The best detangling sprays you can buy

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The best detangling sprays you can buy

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best detangeler spray

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  • If your hair still becomes a tangled ball of knots, no matter how much conditioner you use, you should invest in a good detangling spray, to make combing your hair a pain-free experience.

  • Our top pick is the Not Your Mother's Knotty to Nice Conditioning Detangler because it is an affordable detangling spray that strengthens hair while it detangles it.

If you've ever long hair, chances are you've suffered through the painful process of detangling knots. Not only does brushing through stubborn snarls hurt in the moment, but combing out tangled hair without prepping it first can also leave behind lasting effects, like damaged, broken, and brittle strands. Which is why having a good detangling spray on hand is so important.

Most of us were introduced to these sprays as children when our moms spritzed them on our locks to prevent us from crying as she brushed out snarls. But while these fruit-scented, kid-friendly detangling sprays get the job done, they aren't exactly something that most adults would want to use. Thankfully, haircare companies have finally realized that you can have tangle-prone hair at any age and have developed more luxurious detanglers specially made for grown-ups.

Not only do these more advanced detangling sprays make it easier to comb your hair, but they can also improve your hair's health. Some feature ingredients that work to restore damage and enhance your hair's natural shine, while others provide heat protection and deep condition your tresses.

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With so many detangling sprays on the market, working out which one is best for you can feel overwhelming. To save you time and money, we've researched hundreds of expert and consumer reviews to find the best options available. Whether you've got natural, curly, thick or damaged hair, we've found the top detangling sprays around that will tame your knots.

Here are the best detangling sprays you can buy:

Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.

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Best detangling spray overall

Best detangling spray overall
Why you'll love it: The Not Your Mother’s Knotty to Nice Conditioning Detangler is a highly-rated detangling spray that moisturizes, softens, and detangles hair.

The Not Your Mother’s Knotty to Nice Conditioning Detangler is a lightweight detangling spray that banishes locks without weighing your hair down or leaving it feeling greasy. The detangler works like a leave-in conditioner and can be applied to both wet and dry hair.

The salon-quality product is infused with keratin protein to help strengthen your hair and make it feel silky smooth. The detangling spray works on all hair types and makes brushing and combing hair a quick and painless task.

It has a 4.45-star rating on Influenster with more than 2,200 reviews and a 4.1-star rating on Ulta with 82% of shoppers saying they would recommend the product to their friends and family.

One reviewer write, “I'm blown away by this product. I honestly thought I would never find a product to help detangle the mess I call my hair until I found this. I use it on wet hair and it is so light and does not leave hair feeling or looking greasy at all. It also smells amazing. I use it daily and now I won't ever go without it!”

While most reviewers loved the light fruity smell of the spray, the few customers that didn’t care for the scent said, the smell will fade and shouldn’t stop you from using the product.

Pros: Affordable, lightweight, infused with keratin, strengthens and conditions hair, leaves hair soft and smooth

Cons: Fruity scent not for everyone

Buy the Not Your Mother’s Knotty to Nice Conditioning Detangler from Ulta for $5.99

Best detangling spray for curly hair

Best detangling spray for curly hair
Why you'll love it: The DevaCurl No Comb Detangling Spray detangles even the toughest knots, leaving you with smooth, shiny, and frizz-free curls.

If you have curly hair that is prone to tangles and snarls, give the DevaCurl No Comb Detangling Spray a try. The silicone-free spray conditions hair while it untangles all your knots and snarls.

Besides detangling your hair, this leave-in spray also adds shine and eliminates frizz, leaving your curls looking and feeling soft and smooth. The detangler is made without parabens and sulfates and features a refreshing lemongrass scent.

The detangler is a favorite among shoppers and beauty editors alike. It has been featured on both Bustle and The Zoe Report’s lists for best detangling sprays. And if you peruse the reviews on Sephora, where the spray has more than 2,200 likes and an average rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, you'll see shoppers praising how quickly the product detangles hair.

One reviewer wrote, “This is the best detangler I’ve ever used. I have thick, wavy hair that I only brush through when wet. This helps the comb glide right through without catching on tangles. It used to take me 15 minutes or longer to comb out all the tangles in my hair, but now with this, it only takes a minute or two.”

Pros: Specially formulated for wavy and curly hair, adds shine, eliminates frizz, leaves hair soft, detangles quickly

Cons: Pricey

Buy the DevaCurl No Comb Detangling Spray from Sephora for $20
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Best detangling spray for natural hair

Best detangling spray for natural hair
Why you'll love it: The Kinky Curly Knot Today Detangler smooths and restores hair cuticles while detangling knots and snarls.

