Sea salt, which is known for its larger granules compared to ordinary table salt, is a food seasoning that also shows up in beauty products, from body scrubs to texturizing hair sprays.
Both are mostly the same compound, sodium chloride. The main differences between the two types of salt are how they’re made and the size of their crystals.
Sea salt is less processed, so it keeps trace amounts of other minerals, such as potassium, calcium, and iron, while table salt is more refined. Those extra minerals are there in such small amounts that neither salt is a real source of nutrients for your body or your hair.
Also, a teaspoon of table salt holds about 2,300 mg of sodium, and a teaspoon of sea salt can hold a little less. That’s not because sea salt is lower in sodium. Its bigger granules leave more air in the spoon, so fewer of them fit.
Over the years, sea salt has also picked up a reputation in skin and hair care.
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This article will provide details on using sea salt for hair growth, hair breakage, and much more.
However, before we dive deep into those details, let's see what sea salt is, how it's extracted, and what makes it unique from ordinary table salt.
Key Takeaways
- Benefits of Sea Salt Spray for Hair Types: Sea salt sprays benefit various hair types, including curly, straight, fine, and thick hair. They help create natural and beachy wave patterns, offering a light hold for beach hairstyles.
- Application on Wet and Damp Hair: For best results, apply sea salt spray to damp or wet hair. This helps enhance natural curls and waves and is especially effective on second-day hair for a refreshed, natural style.
- Sea Salt and Hair Growth: Sea salt won’t make your hair grow faster, and it doesn’t feed your hair or scalp. What it can do is lift loose flakes and dead skin when you use it as a gentle scalp scrub, no more than twice a week.
- Versatility of Sea Salt Products: Sea salt sprays work on various hair lengths, from short to long hair strands, providing a fuller look and matte finish. They are among the most versatile hair products, suitable for creating a range of styles from professional hair looks to casual beach waves.
- DIY and Commercial Sea Salt Sprays: You can make DIY sea salt spray with ingredients like Epsom salt, aloe vera gel, and essential hair oils, or choose commercial sea salt hair sprays for convenience. Both options deliver a natural wave and texture, ideal for achieving a beach-inspired look.
- Salt Dries Out Your Hair: Salt left on your hair makes it feel rougher and drier. Follow any sea salt treatment with a conditioner, and rinse your hair with fresh water after a swim in the ocean.
What Is Sea Salt?
Unlike regular table salt, sea salt is made by evaporating saltwater, which leaves behind granules of sodium chloride with trace amounts of other minerals, such as magnesium, sulfur, calcium, iron, zinc, and potassium.
On the other hand, table salt is mined from underground salt deposits before removing minerals and other naturally occurring components. Additives that prevent the salt granules from clumping are added, and iodized salt also gets iodine, an essential nutrient that helps maintain a healthy thyroid.
Most of the skin research on salt uses Dead Sea salt, which is much richer in magnesium than ordinary sea salt. In one study, people with atopic dry skin (the dry, easily irritated skin that comes with eczema) soaked one forearm for 15 minutes in water with 5% Dead Sea salt, over six weeks. Compared with the arm soaked in tap water, that skin held more moisture and was less rough and red.
That study was on arm skin, though, not on a scalp or on hair.
In beauty products, sea salt mostly shows up as a scrub for your skin and as a texturizing spray for your hair.
Besides hair care, below are other common uses of sea salt:
- Sea salt mixed with honey is a popular homemade face mask. Skip it on broken or sunburned skin, since salt stings.
- Sea salt mixed with coconut oil or another oil is used as a body scrub to remove dead skin. The salt does the scrubbing, and the oil softens your skin. Our favorite oils for a salt scrub are olive oil, jojoba oil, and argan oil. If you add an essential oil, such as lavender or tea tree oil, use only a few drops, since essential oils are very concentrated.
There are several brands of sea salt and Dead Sea salt, including PureScrubs, Minera, and Thena Natural Wellness.
Can Sea Salt Help Hair Growth?
No, sea salt won’t make your hair grow faster. Your hair grows from follicles, the tiny pockets under your scalp where each hair starts, and salt doesn’t speed them up. Most people’s hair grows about ⅓ to ½ inch a month, depending on hair type, with or without salt.
