All About Hair...and So Much More.

Ep 346: Hairspray, Without The Helmet Head

• Danise Keilitz • Season 6 • Episode 346

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Forget helmet hair. We’re pulling hairspray out of the penalty box and showing how modern formulas can hold shape, add lift, and still feel like real hair. We start with the New Year energy and a quick update on our Good Energy Boxes, then dive straight into why so many people avoid hairspray—and what’s changed since those crunchy prom curls.

We unpack the big five fears: stiffness, buildup, dryness, strong fragrance, and aerosol sensitivity. From there, we walk through simple techniques that make all the difference: misting at the roots for volume, spraying the inner layers instead of shellacking the surface, using fingertips for precise control around the face, and smoothing flyaways with a light pass and the side of the can. Curly friends get special attention too—how to lock in definition without losing touchability, and why a pump spray can be a game-changer.

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SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to All About Hair with Denise, a podcast about hair, confidence, and feeling like yourself again. From behind-the-chair stories to everyday encouragement, this space is for real beauty and real life. Let's begin. Hey there and happy new year. It is 2026. This is the first podcast, real podcast, not my minis, of the new year. And I have to say I'm excited about this year because of the good energy boxes coming. And I do believe we're going to be launching next month. So stay tuned. Get on that wait list so you know the date. I just have a few more things to solidify, and then I'll let you guys know. I hope you guys all had a wonderful holiday season. I know I did. I had all four of us under the same roof. That is always a wonderful feeling for a mama when your family's all under the same roof and you can rest assured everybody's good. And it was wonderful. My daughter was here from California. We had a great time, and to tell you the truth, we didn't really have a ton of stuff planned. We just kind of hung out. And ah, that just feels wonderful to just be able to hang with your adult children. Uh, it was just really nice. So I also, you know, took time off from the podcast from working. I haven't even sat down at my computer for almost two weeks. My husband took two weeks off as well, and it actually took us a few days just to relax and get into the rhythm of being on a holiday break. I tell you what, we got more done this past weekend than we did the whole two weeks.

SPEAKER_00:

There's something about that when you know that you have to go back to work, that you're like, oh no, we didn't get everything done.

SPEAKER_01:

So we were cleaning out closets and you know, we've been to the gym four times already this year, and it's the fifth, so that's kind of cool. Uh anyway, we're just real excited for the new year, and I hope you are too. You know, drop me a line and tell me what you're looking forward to for the new year. And you know, if I can be your cheerleader, I'd love that because I'm here for you. Today we're gonna be talking about hairspray. I know it's one of those things that I'm just always surprised about that most people don't use hairspray. I I used to say that if I was on a deserted island, the two things that I couldn't live without would be chapstick and my eyelash curler. I know. I have those kind of eyelashes that grow down instead of up. Whole other conversation. But now I think if I would say if I was on a deserted island, the two things I'd most want is chapstick. Maybe some sunscreen, but chapstick and hairspray. I don't know how people live without using hairspray. And if maybe you're one of those people, maybe this conversation might be for you. I don't know. I'm just always surprised. I've talked to, well, family members, friends. Nobody uses hairspray. I can't go a day without hairspray. That's how I keep my hair out of my face, that's how I keep volume, that's how I keep my style. That is it's just one of those things. I think what most people are afraid of with hairspray is that they don't want to have that helmet head of the 80s. I know I was one of those people. I I remember being on um, I was on a dance team, you know, uh in high school, you know, where you perform, it's kind of like cheerleaders, but we performed to music. Um, kind of crazy. But I remember that we used to use hairspray so much, and it was the hairspray, it was like Aquanet. Well, it wasn't like Aquanet, it was Aquanet. Aquanet might as well have an equal sign helmet head because we use so much Aquanet that our hair would not move. I remember doing some routines that my hair, you know, you would you would look down and look back up, whatever routine we were doing. My hair did not move, it just went with me.

unknown:

What a terrible thing.

