Hairspray for thick hair

Sexy Hair Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray has the best record for thick hair: 20 of 21 shoppers said it held their style through the day without crunch or stickiness. Each record counts just shoppers who said they have thick hair, so the groups are small. Kenra Professional Volume Spray 25, a volume spray, follows at 22 of 24, and more shoppers weighed in on it than on any other here, while Sebastian Shaper Plus Hairspray, a classic hairspray, has the weakest record at 8 of 13.

  • 106 store reviews counted
  • Ulta and Sephora shoppers
  • Oct 2014 to Sep 2026

Updated . How we count

Did it hold thick hair? What shoppers said
  1. Sexy Hair Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray 21 said either way
  2. Kenra Professional Volume Spray 25 24 said either way
  3. OUAI Wave Spray 10 said either way
  4. Sebastian Shaper Plus Hairspray 13 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for thick hair that won't stay in place. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Sexy Hair Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray Best record Sexy Hair Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray 20 of 21 say it held their style through the day without crunch or stickiness See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

Weak hold comes up on every spray here: 14% of Sebastian reviews, 10% of OUAI reviews, 7% of Sexy Hair reviews and 7% of Kenra Professional reviews. Those shares count every review of a spray, not just shoppers who stated a result, so they are not the same as the records.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points reviewers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1 Sexy Hair Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray

Sexy Hair

Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray

20/21 say it held their style through the day without crunch or stickiness

20 of 21 shoppers with thick hair said this volumizing hairspray held their style through the day without crunch or stickiness. Across all 27 of its reviews, 74% call the hold strong, while a sticky or crunchy feel (7%) and weak hold (7%) are small complaints.

What buyers praise

  • Strong hold 74%
  • Not sticky 7%
  • Good value 7%
  • Holds in humidity 7%

What buyers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 20 of 21
2 Kenra Professional Volume Spray 25

Kenra Professional

Volume Spray 25

Best for a non-sticky feel

22/24 say it held their style through the day without crunch or stickiness

More shoppers with thick hair weighed in on this volume spray than on any other here (24), and 22 of 24 said it held their style without crunch or stickiness. Across all 28 of its reviews, 39% say it isn't sticky and 71% call the hold strong, while weak hold is the one repeated complaint at 7%.

What buyers praise

  • Strong hold 71%
  • Not sticky 39%
  • Holds in humidity 7%
  • Nice scent 7%
  • Good value 7%

What buyers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 22 of 24
3

OUAI

Wave Spray

Best for a nice scent

8/10 say it held their style through the day without crunch or stickiness

Just 10 shoppers with thick hair stated a result for this wave spray, so read the record with care: 8 of 10 said it held their style through the day without crunch or stickiness. Across all 30 of its reviews, 27% praise the scent, 20% say it isn't sticky and 10% call the hold weak.

What buyers praise

  • Nice scent 27%
  • Strong hold 23%
  • Not sticky 20%

What buyers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 8 of 10
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination5 of 5
  • Dry1 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light5 of 5
  • Light-medium to medium2 of 4

Share of 30 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

4

Sebastian

Shaper Plus Hairspray

8/13 say it held their style through the day without crunch or stickiness

This classic hairspray has the weakest record here at 8 of 13, with 5 of 13 shoppers saying it didn't hold or left their hair crunchy, sticky or stiff. Across all 21 of its reviews, 33% call the hold strong, while weak hold (14%) and a sticky or crunchy feel (10%) draw complaints.

What buyers praise

  • Strong hold 33%
  • Nice scent 14%
  • Not sticky 14%

What buyers complain about

  • Strong scent 10%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 8 of 13

Share of 21 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

Where these numbers come from

The 4 products ranked here carry 9,059 reviews at Ulta and Sephora. We searched them for thick hair that won't stay in place and read the newest matching reviews, up to 40 per product and store, posted between Oct 2014 and Sep 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (0 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Ulta also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. They run much more positive than store reviews of the same products (across 19 products with both, 76% of brand-site reviewers said the product solved the problem, against 55% of Ulta shoppers), so we show them on product cards but never count them.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Skin type, skin tone and age splits use what reviewers chose on Sephora's review form (and age on Ulta's when given). We only show a split when enough reviewers fall on each side.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Sexy Hair Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray Ulta (27 reviews counted)
  2. Kenra Professional Volume Spray 25 Ulta (28 reviews counted)
  3. OUAI Wave Spray Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  4. Sebastian Shaper Plus Hairspray Ulta (21 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which hairspray works for thick hair?

Sexy Hair Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray has the best record (20 of 21), followed by Kenra Professional Volume Spray 25 (22 of 24) and OUAI Wave Spray (8 of 10), which rests on a smaller group. Just four sprays had enough shoppers with thick hair stating a result to be ranked. Smoothing sprays and pre-styling sprays were left out.

Will hairspray feel sticky or crunchy on thick hair?

It can. 10% of Sebastian reviews and 7% of Sexy Hair reviews mention a sticky or crunchy feel. For a less sticky feel, 39% of Kenra Professional reviews say it isn't sticky. Whatever you pick, follow the distance on the label and build up with light passes instead of one heavy spray.

Should I use a classic hairspray or a volume spray on thick hair?

Both kinds can work. Sexy Hair Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray has the best record (20 of 21), followed by Kenra Professional Volume Spray 25 (22 of 24) and OUAI Wave Spray (8 of 10). Sebastian Shaper Plus Hairspray, a classic hairspray, has the weakest record at 8 of 13, but that is one spray and a small group, so pick by the product rather than the kind.

Which of these hairsprays are sold on Amazon?

Sexy Hair Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray, Kenra Professional Volume Spray 25 and Sebastian Shaper Plus Hairspray are sold there by the brand or Amazon itself. OUAI Wave Spray is sold there by a third-party seller, not by the brand, so check who the seller is. The best pick sold on Amazon is Sexy Hair Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray at 20 of 21.

Related problems

Hairspray Hairspray for fine hair Top pick: Drybar Triple Sec Texturizing Spray 147 buyer reports Hairspray Hairspray that holds all day Top pick: Sexy Hair Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray 193 buyer reports Hairspray Hairspray that's not sticky Top pick: Sebastian Shaper Plus Hairspray 165 buyer reports Shampoo Shampoo for thick hair Top pick: OUAI Detox Clarifying Shampoo 246 buyer reports

HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.