What sea salt can do is act as a scrub. Rubbed gently on a damp scalp, the gritty grains loosen flakes, dead skin, and product buildup so your shampoo can wash them away. That can leave your scalp feeling cleaner, but it doesn’t change how fast your hair grows.
If your flakes keep coming back, a salt scrub won’t stop them. Dandruff starts with a yeast that lives on your scalp, and it clears with a dandruff shampoo that has an active ingredient, such as zinc pyrithione or ketoconazole. Our dandruff guide shows you how to use one on curly hair.
Whatever you use sea salt for, you should always use it in moderation.
Original Curl Centric chart
Should you use sea salt for this?
Find what you want sea salt to do for your hair, then read across. The green rows are what it does well. For everything else, start with the last column.
| What you want | Will sea salt help? | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clear loose flakes and buildup | Yes, as a gentle scrub. | The gritty grains loosen dead skin and product buildup so your shampoo can wash them away. | Massage a sea salt scrub into your damp scalp with your fingertips, then shampoo and condition your hair. |
| More texture and volume | Yes, until your next wash day. | Salt that dries on your hair leaves it rougher, with more grip, so it holds waves and volume. | Use a sea salt spray or rinse. If your hair already feels dry or tangles easily, use less salt or skip it. |
| Get rid of dandruff | Not for long. | A scrub lifts loose flakes, but dandruff starts with a yeast on your scalp that salt doesn’t treat. | Use a dandruff shampoo with an active ingredient, such as zinc pyrithione, on your scalp only. Our dandruff guide |
| Faster hair growth | No. | Your hair grows from follicles under your scalp, and salt doesn’t speed them up. | Expect about ⅓ to ½ inch a month, depending on hair type. Less breakage is what lets you keep that length. |
| Stop hair loss or thinning | No. | Hair loss comes from causes salt can’t reach, such as genetics, stress, giving birth, or styles that put constant tension on your hair. | See a board-certified dermatologist, and loosen any tight styles in the meantime. |
| Calm a rash, sores, or bald patches | No, and it can sting. | Salt irritates broken or inflamed skin, and a rash or patchy hair loss needs a diagnosis. | Stop using salt on your scalp and see a dermatologist. If a young child has a flaky scalp with broken hairs, see a doctor, since it can be scalp ringworm. |
Whatever you use it for, keep sea salt to twice a week or less and follow it with a conditioner, since salt dries out your hair.
How to Use Sea Salt for Hair Growth and More
There are five ways you can use sea salt on your scalp and hair, from a scrub to a rinse.
Each hair treatment includes mixing different ingredients with sea salt to achieve a specific formulation that offers various benefits to the hair. These include:
1. Sea Salt Mask Recipe for Hair Loss
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon of wheat-germ oil
- 2 tablespoons of sea salt
- 2 tablespoons of almond oil
Directions:
- Wash your hair and allow it to hair dry until it's moist or damp.
- Using a bowl, mix all three ingredients until the salt is coated in oil. The salt won’t dissolve in oil, so the mix stays gritty, and that grit is what scrubs your scalp.
- Apply the mixture to your scalp while massaging it gently. Make sure the hair is still moist (but not wet) while applying the mixture. It's more difficult to work the mixture into completely dry hair.
- Use the remaining formulation to work through all of your hair strands before rinsing your hair with a mild shampoo.
- Condition your hair and style as usual.
This mask works as a scalp scrub. It won’t stop hair loss, so if you’re finding more hair than usual in your comb or shower drain, see a dermatologist to find out why.
2. Sea Salt Scalp Tonic for Rashes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of hot water
- 1 tablespoon of sea salt
Directions:
- Heat a cup of water in a pan until it boils.
- Add one tablespoon of sea salt and stir until it dissolves. Then let the water cool until it feels lukewarm on your wrist.
- Immerse a soft cloth (preferably cotton) in the solution and squeeze out the excess before patting the fabric gently on the scalp.
- Use this solution no more than twice a week. Salt dries out your scalp, so using it every day can leave your scalp drier and itchier.
