Best Hair Creams for Styling Hair

Hair cream is the miracle product that you never knew you needed. At its base form, it should control hair static and frizziness, but it’s also a powerhouse solution that can hydrate your hair, lock in a style, and control errant flyaways. While you should always pick a hair cream that complements not just your hair type but your porosity level (how well your hair holds moisture), once you pick the right one, bad hair days will be a thing of the past. 

Whether you’ve got straight hair, waves, curls, or coils, there’s a hair cream designed exactly for your hair type. A good cream shouldn’t weigh your hair down but should work to infuse shine and bounce — resulting in a healthier look that will have everyone wondering if you just left the salon. We’ve taken out the guesswork by rounding up a variety of creams to suit your needs.

Best hair creams overview

• Best overall: Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Replenishing Moisture CC Cream
• Best moisturizing: Moroccanoil Hydrating Styling Cream
• Best for curly textures: DevaCurl SuperCream Rich Coconut-Infused Definer
• Best vegan: Aveda Smooth Infusion Perfectly Sleek
• Best for straight textures: Living Proof Perfect Hair Day 5-in-1 Styling Treatment
• Best mature hair: Oribe Imperial Blowout Transformative Styling Creme
• Best for shine: Phyto PHYTOSPECIFIC Moisturizing Styling Cream
• Best frizz fighter: Reverie Milk Anti-Frizz Leave-In Nourishing Treatment
• Best for coily texture: 4C Only Too Soft Leave-In Conditioner For 4C Hair
• Best volumizer: Bed Head Small Talk Hair Thickening Cream

How we chose the best hair creams

To compile this list, we researched manufacturer specifications, including targeted hair concerns, promising ingredients, intended hair types, and more, to create a shortlist of the top hair creams. Then, we combed through detailed product descriptions, ratings, and reviews to find the best hair creams for each category.

Our picks for the best hair creams

It’s always important to caution that picking the right hair product — much like finding the right foundation or little black dress — is personal. Even when a product claims its ideal for all hair types, that doesn’t mean that it will necessarily work for you or that you’ll like the texture or smell. 

But Alterna’s Caviar Anti-Aging cream is one of those rare unicorns that promises to work for all hair types and does a commendable job living up to the hype. This 10-in-1 CC cream is a leave-in product that uses ingredients like caviar extract, marine botanicals, and omega-3 fatty acids to protect your hair from environmental factors like UV rays but also infuses moisture for enhanced definition, improved shine, and less breakage. 

The product also works to smooth your hair, can double as a heat protectant, offers a light hold, and even improves hair strength and manageability. In clinical tests, 92% of participants had a reduction in breakage.

Size: 5.1 oz | Main purpose: Hydration, heat protectant, UV defense, anti-breakage, anti-frizz | Hair Types: All

Moroccanoil is another one of those fantastic brands that truly can work for all hair types. And argan oil, the hallmark ingredient in all of this brand’s products, provides intense moisture that penetrates deeply into the hair shaft. Additionally, this cream also features behentrimonium chloride, a conditioning agent that combats frizz. 

Note that while this cream is billed as safe for all hair types, wavy, curly, and coily textures will probably get the biggest boost. That’s because Moroccanoil tends to make heavier products that are extra moisture-rich. And this translates to a product that, if not used in moderation, might make finer textures look weighed down or greasy. But those with type 3 and 4 hair can benefit from enhanced texture definition and super soft locks.

Size: 10.2 oz | Main purpose: Hydration, texture definition, anti-frizz | Hair types: All

If you’ve got type 3 or 4 hair, you’re probably well-versed in the benefits of coconut oil — even if you don’t always use it. When you have curly or coily hair, moisture is critical. Not only does moisture aid in growth, but it also improves your hair’s ability to clump and achieve curl definition. Why? Because dry, parched hair tends to suffer from frizz, while properly hydrated hair doesn’t. 

DevaCurl is a fan-favorite within the curly and coily community because the brand creates products specifically designed to target the needs of these hair types. The brand’s SuperCream can help bring out every curl and coil on your head thanks to its thick, creamy formula that boosts smoothness and shine while also controlling frizz. 

And yes, that thicker cream also offers hold, so you can stretch your style and spend less time in your bathroom twisting, bantu’ing, and braiding. Note this product can be used on wet or dry hair but will yield better results as a setting cream on damp hair.

Size: 5.1 oz | Main purpose: Curl definition, anti-frizz, hold |Hair types: Type 2,3, and 4

You shouldn’t have to compromise your ethics just to have enviable hair. If this is your motto, you’ll appreciate this vegan hair cream from Aveda. The Smooth Infusion Perfectly Sleek cream is a 100% vegan formula that’s designed to fight frizz thanks to a plant polymer shield. The formula also incorporates a botanical smoothing oil blend complete with Kalahari melon seed oil and tamanu oil to protect against humidity. 

