Over the past three decades, Guido Palau has shaped how the world perceives hair. With his hands, an encyclopedic memory, and a few key tools, the British style creates boundary-pushing hairstyles season after season at shows like Fendi, Prada, and Dior—among so many others. His next move is bringing Zara Hair to life. The first-ever product collection from the fashion brand, it features six everyday formulas—like a Blow Dry Spray and a Curl Activator—to help those of us at home achieve runway-ready hair. And it’s available to shop right now.
“The first launch is called Everyday Basics, so they’re all the basic things that I think people would need to create kind of wearable hairstyles,” Palau tells Bazaar. “I’ve made the products intentionally very consumer-friendly. They don’t overproduce, meaning they’re not sticky. And they do what they say they’re going to do on the bottle.”
The six products in the collection are Hair Spray, Dry Texturizing Spray, Blow Dry Spray, Light Hair Balm, Curl Activator, and Volumizing Mousse, each retailing at $22.90. While a bit pricier than products at the drugstore (a leading drugstore hair spray runs about $16), what you’re getting with Zara Hair is not only elegance in formulation, but also elegance in design. The products smell incredible—fresh, modern, but not too perfume-y. The applicators are easy to use and deliver the lightest touch of product.
Hair Spray
Light Hair Balm
Dry Texturizing Spray
Volumizing Mousse
Blow Dry Spray
Curl Activator
I have been testing Zara Hair lab samples for months, and found them foolproof and forgiving. My favorite? It’s a three-way tie between the ultra-light and brushable Hair Spray, the Dry Texturing Spray, and the Light Hair Balm, which I love to use as the last step in my styling routine. “I wanted a product line that wouldn’t be overly anything. It wouldn’t make the hair feel overly product-y. It felt touchable, it felt light, it smelled good,” Palau says.
But the colorful, textural packaging is really what sets Zara Hair apart from so many other hair launches. “I wanted it to be something new to look at with the eye in hair—not like what we’ve seen. So working with the Baron team on that and Zara was a really a fun part of that journey,” Palau says. He describes each bottle as “almost like sculptures for your bathroom or dressing room.” In a world of what Palau calls “clinical”-looking haircare, Zara Hair offers both function and fun. “They look beautiful, but not in a sort of minimal way,” he says. “Well, they are minimal—but the colors aren’t minimal.”
Palau and Zara first trialed this hair collaboration over the holidays with a limited-edition Glitter in Gold set and campaign with Kaia Gerber. But fans can expect even more products this year. “This Basics drop is to really say: These are the staples. Then a few months later, we’ll drop three more products that have to do more with summer,” he teases.
Zara itself is no stranger to tapping industry experts for its beauty offerings. The brand’s makeup was launched in collaboration with artist Diane Kendal in 2021, and its increasingly popular fragrances are created by the likes of both Jo Malone and master perfumer Jérôme Epinette.
