A good wax can do all kinds of things for women's hair, from adding texture, volume or a wet look to short styles to defining curls and even sealing locs, twist and braids in afro hair. With all that possibility, our article is here to help you sort your waxes from your pomades, pastes and clays so you can perfect your pixie crop or smooth your natural curls.
Along with our buying guide, you'll also find the ten best hair styling waxes for ladies ranked according to staying power, value for money and even fragrance! Hair gel is a thing of the past now big names like Tigi, L'Oreal and Toni and Guy have upped their women's hair wax game. Find links to Boots, Amazon and more and get ready to stop traffic with your perfectly coiffed locks!
Quick List - Top Hair Waxes for Women
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There is quite a lot to consider when choosing the right hair wax for you. Are you rocking some laid-back locs, a super-short pixie crop or a timeless vintage hair do with medium to long hair? As well as your style, you'll need to think about the texture and thickness of your hair to make the best purchase. Hair we go...
When searching for a styling wax to buy online, many women will get stumped by the myriad options, which include classic waxes, pastes, pomades and more. They often use a lot of the same ingredients and are all worth considering when looking into the right wax product for your hair.
Pomades contain a high wax content, blended with either oil or water. They work well with a comb and provide a shiny, slick appearance, making them perfect for quiffs, slickbacks, Danny Zuko style quiffs and classic Victory Rolls. They are also extremely effective in smoothing out and defining curls.
Pastes are more or less the same as waxes when you check the ingredients list. Hair pastes for women are designed with an adhesive effect in mind and provide long-lasting hold for short hair cuts.
Depending on how fast you like to get ready and how confident you are at hair styling, you might want to consider other variations on hair wax outside the classic pot. In this section, we'll weigh up the pros and cons of different application types.
If you like to feel fully in control, then a typical pot wax will suit you down to the ground. You can grab a little of the product with the tip of your finger, warm it between your hands and ruffle it through the ends of your hair until it produces your desired effect.
There is a small risk of wastage with a pot of wax, as it's easy to get very casual with the quantities. Another potential downside of applying wax with just your hands is that it can leave a sticky residue on your skin, though that's close to unavoidable if you want snazzy, textured hair.
Pots of women's hair wax may not be the most portable option, but they tend to be affordable and are easy to store. Keep the lid screwed on to avoid any drying!
We love the idea of a handy stick of hair wax for women. It is lightweight and ideal to chuck in your bag for quick hair touch-ups on the go, as well as for taming flyaways on top or beneath a ponytail or for creating a sleek up-do for a night out.
A hair wax stick reduces waste as a single swipe provides all you need and you're less likely to add too much product to your hair. Once you've got the knack, a stick will become part of your routine, whether alongside or instead of another wax product.
All in all, they're perfect for busy gals who are too lazy, impatient or go-getting to waste precious minutes over-thinking their hair!
To enjoy a fine-spun form of wax that won't clump or clog in your hair, consider a spray version. This is another way to regulate usage and avoid waste, since a couple of pumps guarantees just the right quantity of product to funk up hairstyles of any length. Many top hair brands also offer delightfully fragranced wax sprays, which is always a plus.
On average, these products cost a little more for the volume, but we think it's worth the investment to get textured, body-licious hair in seconds – just muss up with your hands for the perfect tousled look. Hair wax sprays for women are light as a feather so are another very easily portable option.
What are you actually hoping to do with your hair wax? Add texture? Fix a short look in place? Smooth out the ends of longer hair styles? Make sure you opt for a product that has been crafted with your hair type as well as your ultimate hair goal in mind.
You'll see in our spec tables that each product we have selected has its own clear hair goal in mind. Women's hair waxes with a light to medium formula can be twirled through the ends of hair for a sexy, bed-head shagginess or massaged close to the roots for big-volume short haircuts that last all day.
If you want to give your hairdo a plumped up, messy look, try a wax designed for texture. For a fixed, flawless style, choose a product aimed at 'hold' which will contain a higher quantity of wax compared to other ingredients for an adhesive effect.
If you have afro hair and need wax for a traditional Black hairstyle, look out for a water-based wax that gets a little closer to a gel-like consistency. This wet, smooth formula is the best option for tight curls.
A water-based hair wax can be used to smooth sections of afro hair into long locs or hold braids and twists in place. Choose women's hair styling products with plenty of natural oils to keep hair protected from damage and looking its best.
