Revealing my Wavy Hair Secrets

Hey guys, it’s Hannah! So you know that lyric in Beyoncé song- “I woke up like this?”

I actually kinda did. Well, when it comes to my hair at least. You wouldn’t believe the amount of DM’s I’ve gotten asking how I get the waves in my hair. So I’m finally going to break it all down and reveal my secrets:

First, you should know a little bit about my hair. As you can see it’s really short. Once upon a time, though, I had hair down to my belly button AND bangs (and braces but that’s a story for a different day) but now I can’t imagine going back to that. I chopped it all off my senior year of high school and I never looked back.

But when I chopped it, something amazing happened, the weird straight-curly hybrid of my hair suddenly got curly! Once it wasn’t completely weighed down by itself, it got so much more body and volume and I’ve progressively been cutting it shorter and shorter!

So, how do I get my effortless waves?

Besides genetics (thanks mom & dad!), there are a few products that I swear by. Like, I don’t use ANYTHING else on my hair. To the point that if I do end up using something else on my hair, I hate the way it looks so much that I end up wearing a hat or tying it up.

The Shampoo & Conditioner

I attribute a good chunk of my hair to what happens in the shower. I try to wash my hair every three to four days, and of course, hope and pray that my fresh hair days align with my social plans. When I do wash it, I use my magic combination of the Ouai Curl Shampoo and the Kristen Ess conditioner. I know a lot of people will say that you should stick to one brand, but let me tell you- my entire head of hair changed when I started with this combo.

A few things about them:

1) they smell great. I doubt that has anything to do with my waves but I just thought I’d let you guys know.

2) my hair can get pretty oily so this shampoo really cleans it, plus it’s really light.

3) the conditioner is from Target (aka heaven) so it’s affordable and makes my hair feel as soft as silk.

4) when I travel, I sometimes purposefully check my bag so I can bring the full-sized bottles with me. I know I can very easily get little travel bottles but, well, nah.

The Wave Spray

Do you guys hear the choir of angles, too? Just me? Got it.

I love this wave spray from Ouai like it’s my own child. I liberally spray the wave spray in my hair right out of the shower and scrunch it with my hands to start forming the texture I want. For the longest time, I would use the wave spray on dry hair but it just wasn’t working for me, but once I switched to spraying it in my wet hair: magic.

Pillow Dry

It’s like my version of air-drying my hair. I know there’s a lot of mixed opinions about going to bed with your hair wet, but it just works for me and my hair texture. I’ll purposefully wait until riiiiight before I go to bed to shower if I have to wash my hair- otherwise, it just doesn’t look as good. This worked for me even when I had my really long hair!

Hair Oil

The morning after, my hair looks a lot like this. I literally took that photo moments after I rolled out of bed. But in order to tame some of the bed-head frizz and to make it look shiny and gorgeous, I’ll work some hair oil into it! I like this one here, but this dry oil is also great. Sometimes when I travel, I’ll use the dry oil for my hair oil AND perfume because it’s just that good.

I’ll put a little itty bitty baby drop onto the palm of my hand and scrunch it through my hair. & voilá; the perfect amount of volume and shine.

Sometimes I Cheat, Though

Sometimes I’ll sleep weird, or sometimes my hair will dry too quickly out of the shower before I can go to bed, which is where my secret curling iron comes in. I try to avoid it at all costs but sometimes my day two or day three hair can use a little help. I use this guy to kind of wake my hair up. And when I say it’s my secret weapon, I really mean it.

I’ll follow up the curling iron with a little bit of dry shampoo to get the volume back. Like I mentioned before, my hair can get pretty oily in-between washes, so I always have this dry shampoo on hand. I even have a mini travel sized one at my desk! It smells really good and it has definitely earned its cult following.

x Hannah

Photography by Karla Ticas | Location: La Peer Hotel

PS: if you missed my last couple of posts, click here and here!