This tonic isn’t a treatment for a rash or a scalp infection. Skip it if your scalp has open cuts or scratches, since salt stings.
If you have a rash that doesn’t go away, oozes, or comes with bald patches, see a dermatologist. And if a young child has a flaky scalp with broken hairs, see a doctor, since that can be scalp ringworm, a fungal infection that needs prescription medicine.
3. Sea Salt Shampoo for Hair Growth
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of your (favorite) mild shampoo
- 2 tablespoons of sea salt
Directions:
- Pour your regular shampoo into a bowl.
- Add sea salt, stir the mixture for several minutes, and let it dissolve for one hour.
- Apply the mixture to your scalp and hair strands just like you would with the regular shampoo.
- Rinse your hair and condition it afterward.
This shampoo won’t make your hair grow faster. What the salt adds is grit while you wash and a rougher feel once your hair dries, which some people like for volume. If your hair feels dry or tangles more than usual after a wash, go back to your regular shampoo.
4. Anti-Dandruff Sea Salt Mask
Ingredients:
- 1 egg yolk
- 10 drops of castor oil
- 1 tablespoon of yogurt
- 2 tablespoons of sea salt
Directions:
- Mix all four ingredients in a bowl and stir them until you get a smooth consistency.
- Wet your hair, then apply the mask topically from your scalp throughout your hair strands.
- Cover your hair with a clean cloth or towel and leave the mask for about 30 minutes.
- Wash your hair using a mild shampoo.
- Condition your hair and style as usual.
Yogurt and egg yolk turn the salt into a creamy paste that’s easier to spread than salt alone. This mask isn’t a dandruff treatment, though. If you have dandruff, keep oils like castor oil off your scalp while you treat it, and use a dandruff shampoo instead.
If you don’t have dandruff, feel free to add your favorite ingredients, such as coconut oil or avocado oil, to make your mask richer.
You should also avoid ingredients your skin might be allergic to. A good rule of thumb is to patch test any new ingredient before you use it in the mixture.
For instance, if you plan to use camphor oil, canola oil, castor oil, or any ingredient of choice, apply a small amount to the inside of your elbow twice a day for seven to 10 days. If your skin turns red, itchy, or swollen, wash it off and don’t use that ingredient.
5. Homemade Sea Salt Rinse
A homemade sea salt rinse is an alternative to the commercial sea salt spray, which contains several non-natural ingredients. The homemade version contains more natural ingredients such as honey, green tea, coconut oil, etc.
Ingredients:
- 1 bag of green tea
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 1 tablespoon of coconut/Avocado oil
- 1 teaspoon of sea salt
Directions:
- Brew one cup of green tea, then add honey, sea salt, and coconut oil. Let it cool until it’s lukewarm before you pour it on your hair.
- Use your favorite shampoo to cleanse your hair, gently massaging your scalp.
- Use your homemade sea salt solution to rinse your hair after shampooing.
- Allow the solution to sit on your hair strands and scalp for 10 to 20 minutes before rinsing it further with lukewarm water.
The Benefits of Sea Salt for Hair
Below are some of the benefits of using sea salt in your hair care routine.
Antifungal Properties
Salt can slow the growth of some fungi when it’s concentrated enough. But the salt in a scrub or rinse sits on your scalp for a few minutes and then washes away, so it won’t clear a fungal problem on your scalp. Dandruff and scalp ringworm both need medicated treatment, which we covered above.
It Removes Excess Oil
Sea salt doesn’t soak up oil on its own. Your shampoo is what washes sebum, the natural oil your scalp makes, off your scalp. A sea salt scrub can help by loosening flakes and product buildup first, but it won’t clear scalp acne or dandruff, and it won’t change how your hair grows.
It Contains Nutrients Beneficial for the Scalp
Sea salt doesn’t feed your scalp or your hair. Its extra minerals are there in trace amounts, and your hair follicles get what they need from your blood, not from what you put on your scalp. Magnesium is the mineral people point to most, and the skin research on it used Dead Sea salt soaks on arm skin, as we covered above.
