Get ready for your holiday festivities with the best hair products to hold style and keep your look fresh all night long. From smoothing serums to firm-hold sprays, we’ve handpicked the top hair holding products that ensure your hairstyle stays in place without sacrificing movement or shine. Whether you're aiming for volume, sleekness, or definition, these carefully selected products offer long-lasting hold for any holiday look.
Best Hair Spray to Hold Curls & Styles
For a reliable, all-day hold, the best hair spray can lock in your curls or sleek updos without weighing your hair down. Whether you're going for a voluminous look or a polished finish, these hair sprays keep your style intact through holiday parties and beyond. What makes the best hair sprays stand out is their ability to offer a strong, long-lasting hold without leaving hair feeling sticky or stiff.
Best Styling Cream to Hold Curls & Styles
Tame flyaways, define curls, or add smoothness to your hairstyle with the best styling creams. These versatile products offer flexible hold, making them perfect for maintaining both soft waves and sleek, controlled styles while keeping your hair looking touchably soft. Our top styling creams contain nourishing oil blends to hydrate and protect the hair, making them ideal for those looking to maintain healthy hair while holding their style.
Best Mousse to Hold Curls & Styles
For volume, texture, and hold that lasts, a quality mousse is your go-to. Ideal for enhancing curls or adding body to any style, the best mousse keeps your look in place without stiffness, giving you the bounce and fullness you need for any festive occasion. Our best mousses are formulated with strengthening ingredients like Biotin, which promotes thicker and fuller hair.
How to Make Curls Last Longer
- Start with the Right Products: Begin by applying a curl-enhancing cream or mousse to damp hair. This helps define curls and provides a strong foundation for hold. Use a heat protectant spray to shield your hair from heat damage while styling.
- Choose the Right Tools: Use a high-quality curling iron or wand with adjustable heat settings. Set the temperature based on your hair type (lower for fine hair, higher for thick or coarse hair) to avoid damaging your strands while ensuring a lasting curl.
- Lock in the Curl: After curling each section, let it cool completely before touching or brushing it out.
- Seal with a Strong Hold Hair Spray: Finish your look with a strong, flexible hair spray designed specifically for holding curls. This will keep them in place without leaving them crunchy or stiff. For extra grip, use a texturizing spray to add hold without weighing down your curls.
- Maintain Throughout the Day: Carry a travel-size hair spray for touch-ups throughout the day or evening to keep your curls fresh and bouncy.
How to Make My Updo Last All Day
- Prep with the Right Products: Start by applying a volumizing mousse or texturizing spray to damp hair to add body and grip, which helps your updo stay secure. For extra hold, spritz dry shampoo at the roots, even on clean hair, to add texture and prevent slipperiness.
- Use Strong Pins and Elastics: Opt for high-quality hairpins and elastics that provide a secure hold without slipping. Secure sections of your updo tightly and ensure key points of your style are pinned in place.
- Finish with a Firm-Hold Hair Spray: Once your updo is complete, finish it off with a firm-hold, humidity-resistant hair spray to keep your style locked in, even through long hours and changing weather conditions. Apply generously to all sides of the updo.
- Touch Up as Needed: Carry a few extra pins and a small bottle of hair spray in case any parts of the updo start to loosen during the day. Quick touch-ups can ensure your style stays fresh and secure.
How to Make an Updo Look Fuller
- Boost Volume at the Roots: Apply a volumizing mousse or root-lifting spray before blow-drying. Teasing the roots with a fine-tooth comb can further enhance volume at the crown, giving your updo a fuller appearance.
- Incorporate Texturizing Products: Use a texturizing powder or spray before styling to add thickness and grip, especially for fine hair. This gives your updo more body and makes it easier to hold shape.
- Gently Pull and Loosen Sections: After securing your updo, lightly tug on sections of the style to create the illusion of more volume. This technique is perfect for buns, braids, or twists, making your hair look thicker and more textured.
- Use Hair Extensions or a Hair Donut: Clip-in hair extensions or a hair donut can instantly add fullness to your updo. These discreet accessories help create a voluminous look without weighing down your hairstyle.
- Set with a Flexible-Hold Hair Spray: Finish off with a flexible-hold hair spray to maintain the shape and volume of your updo.
We all love those beautiful, flawless, bouncy curls. But do you know what's even better? Today we're sharing our favorite tips and tricks with you on how to curl your hair to make it last all day. By the way, all these tips also work for hair extensions as well. The perfect curl starts from the very beginning-the shower. Skip the conditioner when washing your hair, as this can sometimes make the hair too soft and slippery, leading to curls falling out faster.
2. Having said all of the above, the best hair to start off with is actually second or third-day hair! Although we all love the feeling of fresh, clean hair, curls tend to hold better in dirtier hair. The reason for this is because the natural oils from your scalp give the hair a grittier texture and natural hold without needing hair mousse, so there’s a better chance the curls will last longer.
3. As we mentioned earlier, it's important for your hair to have the right texture to be able to hold a curl all day or night, which can be achieved with the right hair products. Before beginning to curl your hair, apply a thickening mousse to your hair. Since hair mousse contains alcohol it will remove some of the moisture from your hair, which further enhances the hair's grit and hold. Although we usually preach using alcohol- and sulfate-free hair products, this is one of the few times that using an alcohol-based product is actually recommended!