SPEAKER_00:

It was definitely, definitely helmet head. We don't want that. We don't want helmet hair anymore. That is not what hairspray is really for. So if you're still using it like that, maybe you'll get some ideas from this podcast to use it a little bit differently. And if you're afraid of that, you do not need to be afraid of that.

SPEAKER_01:

The hairsprays today are lighter, they're flexible, they're brushable, they're restylable, if that's a word. So you really shouldn't be afraid of them. In fact, I know the line that I carry in my salon suite. I have four different levels of hairsprays. Um, one that acts more like a texturizing spray that just gives you a little bit of body in your hair design, and then all the way up to kind of a heavy hitter. It's not really, I mean, you can layer it on and it can be heavier, you know, for like updos, wetting hair, things like that. But you can also use it as an everyday hairspray and just with a lighter hand. So we're gonna talk about why people don't like to use hairspray today. And then we're gonna talk about some of the things that maybe might convince you that hairspray can be your friend and it could be in your product lineup. Hope you're gonna like this one. I'm gonna like it because again, hairspray is one of my favorite tools. So, hairspray might just be one of those most talked-about styling products, at least that I talk about. It really is one of the least understood styling products. The reason why I'm talking about this is because the last couple of times that I've done clients' hair, well, first of all, they weren't using any products on their hair, so I don't know how they want to their style to stay throughout the day because, and again, I think it's because they've used products that maybe were not the right fit for their hair, too stiff, whatever. And so now they're they're convinced that they don't want to use anything because they don't want the feel on their hair. Most people are only using hair oil. Hair oil doesn't have any kind of styling hold at all. And then they want their hair to hold a style or have volume, or they don't they can't understand why their hair doesn't have volume. Whew. I know, long-winded route to get to why I'm doing this. And then this has been on my mind, but then I recently came across an article discussing the concerns around hairspray. It was talking about its ingredients, how it affects our hair health, whether we should even be using it. And honestly, it sparked such a mental conversation in my mind because the truth of hairspray lives kind of in between. Is hairspray healthy? Some of them aren't. I do know that the line I use, which is Euphora, you you all know that if you follow me, Don Bewelly, the founder of Euphora, one of his very first products, Elevate, which is a hairspray, he designed it not actually for the client, he actually designed it for the safety of the stylist using a hairspray all day long. Because you think about it, stylists see, you know, well, nowadays about five to six people, but in my time, we could see anywhere between eight and fifteen people a day. And if you're using hairspray, and I tell you, in the 80s, we were using a lot of hairspray. If you're using an unhealthy hairspray, the vapor could actually fill your lungs. And it used to be a health concern. The hairspray would coat their lungs, the plastics in it. I mean, we're all about healthier things going in our body. Get back to the Euphoria story. Don Bewelly actually created Elevate to be a healthy hairspray. It's actually, I think it's I would have to look, but I think it's got not wax in it because wax builds up. Oh, tree sap. That's what the hold factor is. It's actually very, very light. It smells great, smells kind of like Skittles. And I don't know what that smell is because they don't put fragrances in their products. So I don't know where that smell is coming from, but everybody says it smells like Skittles. It's actually smells really good. But it's very light and it doesn't harm your lungs and it doesn't harm your hair. So that's just one of the hairsprays that I have. And I just thought I'd share that story because I just think it's a cool story that there are products out there made by people who actually care about the health of not only the clients and regular people, but also the stylists that are using these products all day, every day. I think that's important. All right, let's break down five reasons why people don't want to use hairspray. We're not gonna do fear-based drama or anything like that. This is just education. This is just for your information. And if you need a little bit more information on this, I'm here for you. You can reach out to me if it changes your mind about why or why not you should be using hairspray, and you have questions about that, great. And then if you want to find some hairsprays, you know my Amazon storefront. I always put things over there. It's a quick link. Go on over to Amazon. I'll have the link in my show notes. But it'll actually give you some of the hairsprays that I would recommend. Okay, and you don't have to spend an arm and a leg, you don't have to go out and buy a$35 hairspray. There are actually some drugstore hairsprays under$10 that you can use that are quite safe and maybe not as stiff and crunchy as you may have thought, but we're gonna talk about all of that today. All right, the number one reason I think why people don't want to use a hairspray is because they're afraid of that stiff, crunchy hair, just like what we were talking about.

