There are dozens upon dozens of salon styling creams available these days. Finding the perfect one can seem like an impossible task. However, the question, “What makes the perfect salon styling cream?” actually has an easy answer — with a little complexity involved.
Generally speaking, the best hair creams are multi-purpose products that can provide benefits in a variety of styling situations.
That being said, it’s important to note that the “perfect salon hair cream” will depend on several factors, including the user’s hair type, their goals for the styling cream, and their personal preferences. Which cream is “perfect” will depend on its intended purpose.
For example, someone with curly hair will likely need a smoothing curl cream to control hair without weighing it down. However, a person with straight hair — which is prone to becoming heavy and oily — would likely prefer a light styling cream to keep their locks smooth without adding any buildup.
What’s the Difference Between Styling Creams and Gels?
For the most part, styling gels are designed to set and hold hair without adding any properties that smooth or soften the hair.
On the other hand, creams are usually emulsions that combine water-soluble and oil-soluble ingredients. This combination provides a multitude of benefits all in one product, including smoothing and shining agents that nourish and protect.
Gels are notorious for producing a stiff, hard, crunchy finish to the user’s hair, but creams leave softer finishes, which are much more touchable. They also help hair retain more moisture and resist drying out, which could lead to damage and breakage.
The Best Salon Styling Creams for Different Uses and Types of Hair
While the best styling cream, in general, will be a high-end multi-purpose cream like Kavella Defining Cream, there are also products that are great for specific purposes.
Multi-Purpose Refillable Styling Creams
Before blow-drying or styling your hair, you can use multi-purpose products to add body and control. You might also use these products before applying rollers to damp hair or if you’re trying to style and control curly or wavy hair.
Multi-purpose hairstyling creams should be silicone-free to prevent product buildup. This is especially important with multi-purpose creams since they are often used daily for a variety of purposes.
It’s important to understand that not all multi-purpose creams are the same. Just like any other hair styling product, not all creams are formulated to meet the highest standards or give the very best results.
Kavella Defining Cream is one hair cream you can use for a variety of purposes. It is also held to the very highest industry standards, making it an ideal salon styling cream.
Best Light Styling Cream for Daily Use
When a hair styling product is used on a daily basis, users run the risk of contributing to damaging product buildup, which can coat the strands of their hair and weigh it down. The best cream for daily use will be a silicone-free styling cream for a few different reasons.
Silicone builds up on the strands of your hair and gathers around the hair follicles and along your scalp. When this buildup happens, it can damage your hair. Hair needs oxygen for healthy growth, and follicles clogged by silicone or other wax-based ingredients limit that oxygen.
In addition, the buildup of ingredients like silicone can lead to hair loss. As follicles endure a lack of space and oxygen, the hair can become weak, suffer more breakage, and even fall out — especially if breakage often occurs right near the scalp. It’s easy to see why silicone-free styling creams are infinitely better!
Avocado oil and camellia oil are both suitable for hair that routinely undergoes heated treatments and styling, such as frequent use with blow dryers, hot rollers, hot irons, and diffusers.
Both avocado and camellia oils are extremely heat-tolerant and nourish your hair. They are lightweight, and they seal in water to help retain moisture. These features make them excellent heat-styling alternatives to silicone.
Best Hairstyle Creams for Dry Hair
In the past, people turned to wax- and oil-based ingredients to coat their hair and add “moisture” to it.
However, now we know these ingredients build up on your hair and scalp and damage it (see the information about silicone-free styling creams above). We also know that the very best ingredients for your hair are found in organic light styling creams.
Look for pH-balanced curl creams and straight-hair creams that contain natural moisturizing ingredients like aloe vera. They should also contain other natural lightweight ingredients — like organic oils — that provide moisture and lock it in.
Kavella Defining Cream, for example, contains organic camellia and avocado oils, which won’t weigh down any type of hair while still providing moisturizing relief to dry locks.
Additional moisturizing ingredients that can be found in the best pH-balanced curl creams, light styling creams, and other salon creams include:
- Tea tree oil
- Argan oil
- Coconut oil
- Hydrolyzed Jojoba oil
- Shea butter and oil
- Flaxseed (linseed)
- Chamomile extract
- Tamanu oil
- Rosemary oil
- Olive oil and wax
Look for these ingredients in your hair care products! There is no shortage of natural, organic oils and ingredients used in the best hair styling creams, and they can really make a phenomenal difference in the overall health of your hair.