Helps With Exfoliation and Blood Flow
Using sea salt with other ingredients, such as coconut oil, helps exfoliate the scalp, removing dead skin buildup from the hair roots. Exfoliating just means scrubbing away dead skin cells. Be gentle with it: dermatologists recommend small, circular motions with a scrub and never exfoliating skin that has open cuts or a sunburn. It can feel good on your scalp, but a salt scrub won’t make your hair grow.
Does Sea Salt Make Your Hair Thicker?
Sea salt can make your hair look thicker for a day, but it doesn’t make your strands thicker or give you more hair. Salt that dries on your hair leaves it feeling rougher, with more grip, so it holds more volume and texture. That’s the same effect a sea salt spray gives you, and it washes out on your next wash day.
Is Sea Salt Safe for Hair?
Sea salt is safe for your hair when used in moderation, which means no more than twice a week. The main downside is that salt dries out your hair, so it can leave your strands feeling rough and make them tangle more easily, especially if your hair is already dry.
Skip sea salt on your scalp if you have open cuts, scratches, or a sunburn there, or if your scalp is already red and irritated. Stop using it if your scalp stings, burns, or itches more afterward. That means the salt is too harsh for your skin.
If the irritation doesn’t settle down once you stop, see a dermatologist.
To avoid the drying effect of sea salt on your scalp, always avoid commercial sea salt sprays with poorly labeled ingredients. Before you buy and apply sea salt spray, double-check to make sure that it doesn't contain any alcohol content or anything you might be allergic to.
Similarly, it's advisable to always use a conditioner after applying a sea salt mask or shampoo to your scalp and hair. The benefit is that it restores your hair's natural moisture balance, especially if you didn't balance the ingredients well or used more sea salt in the formulation.
What Does Salt Water Do to Your Hair?
Salt water dries out your hair. When ocean water or a salt rinse dries on your hair, it leaves salt behind on your strands, which makes your hair feel rough and crunchy and can make it tangle more easily. That’s why your hair can feel like straw after a day at the beach.
So after you swim in the ocean, rinse your hair with fresh water as soon as you can, then follow with a conditioner. Before you swim, you can also wet your hair with fresh water and smooth on a leave-in conditioner or a little oil. Dermatologists suggest the same steps for pool water.
Can Sea Salt Stop Hair Loss?
Hair loss is a common condition that affects many people at some point in their lives. It has many causes, including genetics, illness, giving birth, stress, scalp infections, and hairstyles that put constant tension on your hair. Because the treatment depends on the cause, see a dermatologist if you’re losing more hair than usual.
Sea salt hasn't been shown to treat hair loss or alopecia. If you use a sea salt mix as a scalp scrub, always massage gently, since rough scrubbing with salt can leave your scalp sore.
Your scalp should also be damp. Massage gently for a few minutes; salt is gritty, and scrubbing for a long time can irritate your scalp. You can use the two recipes interchangeably, i.e., the sea salt hair mask and the sea salt shampoo.
If you add sea salt to your hair care routine, use it no more than two times a week.
Can Sea Salt Lighten Your Hair?
No, sea salt itself won’t lighten your hair. The sun is what changes your hair color. In one lab study, sunlight changed the color of every hair type tested, including black and dark brown hair, and the change was strongest on lighter hair. Most people love to naturally lighten their hair during the summer, i.e., without using harsh chemicals to bleach their natural hair color.
Sea salt often shows up in homemade lightening sprays, but the salt itself doesn’t bleach your hair.
Lemon juice, honey, and cinnamon are other home ingredients people try. If you want your hair noticeably lighter, a hair lightener used as the box directs will give you a result you can plan for.
In other words, the sea salt recipes on this page won’t change your natural hair color. Time in the sun can, so wear a wide-brimmed hat when you’re out in strong sun for long.
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From what we’ve documented above, sea salt does a few useful things for your hair, but growing it isn’t one of them. You can use sea salt as a gentle scalp scrub to remove dead skin cells and loose flakes, and as a spray or rinse for more texture and volume. It won’t make your hair grow faster, thicken your strands, or stop hair loss.
While sea salt can be used as a hair product, it's not a miracle solution that will repair damaged hair overnight. In fact, everyone's hair is different, so it may not work for you at all.
If you decide to use sea salt on your hair, we recommend starting slowly and using the product in moderation.
