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Reflecting on some of my hair goals for last year (yes, I had hair goals :), the main one I wanted to accomplish was to find the best products for liquid hair. Glassy, glossy, high-shine hair was my obsession and I bought a zillion hair products to try to achieve the look.
Glass hair, or liquid hair, as it’s now being called, is super high shine hair, or hair that’s so shiny you can practically see your own reflection in it. Shine is a major sign of healthy hair, but shiny hair also tends to look polished, put together, and like you had your green juice that morning.
Since I have oily hair, I wanted to find shiny hair without putting lots of oils and styling products in my hair which can easily weigh down my hair, take away volume and bounce, and make my hair greasy fast. Can’t I get amazing shine from my hair without heavy oils and serums and sprays? It turns out, yes, you can (although some oils and serums and sprays are useful too.)
These are my tried and tested best liquid hair products that will give you the wam bam shiniest hair of your life!
Glass Hair is all about moisture. Moisture smooths the hair’s cuticle which creates shiny hair, so if your hair is dry and under-moisturized you’ll want to make sure you’re not using a shampoo that is overly stripping your scalp’s oils. If you want liquid hair but you’re starting with a dry hair base, I’d also use a hydrating conditioner or a deep conditioning hair mask.
You can have shiny hair with any type of hair, and what works best for you will depend on your hair type and scalp condition. Have straight or wavy hair? Blow drying and/or straightening will give you an ultra-reflective look. Curls or highly-textured hair? Oils and serums can help define curls and add much-needed moisture that will also boost shine.
I have used several of these products at once, but I often pick and choose which products I will use any given day. You don’t need to use them all at once. Try some of these by layering on one another to see what gives your he best results!
Let’s start with products you can use in the shower. The Alterna Shine Booster is one of those sleeper products that you may not have heard about but can transform your hair. You only need to put a couple pumps of the product in your conditioner or a hair mask and rinse out as usual to reap the benefits. It’s a vegan formula which lasts for up to ten washes and doesn’t make my hair greasy at all.
I’ve covered my love for lamellar water shine rinses before, but it bears repeating. The L’Oreal 8 Second Wonder Water is one of the fastest and cheapest ways to get a shiny mane in the shower without adding any oil or serums to your hair. In only 8 seconds, the product finds the holes in your cuticle and fills them, leaving your cuticle smooth and your hair ultra-shiny. This is a constant repurchase for me!
Traditional hair glosses are having a moment right now and there are so many options that are available at home now. I love the Kerastase Hair Gloss for week-long shine and it specifically protects color-treated hair too.
Well, this is definitely not a sleeper product. Seemingly everyone knows about the Color Wow Dreamcoat Supernatural Spray by now and it’s for good reason. (Check out my dupes!) Chris Appleton, Kim Kardashian’s hair stylist, went viral for showing how water would bounce off of hair after using the spray but the results are also easily found at home too. I drench my hair with this before blow drying (this product is heat-activated, so only use if you’re going to blow dry or straighten), comb it through my hair, and then blow dry. Liquid hair, unlocked.
I was trying out different hair serums and oils to find something lightweight with heavyweight shine when I stumbled upon the Kenra Platinum Silkening Gloss. I use a couple of pumps and damp hair right before styling, but you can also use it on dry hair.
I tend to be careful with shine sprays because they can easily weigh my hair down, but they are a great finishing touch, kind of like makeup for hair. They’re perfect for a night out when you want that over-the-top glossy look. I first heard of this one when I saw a picture of Hailey Bieber with hair so shiny it sent me into a multi-day google searching bonanza to try to figure out what she used. Her hairstylist, Danielle Priano, used the Sexy Hair Anti-Frizz Spray which is meant to be used after your hair is styled as a final glossy touch.