The Kinky Curly Knot Today Detangler is specially formulated to remove tangles from textured hair. It is filled with organic fruit extracts and herbs that work together to naturally moisturize hair and fix broken hair cuticles.

This creamy detangler is dual-purpose and can be used as a rinse in the shower or can be left in if your hair needs a little extra attention. The product is free of parabens, sulfates, and ethyl alcohol, so there’s no need to worry about chemicals messing with your strands.

Allure magazine included the detangler in several of its natural hair guides including the How to Style Tight and Kinky Curls and How to Detangle Curly Hair Without Damaging It stories. Shoppers are also a fan of the product. The detangler has a 4.4-star rating on Amazon with almost 1,000 reviews.

One shopper named Margaret raved, “Thank goodness...finally a product that can wrestle with my thick, wet, natural hair. I am so glad that this product is not oily or greasy. It helps with loosening the tangles of my wet hair and highly coiled strands. This product has enabled me to comb through my hair more easily while it is wet and prepare it for either blow drying or twisting.”

A few customers warned to not over apply the product as curls can feel crunchy once they dry if you use too much of the detangler when it’s still wet.

Pros: Natural ingredients, dual-purpose, detangles fast, smooths hair cuticles,

Cons: Curls can dry crunchy if too much product is used

Buy the Kinky Curly Knot Today Detangler on Target for $11.99

Best detangling spray for damaged hair

Best detangling spray for damaged hair
Why you'll love it: If you are looking for a detangler that will improve your hair’s health, try the Amika The Wizard Detangling Primer.

The Amika The Wizard Detangling Primer is a multipurpose spray that not only detangles hair but also provides heat protection, reduces blow dry time, and nourishes hair. It works on all hair types, including damaged hair that has been color-treated, Brazilian-treated, and keratin-treated.

The nutrient-packed formula’s key ingredient is sea buckthorn berry which keeps free radicals at bay and promotes the production of collagen. It also includes provitamin B5 which restores hair’s resilience, protects against breakage, and reduces split ends and avocado oil which nourishes and smoothes hair.

The detangler is paraben, sulfate, and phthalate-free and is made without any formaldehyde or artificial colors. Buyers seem to love that it is also vegetarian-friendly and cruelty-free. It has a 4.4-star rating and has over 9,000 likes on Sephora

One Sephora shopper wrote, “I instantly fell in love with this product. My hair is very long, easily tangled and a bit damaged. It takes me forever to brush my hair out and blow dry it. This definitely helped to detangle my hair. It smells so good, I wish it were a perfume. My hair did dry faster and had a very noticeable shine and healthy appearance after blow drying as well. Love love love this.”

Pros: Detangles fast, provides heat protection, works on treated and damaged hair, cuts down blow-dry time, promotes collagen production

Cons: Expensive

Buy the Amika The Wizard Detangling Primer from Sephora for $25
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Best detangling spray for thick hair

Best detangling spray for thick hair
Why you'll love it: Your comb will never get stuck in thick tangled hair again, if you use the Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle Spray.

The Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle Spray is a deeply nourishing detangling spray that helps smooth out even the biggest knots in a snap. It features hydrolyzed wheat protein which helps strengthen hair and panthenol which softens and moisturizes locks.

It also works to protect hair from UV damage, moisture loss, and it helps prevent color fading. Shoppers not only love how soft and tangle-free the spray leaves their hair, but they are also obsessed with it’s gentle, floral scent.

The detangling spray is a cult favorite among BirchBox shoppers, where it has a 4.5-star rating with more than 140,500 reviews. One reviewer wrote, “I love this spray! My hair is thick, wavy and prone to fly away/frizz but it’s behaved like new hair with this.”

A few customers with fine hair mentioned the product left a little residue behind and weighed down their roots, so they suggest spraying the product just on the ends if you have very fine hair.

Pros: Detangles fast, nice floral scent, protects from UV damage, strengthens hair, moisturizes hair, prevents color fading

Cons: Can weigh roots down on very fine hair

Buy the Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle Spray from Birchbox for $23.50

Check out our other hair product buying guides

Check out our other hair product buying guides
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To save you time and money on products that don't work, as well as researching hundreds of expert and consumer reviews, our team of frizzy-headed testers has put the best anti-frizz products on the market to the test to come up with the best of the best for all hair types and budgets.

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The best heat protectant hair products under $25

If you style your hair daily with a blow dryer or curling iron, your hair needs protection from heat damage. The Tresemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray will protect your hair from heat damage without weighing it down, keep frizz at bay, and give you silky hair at an extremely affordable price. Here are our picks:

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