Kavella Natural Alternatives
Kavella products also contain many additional natural ingredients that are unique, powerful, and healthy.
A few of these include Abyssinian oil, organic argan kernel oil, organic tea seed oil, cocoa butter, grape seed oil, jojoba oil, rosehip fruit oil, safflower oil, bamboo extract, beet sugar extract, jojoba protein, hydrolyzed quinoa protein, rice protein, and many others.
Abyssinian Oil
This ingredient reduces dry-combing friction by up to 98%, provides anti-breakage and strengthening protection, and increases shine by up to 400%.
Argan Kernel Oil
This is an ingredient that adds softness and shine while reducing frizz at the same time.
Tea Seed Oil
This oil is very heat-tolerant and has a heavy concentration of omega-3 nutrients and antioxidants. It nourishes and strengthens your hair while improving its shine.
Cocoa Butter
This waxy ingredient is a hydrating product thickener that fights frizz and promotes shine when used, even in small amounts.
Grape Seed Oil
This oil is lightweight, high in antioxidants, and rich in linoleic acid to smooth hair and promote shine. It also makes your hair more manageable as it improves elasticity and porosity.
Hydrolyzed Jojoba Oil
This liquid wax has a molecular structure similar to scalp oil and human skin. It coats the hair to decrease friction and add shine.
Rosehip Fruit Oil
This conditioning ingredient is classified as a dry oil because it’s so lightweight. It also absorbs easily and can actually seep under the hair cuticles. When rosehip fruit oil is used with coconut oil and again oil, hair strands are treated from the inside out.
Safflower Oil
High in linoleic acid, safflower oil works to “glue down” hair cuticles to the shafts of the hair. This helps hair shine more and become more manageable. As a result, your hair can better resist damage and becomes more elastic and porous.
Bamboo Extract
Bamboo provides a natural source of silica, which restores your hair’s body and shine while strengthening it.
Beet Sugar Extract
This ingredient improves hair elasticity, protects it against fluctuations in humidity, makes it less prone to breakage, and strengthens hair, as well.
Hydrolyzed Jojoba Protein
This amazing protein creates a light protective barrier around your hair, which helps it retain moisture. It also adds luster and shine while it provides nourishment.
Hydrolyzed Quinoa Protein
This ingredient reduces the stress your hair endures during wet and dry combing. It also dramatically increases hair gloss.
Hydrolyzed Rice Protein
This rice protein adds shine and moisture and actually has the ability to increase hair volume. It contains charged amino acids and creates a volumizing effect for hair.
Overall, natural ingredients can have an incredible effect on your hair and scalp! Some can moisturize your hair without weighing it down. Others can promote hair growth or control oiliness on your scalp. Natural ingredients can treat a wide variety of conditions in a healthy way that you can trust!
pH-Balanced Curl Creams and Straight-Hair Creams
Many people don’t quite realize just how important the pH of shampoos, conditioners, and light styling creams is. A good pH-balanced curl cream can be a wonderful asset for nearly everyone — no matter what kind of hair they have.
The best products for all hair types have a pH between 4.5 and 5.5. This is the natural pH of human hair. You might not be aware, but pH directly impacts how your hair cuticles behave. For instance:
- Hair products with a pH lower than 4.5 tighten up the cuticles of the hair, making it look overly sleek and oily/greasy
- Products for the hair with a pH above 5.5 lift and soften the hair cuticles, which can create a rough, frizzy look
Many hair products that are used for styling have pH levels that are very high, such as:
- Bleach and highlighters, which have a pH of 10-11
- Permanent hair color, with an average pH of 9.5-10.5
- Curl relaxer products, which have an average pH of 11-13
However, pH-balanced curl creams and products for straight hair offer a variety of benefits, some of which include:
- Breakage prevention
- Moisture retention
- More curl definition
- Better detangling ability
- Hair porosity control
- Prolonged hair color treatments
- Flatten and smooth rough cuticles
In addition, products within the best pH range for your hair will also help your scalp regulate sebum, which is the natural protective oil the scalp produces to maintain healthy hair and promote its growth.