Finally, consider whether you'd like to produce a wet-look hairstyle or one with a matte finish. This totally depends on personal taste and also the style you're aiming for. Slicked-back retro looks don't have to be achieved with pomades and can look just as effective using waxes with a high oil content.
Perhaps your aim is to sweep longer hair into a just-out-of-the-pool updo or you find your very short hair has too much bounce and volume when it's dry? In either case, a wet-look wax is preferable.
Those who hope their wax will appear almost invisible should opt for a matte women's hair wax that provides nothing but texture, shape and hold without weighing hair down.
Products | Image | Click to purchase | Key features | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lee Stafford Messed Up Spray Wax | ![]() | Magically Messy, Sweet-Scented Hair in a Flash | |
2 | L'Oreal The Pixie Cream Wax | ![]() | Conditioning Hold for Your Iconic Pixie Crop | |
3 | TIGI Bed Head Manipulator | ![]() | Pina Colada Scented Putty That Fights Off Frizz | |
4 | Jamaican Mango & Lime Extra Hold Firm Locking Wax | ![]() | Seal Your Locs With Sumptuous-Smelling Natural Wax | |
5 | Mobsters Duchess Ladies Hair Pomade | ![]() | Texture and Definition for Retro 'Dos | |
6 | Toni and Guy High Definition Spray Wax | ![]() | Definition and Hold That Doesn't Weigh You Down | |
7 | Aveda Control Paste Finishing Paste with Organic Flax Seed | ![]() | Effective, Long-Lasting Hold With a Fragrant Scent | |
8 | Davines More Inside Wet Look Shine Wax | ![]() | Creamy Wax to Gloss Up a Sleek, Slicked Back Look | |
9 | Avlon KeraCare Styling Wax Stick | ![]() | A Super Handy Stick to Accentuate Hair's Best Bits | |
10 | Suavecita Pomade for Women | ![]() | Flawless Definition for Big, Bold Curls |
It could only be Lee Stafford at the top spot for us. Everything in this London-lad-turned-celebrity-business-mogul's range works like a charm and smells like an angel's boudoir too. There are several cool texturising waxes in his Messed Up range, but we like this light, non-sticky spray best.
For textured hair whether long, medium, short, curly, straight or afro, spray two sharp pumps of this lighter-than-air wax onto the area you want to deal with and either twizzle or muss, depending on your desired effect. This decent-sized bottle is affordable, provides lasting 'Who me? Like this?' just-out-of-bed energy and is totally cruelty-free. Win!
Every woman should try out the pixie crop hair do in her lifetime, just for fun. In order to style it to look its most adorable, we recommend The Cream Pixie Wac by L'Oreal which promises up to 12 hours of flexible hold, plenty of texture and a divine floral scent too.
Nobody wants a fluffy, pouffy, bouncy cropped hairstyle thank you very much. No! We want supple tresses with plenty of movement and the option to jiggle and re-shape our do as often as we please. Well, this cream-wax blend is definitely the answer and at this price, it's a proper steal as well.
You can always trust the Bed Head range from Tigi to not only work wonders on your helpless hair but to smell blooming marvellous too. We recommend this product to anyone who wants proper texture and seriously firm hold in one handy product. It's called putty, but it's essentially a paste, using polymers (in the plastic family) to fuse the hair shaft into place.
What could be more enticing than hair that smells like a pina colada, really? Apart from maybe hair that smells like a pina colada and looks like it's been styled by a world-famous hairdresser instead of little old you! This is one of Amazon's very best selling products with more than a hundred five-star ratings, so take the people's word for it if you can't take ours.
Apart from anything else, this popular locking wax from black hair experts Jamaican Mango and Lime smells pretty delectable. The business started small and now has a huge customer base, thanks to the care and expertise of their Philadelphia-based team.
The firm locking wax is popular with those seeking to transform their afro hair into glorious locs, but there are plenty of other options on the menu too! This one utilises moringa oil and manuka honey for the best possible smoothing effect, helping to seal locks and keep them looking defined.
Mobsters are another haircare brand popular with those who favour that old-school retro vintage hair look. Like Suavecito, they've released The Duchess especially for their female customers, who loved the men's products so much they demanded a girlier version. This one is scented with natural flower oils for a ladylike twist.