4. This is the most important styling product you can use on your hair before heat styling, which is the number one way that most women damage their hair. You can purchase a heat protectant at any drug store or hair salon, or you can go au-naturale, using certain hair oils as heat protectants. Help your curls! Apply styling products to your hair, which will help hold the curls in place longer. Depending on what works with your hair, apply a tiny bit of mousse prior to drying your hair. Or, spray a bit of hairspray before, during and after curling. This will give your hair a rougher texture which will help prolong the lifespan of your curls. Hint: Don't hold the hairspray too close to your hair as this will make your curls crunchy and heavy.
5. You may think that your hair is "stick straight" and that "your curls will fall apart in 20 minutes anyway." Well, you will continue to think that as long as you use cheap, drugstore brand curling irons or curling wands! High-end curling irons and curling wands are usually coated with tourmaline or ceramic, which are materials proven to cause less damage to your hair than straight metal. Yes, they may be more expensive, however, they are less damaging on your hair, they heat up better (so you will apply heat for a shorter period of time), and good quality curling irons will last you years. The Luxy Hair Signature Curler was specifically designed to achieve curls that last all day. With a 1" barrel and tourmaline ceramic mixed coating, the Signature Curler allows for even distribution of heat-a must-have for frizz-free curls. We recommend setting your tools at 350F to achieve the optimal curl.
6. Barrel size is super important because the tightness of your curls goes hand in hand with how they will wear and fall throughout the day or night. The common misconception is that a bigger barrel curling wand or curling iron is what will give you those sexy Victoria Secret Curls. We find that most of the time, however, a smaller barrel will do the trick. Depending on your hair type, try using a smaller barrel size that you normally would. We like using the 1" Luxy Hair Signature Curler. Not only will the curls look more defined, but they will also last longer. It is also important to differentiate between a curling wand and a curling iron, which will give you different types of curls. A curling iron is usually ideal for those tight princess curls, while a curling wand gives you more freedom to customize the type of curls. Sometimes, all you need is a different technique to achieve larger or smaller curls, using the same curling wand. One of the most effective tricks on how to get your curls to stay is to let the curl cool down and set before letting it go. Take each fresh curl (still keeping the curl shape) and secure its spiral shape with a clip or a bobby pin. How does this work? Well, as you wrap your hair around the curling iron, heat is transferred onto the hair strands, which is what makes them change their shape. So, once your pinned curl is cooled down, it will allow the hair's cuticle to close and set in place, making the curl last for a much longer period of time. Learn how to do this technique from this video. You can also use the same technique when curling your hair extensions. When unclipping your curls, be sure to let them cool down for a couple of minutes prior to brushing them out. Hint: Ever wondered what that 'cool' button on your hair dryer was there for?
7. Once your curls have cooled down, unclip them, then toss your head back and gently shake the curls out. Rake your fingers through your hair to gently break up the curls, but be sure to leave the curls a little tighter than you actually want them. It is inevitable that your curls will fall out as time goes on, however, leaving them a bit tighter while you're getting ready will ensure that the curls last longer than they would have.
8. Since texturizing spray is lighter on your hair than hairspray and you don’t have to use a ton of product for its effectiveness, it will actually weigh your hair down less and allow the curls stay bouncy for longer. Texturizing spray is great because it adds volume and can also act similarly to a dry shampoo by neutralizing the oils in your hair. You can still use hairspray before or throughout the curling process, but finishing with a texturizing spray will help hold the curls in place without dragging them down too much.
9. Overly damaged hair (including split ends) doesn't curl and doesn't hold style well. It's time to give your hair some love and get a trim! Or, prevent split ends altogether by following our guidelines here. Regular trims actually lead to faster hair growth, so don't be afraid of a few snips. If you're already doing all of the above but are struggling with curling your hair, we've got you covered. Are lifeless-looking curls the bane of your existence? We feel your pain. There’s almost no beauty letdown worse than leaving your house with a curly mane, only to sport a flat look by mid-day. If it feels like you’ve tried everything under the sun to maintain your curls to no avail, you’re probably not sure where to turn. The truth is, it’s pretty easy to master how to make curls stay. All you need are a few tweaks to your curly hair routine, a few hair styling products, and a positive spirit to work some magic.
Ready to start your journey to long-lasting curls? First things first, you’re probably wondering why your hair doesn’t hold a curl. While you may think that something is wrong with your texture, the answer is much simpler than that. For starters, the main culprit is likely to be that you have too much product in your hair. If excess styling product usage is not your issue, there is a myriad of other reasons why your strands won’t hold a curl. Like it or not, all hair textures come with their own rulebook and hold curls differently.
To begin, make sure you’ve selected an iron with the right size barrel. For hair that doesn’t hold a curl well, I recommend a ¾-inch barrel. The curls will be tight without looking ringlet-y, and will loosen as the day goes on. If your hair holds a curl better than mine does, choose a 1-inch iron for instant beachy waves. Also, if your hair always falls flat, consider investing in a professional grade curling iron. For a long time I was trying to curl my hair with a drugstore brand, and it was only when I switched to a higher-end iron that I realized my hair could hold a curl. When in doubt, I always turn to this curling method recommended in Lauren Conrad Beauty: Once you release your hair from the iron, simply pin the curl to your head until it sets. Once your entire head is pinned, mist it with hairspray. This timesaving trick is the one I use most often.
If you know you’re going to curl your hair the next day, sleep with it in a braid or two (depending on how thick your hair is). P.S.
How to curl in two minutes
In addition to products, consider textures and tools that help curls last, such as choosing the right barrel size and allowing curls to cool before handling. Using heat protectants and finishing with the right spray are essential steps in preserving your look through the night.