SPEAKER_00:

So most people do carry around trauma from hairspray from their like high school prom.

SPEAKER_01:

If you were like me, I told you I shared with you my dance team, we were called the Dust Kickers back in Kansas, shared that story with you about my hair not moving as I was doing the routines.

SPEAKER_00:

But if you grew up in the 80s, or you know, yeah, I say 80s, 90s maybe too, the high school prom is probably one of those times that you remember your hair being really stiff.

SPEAKER_01:

If you went to the salon and had an updo or anything like that, you had those curls, you know, that they just coated with hairspray, they didn't move, there was zero softness going on. There's no way anybody could put their hands through your hair. Your bangs were frozen in time. That experience sticks in our minds, even though the hairspray formulas have changed dramatically through the years, okay? I think it would be very hard for you to find a hairspray that could even do that these days. I take that back. Aquanet is still sold on the shelves. You could find it at the local drugstores. I don't know why, but it's still out there. So if you really did want frozen bangs, immovable curls, zero softness, you can go get yourself a can of Aquanet. And I don't usually mention products on this podcast because, you know, I don't want to get in trouble for anything, but I don't think I'm gonna get in trouble for mentioning that AquaNet is pretty stiff hairspray. I think they know that. I think you know that.

SPEAKER_00:

And if you don't know what I'm talking about, go buy a can of AquaNet. You'll definitely know what I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, the second reason I think that people don't want to use hairspray is like they're worried about buildup. Now, this is valid because if hairspray is not washed out properly, the residue can sit on the hair and your scalp, and it makes your hair feel kind of heavy or dull or lifeless, especially if you have fine or thinning hair. Again, most hairsprays, it could I could see where you'd worry about that. But if you find yourself using a lot of hairspray, which if you're not using hairspray at all right now, you're not gonna use a lot of hairspray, trust me. You're gonna be like ps, psst, and that's it. That's not that's you don't have to worry about that. You don't have to worry about it not washing out properly. Most hairsprays, most formulas these days, I don't want to say they're water soluble, but they are meant to come out of your hair easily with shampoo. Okay. I do know that the Euphora uh hairsprays, the one that I was talking about, the Elevate, they've got a few more, they will actually be broken down. I mean, of course, you can break them down with shampoo. You can get them out of your hair. But if say you had a special event and somebody used elevate on you, and it and it can get stiff because it's buildable, so it can get that way. So if you don't want your hair to move, you could definitely build it up so it doesn't move. But to take that out of your hair, you can just spray a little bit of illuminate, which is a shine spray made from squaline. And if you don't know what squaling is, it's the inside of the olive, you know, the moist side of the olive. That is squaline that creates the shine, but you spray the illuminate on the hair that is already stiff with hairspray, and it breaks down the hairspray, and then you can run your fingers through it. Kind of wonderful. But I get it. Build up on the hair, nobody wants their hair to feel heavy or dull or lifeless, especially if you're like me and you have fine hair or thinning hair. However, I'm here to tell you that the formulas out there, you can get a very soft hold hairspray, fine mist, that will not make your hair feel heavy. In fact, it'll make your hair feel more like you have more volume, more life in your hair. It'll hold your style, especially if you pick up your hair and you spray underneath the root area of your hair. You don't need to spray the top. I think that's another thing, is that people tend to do their hairstyle and they spray their hair all over the top. Well, that is it that can. It's not is that can make you way heavy on your hair if you do that. You want to put your hands in there and spray the root area or the uh underneath area of your hair, that'll give you more movement, that'll give you more volume. That's the way I do it. I don't not I don't typically spray all over. Sometimes if I'm going to the gym and I don't want my strands to fall in my face because I can't stand that when I'm working out. I hate it when my hair falls in my eyeballs. I don't like that at all. So maybe that's something you might want to consider as well. Okay, the third reason. Sorry, I had to get a cup, uh drink a coffee. The third reason they're can they're concerned about dryness or