With many of us in the hair care era, it’s almost ridiculous to consider skipping one of the most, if not the most critical, style steps to preserve the integrity of your strands, which is to apply a heat protector. Heat protectants, whether in the form of an oil, serum, or spray, are essentially the hair care equivalent of sunscreen; without one, you risk causing serious, potentially irreversible damage every time you use a hot tool. “A heat protectant serves as our hair’s health insurance,” says Nai’vasha Johnson, a famous hairdresser and curly hair expert. With so many new hair products available, you may easily select a heat protectant that is appropriate for your hair type and strand needs. These weightless barriers help to remove frizz, seal the cuticle, and boost shine, leaving your hair smooth, silky, soft, and completely touchable.

Does that sound unbelievable? We thought so, too, so we gathered a group of InStyle editors with various hair types and textures to test the most popular heat protectants on the market. Over the course of four weeks, we closely examined every aspect of these heat protectants, from how they made our hair appear and feel to the aroma and how long it took for them to permeate. Then, we burnt our strands with hot tools at 450 degrees to see how effectively they protected our hair. We gave bonus points to products that provided additional benefits we desired, such as increased hydration, glossy brilliance, and no evidence of a flyaway. Then we compared notes, rated, and ranked each product to develop this list of versatile possibilities.