Best Hair Steamer We Tried Was Quiet and Did Not Drip Hot Water

Enter hair steaming, a haircare technique that is experiencing renewed interest on TikTok and Instagram, and has long been a part of healthy hair routines for some, especially Black people caring for their natural curls. Unlike a lot of videos on those platforms, hair steaming is not just a fad. Alesha Wells, a licensed cosmetologist, hairstylist, and owner of Genesis Beauty Salon in southeast Texas, says she has seen many hair trends come and go but is “glad to see hair steaming back on the rise.” 

Steaming is like giving the strands of your hair a warm shower. It opens up your hair cuticles and allows products like protein and masks to penetrate and do what they need to do, says licensed cosmetologist and hairstylist Heather Lewis, owner of Heather’s Haven in Houston, who has been offering hair-steaming services to clients suffering from hair loss for about a year.

I evaluated three types of hair-steaming devices—a cap, a bonnet that attaches to a hair dryer, and an actual steamer that uses water—to see which worked best to help my moisturizing products penetrate my hair and my 18-year-old daughter’s hair. Spoiler alert: They all worked, but one far better than the others. Read on to get the pros and cons of all three devices.