Does Hair Spray to Cover Bald Spots Work?

When you hear about hair spray, your first thought is probably about that specific type of spray that stiffens up your hair to keep it in place. But there are many other types of hair spray for you to use that have other functions as well.

One of these types is a hair spray that helps to cover up bald or thinning areas of your hair. There are actually whole lines of this hair spray for those of every hair color to use. The real question about this type of hair spray is if it really works and if it is worth it.

Hair Spray For Bald Spots

Using hair spray to hide bald spots is something that can be better understood by knowing exactly how this hair spray works. Hair sprays of this kind usually work by having large amounts of naturally formulated keratin protein fibers. These keratin fibers look just like hair from even a short distance.

More than that, the fibers have no smell, are easy to use, and can come in a variety of different shades and colors. No matter the color, these fibers have a natural charge that gives it a sort of electric current effect. Basically, this type of hair spray bonds itself to your hair like needles to a magnet.

This makes your strands of hair seem thicker, making your hair on the whole seem much fuller. It also makes your scalp less visible, which does even more to disguise the area where your hair is thinning.

There are, of course, other non-keratin ingredients in these hair sprays, but almost all of them have some keratin. These other ingredients help the keratin bind to your hair and other things.

As for the question of hair spray working for bald spots, some of that will depend on exactly how big the bald spot is. Since this type of hair spray works by basically bonding to what little hair you have to make it look thicker, this won’t work at all for those larger bald areas that don’t have any hair for the spray to bond to.

Using hair spray is more to cover those thinning areas more than actual bald spots. However, this hair spray can do an amazing job of helping to hide those thinning areas, especially around part lines. So, if that is the type of bald area that you are trying to hide, hair spray is perfect for you.

Advantages Of Hair Spray For Bald Spots

Using hair spray like this for thinning or balding areas can have so many advantages. First of all, perhaps the best advantage of using this hair spray is how easy it makes it to hide thinning areas. More than that, the keratin fibers can actually help strengthen what little hair you do have in those thinning areas.

Some of the keratin can seep into the strands of your hair a little. This helps them to be stronger even after you wash the hair spray off of your hair. In addition, many of these hair sprays have other ingredients that are meant to help your hair growth as well.

After all, they know that if you are buying their hair spray, you are also likely trying to get your hair to grow better. It helps this without being invasive like a surgery, having a lot of chemicals, being overly expensive, or even making your head hot like a wig would.

Also, applying this type of hair spray is just as easy as applying any other type. Just spraying something onto your hair is so easy to do, and it is just as easy to add it to your usual hair routine. Some types of this hair spray can even last for days on your hair, depending on how often you shower.

Hair sprays like this come in some fairly inexpensive options, but even the pricier ones can be worth it. One small bottle of hair spray can often last you for months, so it is an easy investment.

Finally, the various shades that hair spray can be found in mean that it is very easy to find a spray that matches your hair. Though some of these lines of hair spray have some sort of fragrance, many are completely odorless.

Cautions Of Hair Spray For Bald Spots

While hair sprays can be a huge help for your hair, they can also have some side effects. This partially depends on what exactly is in the specific hair spray you are using, but there are a few common reactions that many hair sprays have, especially on sensitive scalps.

For starters, this hair spray does have other ingredients in it, a few of which can easily be irritants. Depending on the exact ingredient and how bad of a reaction you have to it, there can be any number of side effects.  

More common ones are itchiness, redness, clogged pores, mild swelling, rashes, and other things at the area of application. Other possibilities are headaches, stuffed nose, etc. While these side effects of hair spray are the more common, there are a few others that are less common.

Clogged pores on your scalp are a huge problem if you are trying to grow your hair, for obvious reasons. That is not to get into the possibility of an allergic reaction making your hair fall out.

The types that are made to really stick to your hair and to last for days tend to have more likelihood of problems than the other types. This is both because the fact that additional things are added to make the bond between the keratin fibers and your hair stronger. It is also because it is that much harder to get out of your hair should you have a reaction to it.

Finally, it does take practice using this hair spray to get it to look just right. Using too much of this hair spray, in particular, can just compound the potential problems. Just one of these things is the possibility that it can clog up your pores badly, which leads to so many other problems.

What to Look For In Hair Spray For Bald Spots

There are many lines of hair spray that are for bald spots that you can try out for your hair. Some of these hair sprays work really well, but others have some problems. So, when picking what hair spray to use to help cover your bald spots, it is good to keep an eye out for certain things.

Color is the first thing about the hair spray that you want to look at. Obviously, you need a hair spray that is going to match the color of your hair as perfectly as possible so that it looks right. Or, if you keep your hair dyed, use a spray that matches the dyed color.

Another thing about this type of hair spray to look out for is its moisture resistance. No hair spray can handle swimming or anything like that. However, a good hair spray for your bald spots should be able to handle perspiration and humidity. This water resistance is especially something you should look for if you know that you live somewhere hot.

Though many hair sprays won’t mention this at all, the powdery-ness of it is also important. Hair sprays that are too powdery can get affected by gusts of wind and other things far too easily. This can partially uncover the part of your scalp you were trying to hide.

While you should still try to avoid touching your hair too much after using any type of hair spray, powdery options may have the added disadvantage of getting onto your hands, cap, pillowcase, or anything else that touches your hair in that area.

You don’t want the hair spray to be too moist either, or it will clump and make your hair look dirty. And, lastly, try to avoid the sprays that have too many chemicals.

Related Reading

• Bald Head Wax: Best Product and What it Does

How To Use Hair Spray For Bald Spots

As mentioned, using hair spray to cover your bald or thinning spots can take a bit of practice. Using too much of this hair spray can clog up your pores, look fake, get itchy, and cause any number of other problems. Though using too little hair spray isn’t as much of a problem, it still might not look quite right.

The same is true for applying the spray unevenly or incorrectly. This is why you should try out the hair spray a couple of times before you go anywhere with it in your hair to try to get it down right. Each person has different hair, whether the difference is the color, the texture, or the oiliness. These differences will make the spray stick on a little differently for each person.

To start, before applying the spray to your thinning area, it is best if that spot is clean and dry. This means clean from any other products or chemicals. Before applying the spray, make sure that you shake it up well too.

The keratin fibers in it can clump up inside it otherwise – though this can also happen if the spray is old and has been sitting for a long stretch of time. This can clog up whatever it is that the spray comes out of, and it won’t look right.

Try to get an even coat on the area you are trying to cover up. Use steady sprays for this and not short bursts of spray that can give your hair an uneven coating. As for how often you will need to apply the spray to your hair, that will depend on the spray. Some types are meant to wash off, while others are meant to resist water and can last for days.

Final Thoughts

While using hair spray for bald spots may not be all that you hoped it could be, it still has its uses. Any product that can both help your hair while camouflaging your thinning areas while you try to grow your hair back is certainly worth taking a look at.

So, if you want an instant effect of having thicker hair, using hair spray is certainly something you can use. Though you should use this type of hair spray with a little caution, the benefits that it can give your hair are worth it in most cases.