The Sun Bum Sea Spray is a lightweight texturizing spray designed to create effortless, beach-inspired hairstyles with a natural matte finish. It adds subtle volume and definition without making your hair feel overly stiff or shiny, making it ideal for relaxed, tousled looks. While it offers only light hold, its fresh ocean-inspired scent and easy application make it a great choice for anyone who prefers soft, natural-looking texture over strong styling control.
About Sun Bum Sea Spray
Sea salt sprays have become one of the most popular styling products for creating effortless beach hair. They're designed to add texture, volume, and a relaxed, messy finish rather than locking your hairstyle in place all day.In this review,
I put the Sun Bum Sea Spray through the same objective testing process I use for every hair product. That includes AI-powered hold analysis, wind machine tests, shine measurements, helmet tests for malleability, and plenty of hands-on styling.
So, does the Sun Bum Sea Spray deserve a place in your grooming routine? Let's find out.
Overall Rating
Strengths
Below I’ve added before and after images of using the Sun Bum Sea Spray, plus the hold after the first wind test.
Sun Bum Sea Spray test
Every product I review goes through the exact same testing process.
The first thing I noticed was the bottle. It has the familiar Sun Bum branding with a clean, attractive design, and it includes a lockable spray nozzle. That’s a small feature, but it’s surprisingly useful if you want to throw the bottle into a gym bag or suitcase without worrying about leaks.
As with most sea salt sprays, the goal isn’t maximum hold. Instead, Sun Bum aims to create a loose, textured beach look with a natural finish.
Although Sun Bum recommends applying the spray to damp hair for added volume and frizz control, I preferred using it on completely dry hair.
My routine was simple:
- Dry my hair completely.
- Spray the product evenly from every angle.
- Work it through my hair with my hands.
- Apply a little extra to the front for added lift.
- Style the back and sides for a more defined shape.
Using it on dry hair gave me more control over the final style while still adding texture.
What's the hold like?
To objectively measure hold, I first styled my hair as high as possible before exposing it to three different wind levels using my wind machine.
After each test, my AI model compared before-and-after photos by analyzing how individual hair strands moved and how much the hairstyle spread apart.
Hold test results
Even with a gentle breeze, the hairstyle began spreading noticeably. The AI detected movement throughout the hair, showing that the spray wasn’t providing much resistance against wind.
With stronger wind, the hair separated even further. Individual strands became more detached, and the hairstyle started losing its overall shape.
The highest setting simulates extremely strong wind—roughly comparable to driving with the top down in a convertible.
At this point, the hairstyle spread significantly and lost most of its original structure.
After testing dozens of sea salt sprays, it’s easy to compare products directly using my Hair Armor score, which measures how well a product keeps your hair standing up under difficult conditions.
The Sun Bum Sea Spray finishes near the bottom of the rankings.
No sea salt spray scores particularly high compared to waxes or gels, but even within this category Sun Bum offers relatively little holding power.
Only the Viking Revolution Sea Salt Spray scored lower in my testing.
If your priority is keeping your hairstyle intact throughout the day, this isn’t one of the stronger options available.
Style Lock measures something slightly different.
Instead of simply holding hair upright, it measures how well a product keeps your chosen hairstyle in place.
Again, the Sun Bum Sea Spray scores quite low compared to competing sea salt sprays.
This confirms what the wind tests already showed: the product excels more at creating texture than maintaining structure.
How wet and shiny is it?
I also analyzed how much shine and wet look the spray adds by comparing before-and-after images with my computer vision model.
The AI measures both overall wetness and the intensity of highlights reflecting off the hair.
Wet look and shine test results
The results were very consistent.
Sun Bum produces almost no shine and virtually no wet look after drying.
That isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Many people specifically choose sea salt sprays because they want a completely natural, matte appearance rather than glossy hair.
If that’s your goal, the Sun Bum Sea Spray delivers exactly that.
Compared with other sea salt sprays, however, it ranks among the lowest for both shine and wet look.
What's the scent like?
The fragrance is one of the strongest aspects of this product.
It has a fresh, beach-inspired scent with a subtle hint of vanilla. Compared to products like the Reuzel Surf Tonic, the vanilla note is lighter and much less sweet.
The scent is pleasant without becoming overpowering, although it doesn’t linger in the hair quite as long as the Reuzel alternative.
Scent score: 70/100
How crunchy is it?
One pleasant surprise was the texture.
The product develops a slight crunch after drying, but it’s nowhere near as stiff as many stronger styling products.
As soon as I ran my fingers through my hair, though, that crunchiness disappeared almost immediately. The hairstyle also lost some of its hold as the product broke apart.
Crunchiness score: 20/100
How malleable is it?
To test malleability, I use my trusty bike helmet.
After flattening the hairstyle completely, I see how well I can reshape it using only my hands and the remaining product.
Unfortunately, this is one of the weakest areas of the Sun Bum Sea Spray.
Because the slight crunch disappears as soon as you work your hands through your hair, there’s very little product left to help rebuild the style.
While the hair springs back slightly, it doesn’t hold its new shape very well.
Malleability score: 10/100
How easy is it to reactivate with water?
Reactivation is different from malleability.
Some styling products can be revived by adding a little water. The moisture reactivates the product, restoring some hold so you can restyle your hair without applying more product.
The Sun Bum Sea Spray performs noticeably better here than it does in the malleability test.
Although the hold still isn’t particularly strong, adding water does bring back enough texture to restyle your hair.
Reactivation score: 60/100
Final verdict
The Sun Bum Sea Spray is best suited for people who want a relaxed, natural hairstyle rather than maximum hold.
It won’t keep your hair standing tall during windy days, and it isn’t a product you’ll be able to reshape repeatedly throughout the day. However, if your goal is simply adding texture with a soft, beach-inspired finish, it performs exactly as intended.
The pleasant scent, matte appearance, and easy application make it enjoyable to use, even if the hold is among the weakest I’ve tested.
Overall, the Sun Bum Sea Spray is a solid choice for effortless beach texture, but not for anyone looking for serious hold or long-lasting control.
Sun Bum Sea Spray's Features
The Sun Bum Sea Spray is a lightweight texturizing spray designed to create effortless, beach-inspired hairstyles with a natural matte finish. It adds subtle volume and definition without making your hair feel overly stiff or shiny, making it ideal for relaxed, tousled looks. While it offers only light hold, its fresh ocean-inspired scent and easy application make it a great choice for anyone who prefers soft, natural-looking texture over strong styling control.
- Lightweight sea salt texturizing spray
- Creates a natural beach-inspired look
- Matte, low-shine finish
- Adds texture and subtle volume
- Light hold for relaxed hairstyles
- Suitable for wet or dry hair application
- Helps control frizz on damp hair
- Soft, non-greasy feel
- Fresh beach scent with subtle vanilla notes
- Lockable spray nozzle for travel
- Easy to wash out
- Water-reactivatable for light restyling
- Ideal for messy, tousled hairstyles
- Best suited for fine to medium hold needs
- Travel-friendly bottle design