damage. Again, a lot of these sprays in the past and today, they contain alcohols that can dry out your hair if they're overused. If someone's already dealing with breakage, frizz, or fragile strands, hairspray feels like a risk. Totally get it. I would say go back to the podcast, I think it was last week or the week before, the four ingredients that you want to look out for in your shampoo. And alcohol is one of them. There are some good alcohols, there's some bad alcohols. Okay, so a lot of these um hairsprays will contain some form of alcohol because the alcohol actually helps it to dry quick. But there's some bad alcohols that will dry out your hair, and but then there's some good alcohols. So check on your can, okay? Go back and listen to my podcast from I think it was last week. It starts with four ingredients. It'll tell you which ones are good, which ones are bad. But I get it. If you're concerned about dryness or damage, you might be concerned about using hairspray. Again, there's better hairsprays out there for you. All right, number four. You might be sensitive to scent or aerosols. I totally get it. I'm one of those people that the smell of something will be my deciding factor on some things, right? There's some foundation makeup out there, there's some uh hair products out there that have a strong scent to them, and ugh, I don't like that at all. It can be irritating, a strong fragrance. It can be the smell can be irritating to some people, especially if you have allergies or if you have a sensitivity to scents. That's a hard one. Totally get it. I don't actually know if they have hairsprays that don't have a smell. There has to be. I do know that my favorite hairspray from the past, and my husband's favorite hairspray, it was from a quage. They don't make it anymore. It was the best hairspray ever. It was very, very light, but it was buildable. I remember seeing them at a hair show, Aquage Fit and Fabulous. They introduced it at a hair show in Baltimore one year, and that was the same year I actually met Eric Fisher. And shoot, I hate it when you can't remember things. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Uh but this hairspray, they showed it, and it's very light, very it can be for volume. But then they did a mohawk on someone and they showed how to layer it and to dry it in place with a blow dryer, and it made this person's mohawk stand straight up in the air and stay that way. But then they took a vent brush and combed the mohawk down, and the hair felt like you didn't have hairspray on it at all. It was it was the most wonderful thing. However, they don't make it anymore. And so my husband and I had to go through, you know, what hairsprays could we use that both of us could use that we both liked that was light enough but heavy enough and all this stuff. So we ended up buying like five or six different hairsprays just at the drugstore, just to experiment. And oh my gosh, this one, I can't even remember the name of it. I actually bought it like at Ulta or somewhere like that. Nice hairspray. It worked wonderful, but it smelled like dirty feet. It was terrible. I couldn't use it. I liked how it it reacted in my hair. I liked that it was light, that it it did what it said it was gonna do. It was um, but God, it just stunk. Ugh, terrible. So you might have to go into a store and maybe sample a few smells, especially if you're real sensitive to scent. Uh if you've got allergies, I would just look on the back. Because some of these places they use more than like the essences, they actually put a fragrance in there. And then the biggest reason I think is that no one has ever taught them how to use it. This is such a big reason, because most people think hairspray is the is only for the final step to lock it in and then pray to the hair gods that your hair doesn't move because you've got a big event. Uh no. I guess you could use it that way. And yeah, there's times that you do use it that way. But most people don't realize it can be layered on lightly and used strategically, or you could choose it based on your hair type. Now, let's talk about like curly hair. I remember when I was in college, I have curly hair. I didn't really really realize I had curly hair because I had been fighting it with like hot rollers. I'd blow dry it upside down, get all the volume I could out of it, and then I'd throw hot rollers in it. So I never really even knew I had curly hair until I went to college. And I had this girl's, she had wonderfully beautiful curly hair. And I was like, how in the heck did you do that? And this is before I was into doing hair. And she told me that she just used hairspray. And so when her hair was drying, she would mist hairspray all over her hair. Then she'd scrunch it up and let it dry a little bit. She never used a blow dryer. And then she just mist a little bit more hairspray and