This hair cream can also double as a heat protectant, especially for high-heat styles such as blowouts and silk presses — the latter requiring you to blow dry and use a flat iron at 450 degrees Fahrenheit to achieve enviably sleek hair. This product is free from mineral oil, parabens, petrolatum, phthalates, silicone, paraffin, harmful sulfates, synthetic color, and synthetic fragrance.

Size: 5 oz | Main purpose: Anti-frizz, heat protectant | Hair types: All

While more textured hair types might erroneously assume that straight hair is easier to work with, the straight heads know that’s not exactly true. Dull, limp hair is a real issue for this segment of the texture scale. Living Proof’s Perfect Hair Day 5-in-1 Styling Treatment aims to tackle their woes with a multifunctional product that promises to smooth, strengthen, polish, and volumize locks.

Available in two sizes, this cruelty-free product is safe for color-treated hair and is free from ingredients like formaldehyde, silicone, and phthalates. The cream doubles as a heat protectant for up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (perfect for curling your hair with a straightener), and promises to also keep your hair cleaner for longer. The brand doesn’t explicitly state that this product is best for those with straight hair (type 1), but the product images almost exclusively show models with straight hair.

Size: 4 oz | Main purpose: Shine, volume, smooth, strengthen, heat protectant | Hair types: Type 1

There’s nothing worse than leaving the salon and having your new hairstyle immediately fall flat. Oribe’s Imperial Blowout Transformative Styling Creme comes to the rescue with a promise to help stretch that gorgeous blowout for more days to maintain bounce and volume. More importantly, it features a formula that’s targeted specifically for mature hair to help promote anti-aging benefits. 

The cream softens your hair for a touchable texture and adds density and body. And you may be surprised by this unique, 3-phase formula that transitions from cream to oil to moisturizer, then oil to powder, to boost volume and lock in style. In trials, 90% of participants noted that their blowouts lasted for two days, with 95% noting that their hair felt stronger.

Size: 5 oz | Main purpose: Shine, volume, hold, heat protectant | Hair types: Type 1 and 2

This leave-in cream won’t weigh down their hair, offers shine, and improves the look of hair texture. Phyto’s PHYTOSPECIFIC Moisturizing Styling Cream is a must-have for curlies, especially if you’re looking to banish dull, dry-looking hair. This product is packed with quinoa oil and rice wax to restore shine and manageability. 

The brand promises that this is the perfect finishing product for curly and coily textures, as it works to smooth hair after styling for enhanced curl definition. Note that the cream can be used on damp or dry hair and is recommended for all hair types, but we think it’s ideal for those with curly locks. The natural formula is free of sulfates, parabens, silicones, and gluten.

Size: 4.22 oz | Main purpose: Shine, definition | Hair types: All

If you’re trying to create any kind of hairstyle that needs to look defined — regardless of your hair type — you don’t want frizz. If that sounds familiar, the Reverie Milk Anti-Frizz Leave-in Nourishing Treatment is the perfect hair cream for you. 

This weightless product serves as a serum that works overtime to not just prevent humidity from ruining your coif but also protect your hair from environmental pollution and color fading. If that’s not enough, it even offers texture definition. And it’s safe for all hair types, ideal for blowouts, twist or braid outs, curl plopping, wash ‘n’ gos, and more. 

This cream has a 4.6 pH and is made with 16 essential oils sourced from small-batch producers around the world. The product is safe for daily use on wet or dry hair.

Size: 3.33 oz | Main purpose: Shine, definition, anti-frizz | Hair types: All

Don’t let the name fool you. You don’t have to be a 4C head to use this product. But if you’re part of the natural hair community, you know that 4C is an often overlooked and underrepresented subtexture within the type 4 portion of the Andre Walker Hair Typing System. Often assumed to have no curl pattern (which isn’t necessarily true), this texture struggles the most with dryness and achieving definition for their coils. 

4C Only is a relatively new kid on the block for natural hair products specifically targeted toward a lesser-supported hair texture. The Too Soft Leave-In Conditioner For 4C Hair might make you think it’s a regular conditioner, but it’s not. This is a leave-in that can double as a styling product to help build definition as well as deeply hydrate parched tresses. You’ll get a moisture-boosting mix of slippery elm extract and squalane that can help you stretch your style a few more days, make your hair touchably soft, and infuse shine. For best results, you’ll want to use this on freshly washed hair.

Size: 12 oz | Main purpose: Hydration, shine, definition, hold | Hair types: Type 4

No one wants limp, flat hair — period. So if you’re trying to add a bit of oomph to your locks, Bed Head’s Small Talk Hair Thickening Cream is the perfect product to add to your routine. This volumizer not only thickens the look of your hair but also works to prevent static, smooth frizz, and banish flyaways. 

