Wavy Hair Tutorial

I often get asked how I curl my hair and make it look so wavy. To be very honest, despite watching a ton of tutorials, it was only recently that I figured out how to do it for my hair to get it exactly how I like it - so I know the struggle of figuring out the best way to curl your own hair. But in this post, I am going to give you the best tips that I can to help you figure that process out for yourself, and tell you the products I use. This post is in no way sponsored by any of these brands, they are just ones I have used for many years, and can recommend to you with confidence. So without further ado, let's get into it!

Below are the products that I use to curl my hair. To get the type of curls that I like, I use a one- inch barrel curling iron to make my curls less like ringlets. You will be wrapping your hair around the barrel, so it does not need a clamp, but I would recommend getting one with a little stand so the iron doesn't touch anything when you put it down. I have one from Remington, but any curling iron like this one will work! You will also need a hair clip and hairspray. Garnier Fructis is my favorite and I find that it works best for my hair, but you can use whatever works best for you! And lastly, this one is not necessary, but I like to use some type of heat repellent to protect my hair from the heat. So I use the R&B hair moisturizer from Lush, which I put in my hair when it is damp before I curl it. It makes my hair super soft and helps protect it when I curl it. It also smells amazing and is made from all natural products, I love it!

After your hair is dry, you will want to split it into to separate sections. I start by taking the hair near my ear, and pulling it back on both sides of my head and gathering up the hair in the clip. I have to do three sections because my hair is so thick, but if your hair is thinner, you may only need to do two.

Once you split your hair and the top section is secure, you will separate the remaining hair down the middle, and pull it forward on both sides of your face. Then you will take small one inch sections and begin curling them. On this bottom section of my hair, I like to do each curl in opposite directions. So for this first curl, I do it away from my face, which means I curl it clockwise.

Then for the next curl, you will curl it towards your face, meaning curl it counterclockwise, basically the opposite way of the first curl. You will continue doing this, alternating the curls away from and towards your face on this whole bottom section of your hair. Then, repeat the process on both sides of your face. For me, I have to split that top section of hair that is up in the clip again, and I do the same thing to that next section, but again, you may be able to skip this step.

After the bottom section of my hair is curled, I let it cool off a little before continuing. Then I take my hairspray and use it on the bottom curls to keep them intact. You can judge this by your hair if you think you need the extra spray or not. But I know for my hair I need to spray this section now, as well as all of it when I am done, to ensure the curls stay in place for a while. I have tried quite a few hairsprays and always come back to the Garnier Fructis style spray extra strength hold, because it keeps my curls in place for a few days, without making it sticky. 

Now you can put all of the already curled hair behind your head, and pull the final section down from the clip.

Now for this top section, I curl all of the hair away from my face, I don't alternate the curls. This way they will not stick to the curls on the bottom layer. So I curl all of the hair away from my face on both sides the same way as above.

After all of your hair is curled, let it cool for a few minutes. While I am waiting, I spray the whole thing again with hairspray and smooth down any fly-aways I may have. The curls may be a little tighter than you want at this point. I know I personally don't like them this tight, but if you do, then you are done, and you can skip the next step!

This final step is the one that allows your hair to go from curls to waves. Since I don't like my curls to be as tightly done, after I let them cool off and put hairspray on them, I brush them out. You can do this as little or as much as you want until you get the curls to be as wavy as you want them. Just make sure they have cooled off first before you brush them, or they will probably fall out completely.

And that's it, pretty simple. Honestly, the hardest part is figuring out the best way to use this same process to make it work for your own hair. Hopefully, these tips will help you figure it out a little bit easier! If you enjoyed this post and found it helpful, please leave me a comment below, and give it a like to see more like it!