Want to improve your hair health *and* transform your styles? Add one of the 9 best hair serums to your routine
Shiny and smooth
While finding the best shampoo and conditioner seems sensible if you’re on a quest to understand how to look after your hair type, when it comes to the best styling products things can get a little more complicated. As an inherently lazy beauty editor, there is absolutely no place in my routine for products that aren’t absolutely necessary. I tend to reach for things like hair masks, oils and new-fangled styling tools infrequently, in favour of a trusted combination of shampoos and conditioners, the best air-dry products, and heat tools that I know do the job fast. As for a hair serum? Well, every expert tends to agree that they’re a bit of a multipurpose hair saviour—and anything that can do multiple jobs at once appeals to me.
I have coarse, somewhat unruly, textured hair and I put them to the test. I can confirm that the best hair serums have made quite a difference to how I look after my hair at home.
The best hair serums of 2025: Quick Links
- Best overall hair serum: Olaplex No. 9 Bond Protector Nourishing Hair Serum, £28 | Lookfantastic
- Best serum for dull hair: L’Oréal Paris Elvive Glycolic Gloss Leave-In Serum, £15.99 | Boots
- Best hair serum for thinning and grey hair: Living Proof Scalp Care Density Serum, £54 | Cult Beauty
- Best hair serum for dry and frizzy hair: OGX Rescue Fusions 24H Frizz Control Smooth & Sleek Oil, £15 | Boots
- Best hair serum for fragile hair: Oribe Hair Alchemy Fortifying Treatment Serum, £62 | Space NK
- Best hair serum for boosting shine: Tresemme Lamellar Shine Cream Serum, £7 | Boots
- Best hair serum for curly hair: Imbue Curl Energising Hydration Serum, £7.99 | Lookfantastic
- Best serum for hair that doesn’t grow: Nourrir Root Cause Nourishing Serum, £30 | Nourrir
- Best hair serum for split ends: Kérastase Nutritive Nutri-Supplement Split Ends Serum, £47 | Lookfantastic
What is a hair serum?
“The best hair serums serve multiple purposes,” says Molly Pupkar, Living Proof Stylist & Product Insights Specialist. “They help align the hair cuticles to achieve a smooth, frizz-free finish, assist in detangling to minimise breakage, deliver conditioning, and offer targeted treatment benefits such as enhanced shine and prolonged vibrancy of hair colour.” In effect, hair serum is a bit of a does-it-all product that not only helps your hair to look better but can improve hair health too.
Who should use a hair serum?
But do all hair types benefit from using a hair serum? The jury is slightly out on this one. Molly explains that “the versatility of hair serums makes them suitable for all hair types and textures”—and the vast range of different ones on the market certainly means that if you can spend the time testing and trialling different formulations then you will likely land on one that suits your hair type. However, leading hairdresser and trend forecaster Tom Smith suggests that “very fine hair with a tightly smooth cuticle that is prone to flatness may not benefit from a serum” as the additional product may simply weigh hair down. His one concession? “Unless that fine hair is chemically treated or very prone to split ends,” he explains. Other than that, basically all hair types will reap the benefits of a decent hair serum.
“For dry or damaged hair types, serums can provide conditioning, nourishment and shine. For curly hair, serums support the natural curl pattern and effectively combat frizz. For those with finer or oily-prone hair, lightweight formulations or scalp serums that provide a sebum production regulation benefit are best to start with,” says Molly.
Ahead, the 9 best hair serums for every hair type and texture.
The best hair serums
1. Olaplex No. 9 Bond Protector Nourishing Hair Serum
As someone with somewhat frazzled hair, I rate this as one of the best hair serums for its ability to smooth, hydrate and add shine to dull strands. But I know for a fact that even my friends with finer hair adore this serum too for the way that it protects the hair (from both heat and things like pollution) while keeping flyaways and static at bay. Pretty much all of the hairstylists that I speak to regularly rate Olaplex for its reparative formulations, but Tom particularly swears by this one. “It’s one of my top hair serums for all hair types—even on fine hair there’s no risk of weighting the hair down when using a small amount,” he explains. And while the product is water-activated, which means you’ll get the most impressive results when you apply it to freshly-washed hair, don’t let the fact that this isn't a serum to apply post-styling put you off. Not only does it make all hair types more manageable, but it actually improves the style memory of your hair so you won’t need to apply it to your second-day style anyway—it will already look shiny, smooth and sleek.
2. L’Oréal Paris Elvive Glycolic Gloss Leave-In Serum
When it comes to affordable, high-street hair serums, L’Oréal Paris really does offer some of the best on the market—and this one is no exception. If, like mine, your hair tends to look dull and you find it hard to infuse your strands with any shine then this gloss-boosting serum might just be the trick. It uses glycolic acid—yes, the type you’d typically find in a face serum—as the key ingredient to improve shine. It effectively penetrates the hair and improves both smoothness, shine and strength from the inside out. And it delivers. The serum itself almost looks slightly shimmery, and it does a great job at adding a light-reflecting shine to all hair types. My only quibble? While the instructions suggest two drops to seal cuticles and add shine, I find that I have to apply this quite liberally to my textured hair which means I go through it fast. Curly hair types might find the same issue.
