miracle worker frizzy strands have been waiting for. Enhances softness and shine to give you the touchable tresses you can actually run your fingers through. | Soy and silk proteins help to fix fried ends, keeping your coif smooth. | Use sparingly on freshly blown-out hair, focusing on the midshaft area to tips. For thicker and wavier hair types, use on damp hair before blow-drying. |
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Pumps your mane with extra muscle, thanks to a bodybuilding blend of vitamins and pure protein. | A targeted spray nozzle applicator gives each strand rise and shine. | Lift and spray on roots as you blow-dry to create the biggest impact. |
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Uses an electromagnetic charge that's like shock therapy for tresses. Expands and strengthens the hair shaft to give it volume from the inside out. | The blend of pear, papaya, mandarin orange and lemon has been known to induce random sniffs by strangers. | Use a dollop on damp hair and style the way you want. |
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The name alone implies that this volumizing spray means business, and that's what we like. Spray onto your roots when hair is damp and then blow-dry for big, soft, luxurious hair. | It has a volume hold factor of four on a one to five scale, so this product was made to live up to its Bigwigg moniker. | Spray onto damp or dry hair, concentrating on the roots. Style as desired. |
TopStyler
Reg. $99.95
Color Sustain 4-Piece Ritual Kit
Reg. $39
Salon Technician Colorcare Travel Faves Kit
Reg. $43
Holiday Teal Platinum Swirl 1" Flat Iron
Reg. $149.95
"Hair clip-meets-clam shell-meets-hot plate. You've never seen a styler quite like this. It comes with 10 large "C-Shells," for beefier curls and five regular C-Shells for regular-sized spirals. Unlike curling irons, which release the hair while hot, TopStyler C-Shells hold curls in place until cool, so they set and stay throughout the day."
—Jennifer Tzeses, a New York City-based writer who lends beauty and style savvy to magazines like Martha Stewart Living, Woman's Day and Everyday with Rachael Ray
"This kit contains a secret 500-year-old beauty ingredient that helps seal in your gorgeous salon color for 40 washes! This genius quartet—shampoo, conditioner, protective cream and damage-reverse treatment—will save you money and time, so you'll have more of both (which means more shopping, of course)."
—Shelley Levitt, a beauty blogger, skincare geek and onetime chronicler of celeb glamour for People and Self
"Preserve your gorgeous color on the go with mini Fekkai musts of protective shampoo, conditioner, anti-fade glaze, invisible hold hairspray and a comb—perfect to maintain that salon-fresh, post-highlights feel. Keep this little pouch in your overnight bag at all times! "
—Brooke Showell, a skincare and makeup maven who's written for Self and Martha Stewart Weddings
"Come Christmas, I will cover everything that holds still in festive décor. Now, that obsession can carry over to my flat iron with the Ultra CHI holiday collection. From teal to red, silver to sparkles, you'll find a wide selection of gift-worthy (or covet-worthy) hair tools, all with CHI's signature ceramic plates that add holiday shine to your style."
—Amanda Myers, a former health and lifestyles reporter, now freelance writer and blogger, based in Phoenix