then scrunch it up, let it dry a little bit more. It took her like an hour for her to do her hair, but holy cow! Now, again, this was the late 80s, and again, this was the style back then. I don't think I would say to do that now, but that's okay. What I would say now is you can layer it on lightly. You can layer it where you need it. You can use it strategically, you can use it in the crown area or the sides to keep the hair out of your face, or just your bangs, or or spray it. Heck, spray it on your fingertips and then run your fingers through your hair to hold your hair in place. You do not have to spray it directly on your hair. Okay. So let's just kind of say that hairspray is not the villain that you think it it is. Okay, so now that we talked about why I think people are afraid of using hairsprays, let's talk about five different reasons why I think it's great to use a hairspray when you use them well. Number one, it extends the life of your style. This is like the reason to use it, right? A light intentional mist can help hair hold shape longer. That means you've fewer touch-ups of doing your hair, less heat, right, and less manipulation overall. I've been doing a lot of people with curly hair, naturally curly hair. I absolutely love this for them, for hair in general. I just think it's kind of cool. But I do know that you need some hairspray to hold that curl in place, keep it off your face, keep it structured around your face. Most curly hair, even if you've got a gel in there or something like that, it's going to fall. Gel's not going to keep it up there. It's the hairspray that keeps it in place. And so, with a little bit of light mist from your hairspray, you're going to touch your hair less, you're going to play with your hair less. You're going to, it's not going to fall on your face. You're going to feel better. Okay. You do have to teach yourself not to touch your hair though. Yeah, there's that. Uh, because you're not going to need to, it's not going to be flopping. That's funny. Um, okay, number two, it adds volume and structure to your hairstyle. Like I've already talked about, if you use this at the root or through your sectioning, hairspray can create lift and fullness, especially helpful for you guys that have fine or aging hair that struggles to hold body. And that's a lot of people that I see. And they don't realize maybe they don't want to do any backcombing in there. I don't blame you. I still backcomb my hair, but I don't do it like we used to, you know, like you're ratting it, like those shampoo sets that we used to do all the time. I do one or two little back combs, just enough to give me a little bit of fullness, and then I go back through and I open up my hands and I spray underneath with some hairspray, and that keeps it all day long. There are ways of doing this. You just have to learn how to do it or think about it differently, right? Maybe you have a layered haircut and you want to keep that hair behind your ears. Like I said, spray a little hairspray on your fingertips and rake it through where you want your hair to stay. Quick tip too: you can actually use a little bit of hairspray on a mascara wand, an old one, and use it for your eyebrows, and that'll keep your eyebrows in line all day long, too. Way off target here, but hey, I guess that's hair. Okay, another reason that you should be using hairspray, it controls flyaways and frizz. Look, humidity happens. It happens every season, right? It's not just spring and summer, humidity just happens. So hairspray just helps smooth and seals your style without flattening it if you do it correctly. Again, inside of your hairstyle, not on top, inside. Here's another trick, too. Say you have flyaways or frizz, um, flyaways, and you know those little flyaways when you're looking in the mirror and you've got these little tiny hairs sticking up, sprouting. It looks like, whoa, what's going on here? Take your can of hairspray, just lightly mist your hair, and then take your can of hairspray on its side and and just kind of smooth over those flyaways, and they'll lay down and then they have a little bit of hairspray on there so they won't pop back up. Good tip. Okay, number four, another reason why you should use hairspray, it reduces over-styling. Look, when your hairstyle lasts longer, you're less likely to have to recurl it, restraighten it, or over-brush it, which actually protects the hair in the long run. I know a lot of people who do their hair in the morning and then they go to work or they go throughout their day. And if they go to dinner or something that night, they're having to redo their hair. Well, all of that curling and straightening and well, over brushing, it does have an effect on the health of your hair. So if you already used hairspray and you haven't had to redo everything, you're actually protecting your hair, right?