It features key ingredient pro-vitamin B5 that works to retain moisture and fight frizz. And the cream works especially well in high-humidity locations. While technically anyone could attempt to use this volumizer, Bed Head explicitly recommends this product for fine, thin, and flat hair textures. For best results, apply to towel-dried hair and then blow dry it to activate the product.

Size: 8.12 fl oz | Main purpose: Volumizer, anti-frizz, anti-static | Hair types: Type 1

Style, smooth, protect, and define your locks with hair cream

Depending on your hair type and specific styling concerns, there’s a hair cream perfect for your mane. Whether you’re trying to build definition, smooth your hair, or prevent frizz, hair creams can help you bring out the best in your tresses, one day at a time. 

While picking the right product is personal and depends on your hair’s chemistry as well as what makes the most sense for your budget and hair needs, our best overall pick is Alterna’s Caviar Anti-Aging Replenishing Moisture CC Cream — a great starting point that will work on all hair types. 

How to pick the right hair cream for you

Finding the right hair cream doesn’t have to feel like a search for a needle in a haystack. In reality, while there are a lot of products out there, if you focus on key factors, you can easily filter through the noise and find a solution apt for your hair.

Hair type

• Type 1. If you have type 1 hair, then your hair is straight according to the Andre Walker Hair Typing System. While this won’t apply to everyone with straight hair, you may find that you struggle with flat or fine hair and should prioritize volumizers as well as anti-frizz creams. 
• Type 2. Type 2 refers to wavy hair types and is further subdivided into 2A, 2B, and 2C. Depending on where your hair falls within that scale, you can struggle with things like lack of body to frizz, dryness, a lack of texture definition, or even need repair support from using too much heat to style your hair.
• Type 3. Type 3 is the curly segment and is divided into 3A and 3B. While 3A heads might occasionally need to fight limp strands, this isn’t the case for 3Bs. Most typically, frizz, definition, manageability, and hydration are critical factors that those with these hair types should prioritize.
• Type 4. Type 4 is the kinky section and is further divided into 4A, 4B, and 4C. Similar to 3B and 3C types, you’ll also want to focus on frizz control, hydration, definition, and manageability. 

Hair concerns

• Bleached/Relaxed. If you have bleached or relaxed hair, you may struggle with dryness, given the harsh nature of the chemical process. Look for hydrating hair creams that effectively penetrate the hair shaft. 
• Color-treated. Whether you’re rocking fantasy colors or something more traditional, it’s easy for color to fade with time. Search for color-safe products that won’t leach dye or semi-permanent rinses out of your hair. 
• Heat protectant. Whether you regularly use heat styling tools or not, it’s never a good idea to put a hot tool on your hair without first using a heat protectant. While some hair creams promise to make your style last longer, the most important factor is that it can protect your hair from heat damage. 

Purpose

• Styling. Most hair creams fall into this category, as they’re intended for styling. This can include heat styling, setting hair (on twists or curlers), or texturizing. 
• Detangling. Many hair creams are also intended to use as part of an overall haircare routine to help detangle your hair — especially if you’re a type 3 or 4. 
• Leave-in treatments. While the majority of hair creams are intended for styling, many of them also double as restorative, leave-in conditioning treatments meant to either boost your hair’s durability, prevent breakage, or infuse moisture. 

FAQs

What’s the best hairstyling cream? 

The best hairstyling cream is going to depend on your hair type, porosity, and your hair care needs. But some effective options include our best overall selection, the Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Replenishing Moisture CC Cream, or our best moisturizing pick, the Moroccanoil Hydrating Styling Cream.

What products should I use when styling my hair?

The products you pick are going to depend on your hair type as well as how you’re trying to style your hair. If you’re using heat tools at all — even if you’re a curly head using a diffuser — always invest in a good heat protectant, as heat damage can cause breakage. Additionally, looking for a good styling product that extends the life of your hairstyle is also helpful to cut down on manipulation and save time. 

What hair cream is best for hair growth?

This is a contentious topic, as hair growth is just as heavily influenced by nature (genetics) as it is by nurture (external factors). So, while moisturizing and restorative hair creams can help to hydrate your hair to minimize breakage and improve length retention (helping to save those last inches), they can’t boost hair growth. 

Instead, you’re looking for a topical hair growth serum, oil, or cream with ingredients proven to stimulate the scalp (like biotin, peppermint, or sulfur), boost blood flow, and potentially boost hair growth. But more importantly, review your diet and habits, such as alcohol and water consumption, sleep, and even exercise, as these factors are scientifically proven to impact hair growth.