3. Living Proof Scalp Care Density Serum
The best hair serums aren’t solely about improving the appearance of your existing strands, but about cultivating an environment to bolster the health of your hair long-term. As someone who has suffered from pretty intense postpartum hair loss, I think that scalp serums can play a crucial role in improving the condition of your hair and helping new hair to grow—and this one from Living Proof is really efficacious. “Healthy hair begins with a well-maintained scalp, and this is a lightweight, fast-absorbing scalp serum formulated to visibly minimise the appearance of grey hair, reduce shedding, increase hair density and promote healthier hair growth with clinically proven results in as little as 90 days” explains Molly. I love that you can apply this to a dry or damp scalp, which makes it easy to apply it daily, and my hair feels so much thicker, more luscious and stronger having used this consistently for the last few weeks.
4. OGX Rescue Fusions 24H Frizz Control Smooth & Sleek Oil
This is such a thirst-quenching treat for parched, dry and coarse hair types with a potent blend of coconut, jojoba, argan and camellia oils, with rich shea butter for an extra dollop of moisture. It instantly alleviates that brittle, rough texture that can come alongside dryness and helps hair to feel and look softer and smoother. Plus, despite all of those rich ingredients, the formula itself is surprisingly lightweight. Admittedly, it will likely be too much for fine hair types, but for everyone else the bi-phase formula makes it easy to spritz it evenly through the hair to deliver sleekness and shine without making it look greasy or weighed down. Oh, and it smells absolutely delicious too.
5. Oribe Hair Alchemy Fortifying Treatment Serum
Whether your hair is coloured, naturally very dry, or fine in texture and splits easily, this is one of the best hair serums to help strengthen fragile strands and fortify the condition of your hair from the inside out. It uses chia seed and bio-fermented bamboo leaf alongside a plant-based protein to focus on improving the elasticity and strength of your hair, alongside offering up some of those classic hair serum benefits like boosting shine and smoothing the hair shaft. I love how versatile this serum is. You can apply it to damp and dry hair, or use it as an overnight treatment if your hair is in particular need of some TLC. Like all Oribe products, the scent is heavenly.
6. Tresemme Lamellar Shine Cream Serum
I very rarely manage to get my hair looking shiny and tend to pay for a professional blow-dry if there’s ever an occasion that I really want my hair to look expensive. However, this serum from Tresemme aims to make it easy to achieve that kind of salon-standard shine at home, and I am impressed with the results. It uses lamellar technology which aims to wrap each hair fibre in amino acids and ceramides to strengthen the hair, as well as smooth and align the strands for a glossier, more uniform appearance. While you can use this as a pre-shampoo treatment or as a rinse-off—which finer hair types might prefer—I think that it works best when applied to freshly-washed hair and then followed with heat styling for the shiniest of finishes.
7. Imbue Curl Energising Hydration Serum
If you’re looking for the best hair serum for curly, kinky or coily hair then paying attention to the ingredients list is crucial. Textured hair tends to lose moisture faster than straighter hair, so a replenishing formulation can make all the difference. This one from Imbue is packed with shea and coconut butters, alongside coconut oil, to infuse hair with moisture and leave your curls defined, soft and glossy. Even better, it’s humidity-resistant so whether it’s raining or balmy your hair will remain hydrated and smooth throughout. The only complaint is that thicker hair types might have to apply this quite liberally.
8. Nourrir Root Cause Nourishing Serum
One of the things that I’m asked most about when it comes to hair is which products can help with growth—particularly from people who find that their hair tends to plateau at a certain length. Well, it turns out that a hair serum can help with that. This one from Nourrir is applied to the hairline and crown of the head every couple of days to infuse your hair and scalp with a blend of prebiotics, nutrients and nourishment via ginseng and chia seed oil. Not only does it help to create a healthy scalp environment to promote hair growth but it strengthens and nourishes the existing hair to prevent breakage too. Plus, it’s wonderfully light so there’s no risk of hair looking greasy or lank.
9. Kérastase Nutritive Nutri-Supplement Split Ends Serum
Regular visits to the salon for a trim are, of course, the best way to prevent split ends from occurring and to tackle existing ones. However, when that just isn’t possible, this is one of the best hair serums for tackling dry, damaged and split ends. It has a unique oil-serum texture that fine hair types might worry is too heavy at first. Trust me, though—this silky serum infuses into the hair leaving it moisturised, sleek and ultra-smooth. Just a few drops work to minimise the appearance of split ends, tame flyaways and leave hair generally looking swishy and healthy thanks to a blend of nourishing polymers and vitamins. It’s expensive, but just a couple of drops go a remarkably long way so it will last for ages too.