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

See how I weave that in there? All right. And then the the fifth reason why you should be using hairspray is because the modern formulas these days actually include conditioning agents, humidity resistance, and even UV protection. So they're doing more than just holding your hair in place. I bet you didn't know that, huh? I love it. I have one hairspray that I use tame, and it actually does have a humidity resistance in there. Love it. Love it in the summertime, but I use it year-round. If you can find one that has the UV protection in it as well, wow, fabulous. And I think I have one or two on my Amazon storefront. So go over there and check that out. I can't remember the names of them though. All right, so you're saying, this is great, Denise. Okay, you're kind of convincing me to use hairspray. I'm one of those people, I've been afraid of it because you know I'm a product of the 80s. I don't want stiff hair. I definitely don't want to go backwards in my life, but I'm having some problems with my style holding. It looks great when I leave the salon. I don't know what I'm doing. Maybe hairspray can be my friend. Great, love that for you. However, I want to give you some ingredients to be mindful of, okay? This is where education matters. You don't have to be fearful, you just have to know what you're looking at. First thing you want to look at drying alcohols, like SD alcohol or denatured alcohol. Now, these aren't automatically bad, but if you use them over time, heavy use, especially without properly cleansing them and conditioning your hair to begin with, they could be kind of bad, okay? Because like I said before, most hairsprays have some sort of alcohol in them. These two, teenatured alcohol and SD alcohol, are two that you definitely do want to be aware of. But again, if you're using a product that have these and you like the product and it's working well for you, just know that you need to get that off your hair at least once a week. Use some kind of deep cleansing shampoo. Be aware that you want to use a conditioner in the shower to counteract the dryness, things like that. Just be aware, okay? I'm not saying if you have a hairspray and it has the alcohols in them that it's bad, that you need to stop. No, just be aware. All right, you also want to look for heavy resins or polymers. These do create hold, but wow, the buildup that happens if your hair hair is not shampooed thoroughly. Holy cow, you can actually scrape it off the hair. We used to show that in the salon that there's certain brands out there, again, I'm not gonna say who, they have heavy polymers in them, create a lot of shine. However, it builds up on your hair. Again, if you're using a product that you like and it's working for you, wonderful. Just make sure you're getting that off your hair once a week. All right, another ingredient to be mindful of is strong synthetic fragrances. You do not want synthetic fragrances in there, those are unnatural additives to the hairsprays. These can trigger headaches and irritation, especially for sensitive users. You want to look for something that uses essential oils, essential fragrances, not synthetic, okay? And you should have an ingredient list on the back of your bottle. Just take a look. And then aerosol, propellants and aerosols. They're generally safe. And I know when we lived in California that there was a ban for certain types of aerosols. I think the reason why is because it propels the product into the air, and then the gas or the whatever they're using as the agent to get it out of the can evaporates into the atmosphere and then it some kind of ozone thing. That's that's my thought on that. I do not know if that's correct or not. And if somebody knows of that, knows what's happening in that, please let me know so I can share it. But that's my idea for that. If this is not ideal for you and you would prefer not to use an aerosol, there are pump sprays that work just as well. I have one uh that I use, especially if I wear my hair curly. It's a wonderful alternative. It doesn't have the alcohols in there that most uh aerosols have. And uh the trick is with the pump sprays, though, you want to make sure you're holding it at a distance away from your hair so the spray can come out. You just don't want it to hold it real close. It's not that's not pretty because you'd be dripping down the side of your face. I'm kidding.

SPEAKER_00:

That's that won't work, that won't happen. All right. So hopefully you got some good information from this podcast. I kind of had fun time putting this these lists together.

SPEAKER_01:

But here's the takeaway I want you to remember, okay? Hairspray is a tool. When you use it with intention and you use the right formula and the right technique, it actually supports your hair instead of working against it. If you have questions, if you have concerns, if you want recommendations, again, my Amazon storefront has some. I have some on my website. I love euphoral products, you know me. You know, it's just about educating yourself. And this is where I always come back to one simple truth. And you know what it is. When you know better, you do better. Thanks for spending time with me today. If this episode spoke to you, please share it with someone who needs a little good hair energy. I'll see you next time. And remember, when you know better, you do better.

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Danise Keilitz

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