Beachy and Undone

I don't do hair. But when Sephora opened up in Sydney, I found myself oddly drawn to the hair care section. With all the testers just begging to be abused, I grabbed whatever was in front of me and started spritzing liberally. The result was nothing short of revelatory. My boring, flat, lifeless mop of hair was suddenly transformed into a tousled, voluminous, bed head vision. I literally had to rush back to the store the following day, determined to pick up the two products that impressed me the most: Sachajuan Ocean Mist and amika Un.Done Texture Spray.

I couldn't find any of the amika Un.Done Texture Spray at Sephora (the nice lady I spoke to said that the "amika girls" had recently done some kind of event at the shop and that specific product might not even be stocked at Sephora, but merely something they left behind), so I had to purchase it online. But the Sachajuan was there for $35. That's kind of a lot for what appears to be salty, alcohol-laced water in a coolly designed, minimalist bottle, but by that stage I was already converted and couldn't hand over my money fast enough.

The Sachajuan Ocean Mist and amika Un.Done Texture Spray have now joined Morrocanoil as the only hair products I own apart from shampoo and conditioner. I've been enjoying using the both of them together on second day hair to amp up volume, emphasise any natural waves from tying my hair up in a bun a lot of the time, and generally create a messy, slept-in, effortless look.

The Sachajuan has more grit and a subtle stickiness to it that feels like I'm deliberately dirtying my hair to generate texture and body. As it's just a spray rather than an aerosol like the amika, it comes out more like a squirt of liquid than an ultra-fine mist. For that reason, when it's spritzed, it tends to be concentrated in a particular area rather than dispersed evenly and thinly over a larger surface. I spray it a few times all over, then go in and rub, twist and scrunch sections of my hair together with my hands to better distribute the product and essentially tease and mess my hair up.

I then follow up with the amika all over and once again, tease my hair with my hands to "activate" the product. The Un.Done Texture Spray is what gives the hair that grungy, bed head appearance, building lots of natural-looking volume but in a touchable, weightless, invisible way. I have read that it's the closest dupe to Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray on the market. Though I haven't tried the Oribe myself (and at the prices it sells for, I don't foresee that changing any time soon), upon inspecting the ingredients of the two, I can see why that claim might be true.

amika Un.Done Texture Spray: Hydrofluorocarbon 152A, Butane, SD Alcohol 40-B, Disiloxane, VP/VA Copolymer, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Starch, Zeolite, Glycerin, Triethyl Citrate, PEG/PPG-18/18 Dimethicone, Fragrance, Hippophae Rhamnoides Extract, Water

Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray: Hydrofluorocarbon 152A, Dimethyl Ether, SD Alcohol 40-B (Alcohol Denat.), VP/VA Copolymer, Zeolite, Glycerin, Acetyl Triethyl Citrate, PEG/PPG 17/18 Dimethicone, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Extract, AMP-Isostearoyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Benzophenone-4, Water/Aqua/Eau, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Fruit Extract, Passiflora Incarnata Flower Extract, Actinidia Chinensis (Kiwi) Fruit Extract, Hedychium Coronarium Root Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Linalool, Citral, Limonene, Hexyl Cinnamal, Parfum/Fragrance

I'm no expert on chemicals, but apart from the added extracts in the Oribe, it looks like the two are more or less exactly the same thing. Given the Oribe is far more than what I'd be willing to shell out on a hair product, I'm happy to have discovered the Un.Done Texture Spray if it gives a very similar effect but at a much reduced price.