Smoothing Curl Cream
If you’re looking for a smoothing curl cream that won’t weigh your hair down, choose silicone-free styling creams that use natural ingredients. Kavella Defining Cream uses newer plant-based ingredients that won’t build up on your hair as silicone does.
One of these amazing ingredients is derived from olives and is called Ethylhexyl olivate. The entire Kavella product line is silicone-free, making all Kavella products ideal alternatives to chemically enhanced products.
Ethylhexyl olivate adds an astonishingly lightweight smoothing layer to your hair. Hair doesn’t become weighed down, yet it still retains the protective qualities, dry after-feel, and the slip that silicones provide.
Another beneficial organic ingredient found in the best smoothing curl creams is linseed, also known as hydrolyzed flax seed. This natural ingredient is a hydrolyzed protein that is often used to strengthen and repair the hair. It’s also excellent when used as a treatment for split ends.
Light Styling Creams for Blowouts
Achieving a blowout worthy of a salon look may not be as easy as it would seem, but when the right pH-balanced curl cream or silicone-free styling cream is used, it’s much easier!
It all comes down to using the right hair styling products. There are tons of options available today, whether you’re looking for creams, sprays, or anything else.
Kavella Defining Cream is perfect for hair that endures frequent heat and heavy styling. It protects hair from heat damage and restores moisture lost during the blowout process and regular stylings.
When it comes to a lasting blowout, less is more, so you shouldn’t need a lot of a product to hold your style in place if the product is high-quality.
Your blowout won’t be able to set properly if the best product isn’t used right from the beginning. You can use the Kavella line of products to boost hair that is fine and limp or promote the appearance of hair that is thicker and fuller — which is exactly what makes a blowout so spectacular.
The right creams and products will help create the perfect blowout that is smooth and not weighed down, making the hair soft and silky, as well. The best creams can also tame flyaways. During blow-drying, your hair should be sectioned off with clips for better control and smoothed with Kavella products.
A little smoothing curl cream will go a long way for hair that tends to be frizzy or is naturally very curly. The Kavella Defining Cream is a universal styling cream that is perfect when used for both voluminous and smooth blowouts.
Methods of Styling with a Curl Cream
Layering a volumizing mousse and combining it with a good curl cream can maximize hairstyling results. Kavella can add plenty of control and body without adding any additional weight to your style.
When the hair is still very wet, apply Kavella curl creams to reduce moisture loss as the hair dries. This is especially helpful for people with extremely porous hair.
If you have wavy or curly hair, detangling before it completely dries will ensure smoother results. If you don’t have a lot of time to devote to styling, you can do a simple “scrunch-n-go” with a good salon styling cream.
For the “scrunch-n-go” technique, just twist your hair into sections by turning small sections away from your face. In contrast, you could do a two-strand twist. A two-strand twist is done when two small sections of hair are twisted around each other.
Whether you twist one section of hair or twist two sections of hair around each other, you’ll want to scrunch curls toward the scalp in order to get as much volume as possible. If your hair is prone to more frizz than normal, you may want to scrunch gently by using a towel while your hair is damp.
Then, to obtain silky smooth results, separate the curls with your fingers — never brush them out. Avoid touching the curls as your hair dries. If you want even more volume for your hair, you can use a diffuser and press it up into the curls while you dry each section of hair.
Refillable Styling Cream
Most retail styling hair creams contain six to eight ounces per tube, which means that a fairly significant amount of plastic is used for every one of them. Once the product is used up, the container gets tossed into the trash or the recycle bin. For this reason, many people look for refillable styling creams.
Kavella offers its Defining Cream in gallon-sized refillable containers, which means that instead of tossing countless small bottles into the trash, you can use the bottle again and again. You can refill the Kavella refillable styling cream tubes and bottles from these product containers so that you won’t be throwing them all away!
The Perfect Salon Styling Cream
Kavella Defining Cream is a multi-tasking styling product that does it all: protects, softens, holds, and nourishes any style, from curly styles to blowouts and everything in between. It’s pH-balanced and can be used as a curl cream, blowout cream, or even a leave-in conditioner.
This multi-purpose salon styling cream is available in 8 oz and 2 oz bottles and is also available as a refillable styling cream. This ideal styling cream is silicone-free and contains several incredible ingredients — just as the very best cream should.
