Who doesn’t need a heat protectant to keep your hair sleek and hydrated? But can you still enjoy the hair styling process when you know your heat protectant is actually causing pain and torture to animals? If this is the case for you, heat protectants with cruelty-free formulas are what you should look for.
What Cruelty-free Heat Protectant Is Good for Your Hair
Technically, a heat protectant is just a product that provides some moisture when your hair is exposed to high heat. Although today’s hair products have more complicated formulas and ingredients, they follow the same concept – keep your hair hydrated and moist. But, the different heat protectant types do have their strengths and weaknesses, so don’t be swayed by what’s popular.
First, their heat protection levels are not the same. If you need to use flat irons or curling irons, super hot tools that directly touch your hair, you’re better off buying one that comes with heat protection up to 450 degrees. If you only buying a heat protectant for blow drying, then a regular hair spray can do the trick.
For styling use, there’re some heat protectants that provide a hold to your hair, which helps you to use it as a hair styling product instead of a heat protector only. Also, if the hair protectant is lightweight and easy to dry, it works as a leave-in conditioner that makes your hair smooth and shiny as well. For people who have greasy hair, try not to buy a protectant cream, a spray with a fine mist is always better.
Last, You might not able to tell if a heat protectant really works and it may take a few weeks or more to figure out whether it’s really comfortable or suitable for your hair texture.
Best Cruelty-free Heat Protectants on the market
Sun Bum Heat Protector Spray – Vegan and Cruelty-Free
Best For – short and medium hair that needs smoothness, decent heat protection and lightweight hair spray.
Sum Bum heat protector spray is a budget-friendly protectant infused with natural ingredients and enriched with vitamins and minerals. For your concern, this product is totally vegan and cruelty-free, you won’t find any irritating chemicals in this protectant including gluten, sulfate, and paraben.
Besides clean and healthy ingredients, this heat protectant works nicely with your hair, it decreases blow-dry time by giving your a nourishing blend and it provides great protection to reduce damage, breakage, dryness, and frizz, making your strands more shiny and clean.
Color Wow Speed Dry Cruelty-Free Blow Dry Spray
Color Wow blow dry heat protectant uses a unique formula to get excess water out of your hair and add more nourishment to the strands, which makes the blow drying process quicker without causing more damage to hair.
It’s a pretty healthy heat protectant for people who blow dry hair a lot since it faster your blow drying time, it has keratin proteins, panthenol and silky amino acids, but it’s 100% cruelty-free. They claim that this product can cut your blow dry time at least by 30%. Moreover, it doesn’t contain any alcohol, meaning it doesn’t get your hair sticky and too dry when you apply it to your hair.
Aveda Heat Relief Thermal Protector & Conditioning Mist
Although the Aveda heat protectant is not the best affordable hair protectant, you won’t regret buying it if you take a close look at it. The thermal protectant from Aveda offers the benefit of natural derived ingredients from plants, non-petroleum minerals or water and a cruelty-free formula, making your hair fuller for healthier.
Aveda heat protectant is one of the protectors that also offers great conditioning to hair, you can use this as a leave-in conditioner even if you are not using any heat tools. As a heat protectant, it’s powerful as well with 450 degrees heat protection, which fights against damage and heat from flat irons and curling tools effortlessly.
Innersense Organic Beauty – thermal care Hair Love Prep Spray
Innersense uses organic extracts to make its cruelty-free heat protectant friendly to all hair types.
The protectant offers full protection including thermal protection and UV protection, and it also strengthens your strands to make them thicker and fuller.
Although people are not familiar with this brand, it is actually a pretty nice heat protectant to try in 2022.
Briogeo Farewell Frizz Blow Dry Perfection & Cruelty-Free Heat Protectant Crème
With silicone-free cream and vegan ingredients, this Briogeo Farewell heat protectant is designed for people who looking for amazing shine and healthy formula.
It contains several natural oils to help you get an extraordinary glow on your hair. And the cream also makes your look perfect throughout the day. As a cruelty-free heat protectant, the hair cream offers powerful heat protection up to 450°F, and your hair is going to be soft and manageable with the cream.
Cruelty-Free vs. Vegan Heat Protectants
Be careful! cruelty-free and vegan often show together on a product label, but it doesn’t mean they’re the same thing. According to the definition, a cruelty-free heat protectant means the product was not involved in tests on animals. But a vegan heat protectant means the product doesn’t contain animal-derived ingredients. That said, a cruelty-free heat protectant can’t be a vegan product sometimes.