I have BONE STRAIGHT hair that literally only a genie in a bottle could ever have the power to curl. I know, a blessing in a lot of ways, but I never get to do the fun, frilly styles with curls because they literally fall out within minutes, and by a few hours later it looks like I’ve glued some jellyfish tentacles and hairsprayed them in place on my head. It’s not pretty. So I’ve been hunting for ways to do beach-y waves that ACTUALLY STAY PUT, and of course I’m a working mom so I don’t have more than ten minutes to work with- so it’s gotta be a style that’s easy and fast to do!

Beach waves are the perfect in-between look because your hair is curly without being big curls, and it can work for any casual or dressed up look! Therefore, they are definitely a style I want to add to my regular inventory of styles 🙂 Can one have a hair, “style inventory?” I’m really proud of myself because I’ve found a whole bunch of tutorials and tips for doing beach waves, and these 5 are my top favorites that I’ve actually had success with!

Sleep-In Braids Method

This one for me was the method that lasted the longest. My hair looked beachy for basically the entire day! I started out with dry hair, sprayed a few squirts of water to dampen it (so it was about 10% wet), and then I just did two dutch braids down my back and coated it with a layer of hairspray. Next morning I just pulled them out and ran my fingers through it and VOILA! So. Easy.

Twist and Straighten Method

All you do for this is spray some hairspray, section off your hair and then twist each section and run a straightener over the twist, does that make sense? I initially did my hair in two sections because that is what I’d seen in a tutorial video, but my hair didn’t hold very well because I think the sections were a little too thick. The next time I did this, I broke it into six sections, then ran twisted each piece and ran the straightener down them about 7 or 8 times.

Twist and Sleep Method

This one is my absolute FAVORITE because it is the easiest and I felt like the curls lasted all day and even into the next day! Seriously, this is the one I’ll come back to, and the one that I used for most of the photos in this blog post actually! All you do is spray your hair down a bit so it’s a little damp, then section your hair off into a few sections (I like 4, but you could also do 2 or 3 and it would look great!) Take each section and twist it up, then pin it to your head. It’s a real glamorous look at this point 😉 Then sleep in it and when you get up in the morning, pull out the pins and run your fingers through it and coat it with some hairspray. I’m planning on doing a video tutorial for this one because it’s seriously my favorite ever!

Pony Tail Curl Method

Pull all of your hair into a ponytail, and then use a curling iron to curl the ends. When you pull out the elastic, the top portion of your hair will be straight and then it flows effortlessly into the curls which is really what beach waves are all about. The thing I like about this is you can make your hair really curly and have a lot of fun with it, but they still look very beachy because they don’t start until part way down your head.

Scrunch and Spray Method

I’ve heard this is the absolute BEST way to do beachy waves if you have a little bit of natural movement or curl in your hair anyway. Basically, you just get out of the shower and spray your hair with some texture spray or beach spray, and then as you’re drying your hair use your fingers to scrunch it instead of drying it straight. For me, I felt like this made sure that my look stayed in place for the whole day, although I will say that it looked more like textured straight hair than beach waves. I actually LOVED how it looked and it did look beachy, it just wasn’t as curly as I thought it might be- which should be no surprise given that I have no curl in my hair haha, so I don’t know why I was surprised. I’m including it thought because it was one of my favorites as far as the texture of my hair looked and it did stay in place all day.

XXOO Sunny