This product is ideal for any woman hoping to achieve a sexy masculine quiff or a slicked-back 1950s 'do. It would be perfect for combing lightly through Victory Rolls to keep them sleek and safely in place. Use this product on straight or curly hair of any length for serious hold and shine.
Pick this offering from hair styling monolith Toni and Guy if you love the idea of a product that not only lasts on your hair but in the bottle too. We can't get enough of the zingy, vibrant smell that reminds us of a hairdresser that opens out onto the beach!
This product is water-based, so it flutters down onto hair in a fine mist, and won't weigh down even very fine hair types. It will create a gorgeous matte-effect texture that no one will suspect came out of a bottle. A couple of spritzes shaken through short barnets results in amazing messy bed-head effects.
This hair paste is made by Aveda, a brand aimed at professionals but now available at high street prices. This award-winning company has decades of experience, which is clear to see from this effective finishing paste. This product is best for keeping short, funky styles in place.
The superstar ingredient here is flaxseed oil, which is packed with nutrients and plumping fatty acids to gently hydrate hair as it's moulded into place. Use a pea-sized amount of this gorgeous-smelling paste on dry hair, tickle it through mid-lengths to ends and enjoy a hairstyle that lasts all day. This is our most expensive recommendation, so make sure you budget carefully!
We think this is the best product on the market for a silky, glossy wet-look hairstyle, though steer clear if your hair tends towards greasiness. Davines is a lesser-known brand celebrated wildly by those who know the secret. The brand was founded in Parma, Italy in 1983 and they pride themselves on sustainable beauty and carbon-neutral products.
For a shiny, glossy finish, sweep your fingertip lightly over the surface of this sweet-scented wax, which is made from 90% organic, natural ingredients. Warm a small amount of the product between your hands and slick it through hair for a luxurious dripping shine worthy of a Milan catwalk. Perhaps a little pricey for the quantity, but very effective nonetheless.
Here is one of the few effective hair wax sticks on the market, which just so happens to be beloved by online shoppers all over the world. KeraCare is a beauty brand aimed at textured hair, in particular Black and afro hair which thrives when treated with plenty of nourishing oils – just like this product's castor oil.
However, it's also suitable for waves, spikes, curls, or smoothing flyaways, providing effortless matte texture to whoever craves it. We love the fact you can pop this stick in your pocket or bag and give your locks a smoothing touch-up on the go! A few customers suggest this product may be sticky in finer hair, so keep that in mind while you shop.
Calling all curly girls! Looking for wax to smooth your tresses into enviable twirls? This is a cracking choice. Suavecito are a cruelty-free brand popular with rockabilly types and other vintage aficionados, and this is their offering for their female fans. Best for medium to long hair, it washes out easily and brings bounce and shine!
This pomade can be eased through tight or loose curls with a comb to eliminate flyaways and produce a sleek, flawless up-do or simply guarantee your ringlets are the bomb. While the ingredients are similar to another pomade on our list, this one has fewer glowing reviews, so we've ranked it a little lower.
Hair wax is a dense styling product formulated mainly from – surprise surprise – natural waxes. This can include beeswax and other plant- or animal-derived waxes. It can be used for adding texture to flat, fine hair, smoothing over frizz, fixing sleek curls or sealing Afro hairstyles into place.
Why use wax and not gel? Well, hair gel tends to provide either a wet or crispy finished result and contains alcohol which can dry the ends of your hair.
Also, hair gel products tend to be aimed at men and can have typically very strong 'masculine' fragrances which aren't for everyone. Women's hair waxes tend to have more delicate, floral and powdery scents.
Now you've found a gorgeous wax for your hair, you might want to research more of the best ways to keep it healthy from root to tip. Our team have searched high and low and carefully compared and researched thousands of products to find you the top of the hair styling pops!
Thanks for reading our guide to the best women's hair waxes of the year! We hope we've introduced you to some exciting, relevant products or even hair styling brands you hadn't heard of before. Armed with your new hair wax, may all your hair dreams come true and your hair look cooler than ever!
Author: Annie Hopkins
No. 1: Lee Stafford|Messed Up Spray Wax
No. 2: L'Oreal|The Pixie Cream Wax
No. 3: TIGI |Bed Head Manipulator
No. 4: Jamaican Mango & Lime|Extra Hold Firm Locking Wax
No. 5: Mobsters|Duchess Ladies Hair Pomade
View Full RankingThe descriptions of each product are referenced from content available on manufacturer, brand, and e-commerce sites.
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