Get Big Wavy Hair

You can achieve big, wavy hair with or without heat. Using a blow-dryer and a round brush will give you more control over your final look, but the heat from the blow-dryer could damage your hair. It’s also possible to get great body and waves without heat, for example, by simply rolling your hair up into a sock bun, or braiding it before you go to bed.

Steps

Preparing Your Hair for Blow-drying

1. Wash and condition your hair. In order to achieve maximum volume, you’ll want your hair to be as clean and un-oily as possible, so be sure to shampoo it well.
   • In addition to shampooing your hair really well, only use conditioner on your ends. Putting it anywhere else will weigh down your hair, making it more difficult to add volume to it later.
   • If you have colored or otherwise damaged hair, avoid volumizing shampoos and conditioners as these can cause dryness and further damage. Instead, use a color-safe or moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, and then use a volumizing root spray afterward.
   • If you want to moisturize and volumize your hair, seek out more lightweight conditioners like royal jelly and linseed oil.
2. Towel dry your hair. The wetter your hair is, the longer it will take to blow-dry, and the more damaged it could become from the dryer’s heat. It’s healthier for your hair if you can let it dry out a bit on its own before blow-drying it.
   • Some experts recommend leaving your hair in a towel for 15 minutes before blow-drying it.
   • While waiting for your hair to dry off a bit you can get dressed, do your makeup, eat a meal, etc.
3. Spritz your hair with a volumizing spray. Apply a few spritzes of volumizing spray to your hair, focusing mainly on the roots. Be sure not to apply too much spray, otherwise it could cause you hair to look flat and oily instead of voluminous.
   • You can help protect your hair by purchasing a spray that also protects from heat. Many manufacturers make sprays that are both volumizing and heat-protecting, so just read the labels and choose one that does both.
   • If you have dry/damaged hair, choose a volumizing spray that also moisturizes the hair. Look for the words “moisturizing” or “protective” on the packaging.
4. Blast your roots (optional). It’s okay (and common) to flip your head upside down and give your roots a little blast with the blow-dryer before sectioning off your hair. This can help give a bit of extra volume.
   • Just be sure that you don’t blow-dry your hair for too long in this way, otherwise it can become frizzy. You want most of your blow-drying to be done on small sections of hair, moving from your roots to your ends.
5. Use hair clips to divide your hair into sections. How many sections you have will depend on how long and thick your hair is. The goal is to make it manageable, so just divide your hair into sections until you feel able to work with it.
   • Separate your hair into 3 or 4 main sections: a strip near the nape of your neck, a strip across the centre-back of your head, and a strip at the top of your head.
   • Next, separate those sections into at least 2 halves — one on each side of your part.

Blow-drying Your Hair

1. Wrap a sub-section of hair around a round brush. Starting at the back of your head near the nape of your neck, unclip one section of hair and select a 2- to 4-inch-wide chunk of hair from that section. Wrap that smaller chunk of hair around the brush.
   • Once the hair is wrapped around it, pull the brush up slightly so that it gently pulls your hair against the direction in which it grows (i.e. up instead of down).
   • Round brushes come in different sizes. If your hair is quite long, you can use a medium to large brush. If your hair is somewhere around your shoulders, you’ll want to use a smaller-sized brush.
   • Choose your brush size wisely. If the brush is too large, you won’t be able to wrap your hair around it multiple times, meaning you won’t be able to create wavy curls.
2. Hold your hair up and out while blow-drying. Once your hair is in the round brush, lift the brush slightly upwards, in the opposite direction of hair growth.
   • Holding it this way as you blow-dry your hair will improve your hair’s volume by locking it in a position that is up and away from your scalp.
3. Blow-dry your hair. Holding the dryer at least 6 inches away from your hair, move it down the section of hair from your roots to your ends, in one smooth motion. You will move the blow-dryer and the brush at the same time as you pull down through your hair with the brush.
   • Most blow-dryers come with diffuser attachments. Use this while blow-drying your hair to ensure a more even distribution of air.
   • Experts recommend keeping the blow-dryer at least 6 inches, but up to 8 inches from your hair.
   • Use a medium setting rather than the hottest setting on your blow-dryer. The hotter it is, the more damage it can cause to your hair.
4. Only blow-dry in one direction. Move the blow-dryer down along the section of hair in one smooth motion, from roots to ends. When you reach the end of the strand, start again at the top of the section, repeating until it is almost (but not quite) dry.
   • Do not move the blow-dryer upwards along the section, towards your roots. Blow-drying your hair in any other direction than down along the hair strands (from the roots to the ends) will cause your hair to look frizzy.
   • Blow-drying your hair along the strand, from roots to ends, keeps the cuticles closed and your hair looking soft, shiny, and silky.
5. Allow the hair to cool in the brush. Once it feels almost dry, give your hair a final blast with the blow-dryer at medium heat while it’s still wrapped around the brush. Then let it sit for a few seconds until it cools down.
   • Allowing your hair to cool down in the brush will help it hold the round shape of the brush, meaning it’ll be curly, or at least wavy, when you take it out, and it will hold that shape longer.
   • If your dryer has a cool air setting you can give your hair a blast with cool air to help it cool down more quickly.
6. Gently unroll the brush from your hair. Use one hand to unroll the brush and the other one to hold the hair as you go. This will ensure that you don’t accidentally pull out the curl you’ve made with the brush and the blow-dryer.
7. Twirl and spritz the hair. Once the section of hair is out of the brush, give it a gentle twirl with your fingers and let it drop to your shoulders. It should have a gentle, wavy curl in it. If you’re happy with how the curl looks, give it a spritz of hairspray to help it hold its shape.
   • Don’t go overboard with the hairspray, otherwise you’ll risk weighing down your hair with product and/or making your hair feel crunchy.
8. Repeat for all sections of hair. Do the same thing with the round brush and blow-dryer for each section of your hair, working in 2- to 4-inch-wide sections. Start at the nape of your neck (back) and work your way section by section, upwards to the front of your head.
9. Finish it off. Once you’re done, lightly spritz your hair all over with a texturizing spray or a hairspray. For extra volume you can bend at the hips and flip your head upside down, then spritz your hair a few times with a volumizing hairspray.
   • As you spray your hair, you can gently shake your head from side to side and/or move your hands in a gentle scrunching motion to help encourage even coverage and extra body.
10. Boost your waves with other tools (optional). If you’d like your hair to have more wave, use a curling iron or flat iron where you see fit to spruce it up a bit. Curling irons are pretty straightforward, but creating loose curls with flat irons is a bit more tricky:
    • Starting roughly an inch down from your roots, close the flat iron on a 2- to 3-inch section of hair. Holding the end of your hair, turn the iron in you hand so that it does one full forward rotation while still clasping your hair.
    • Next, pull the iron gently down the rest of your hair shaft while still holding on to the end of the section of hair that you’re working on. The slower you go, the more heat will touch your hair, and the more intense the wavy curl will be. Move faster for a looser-looking wave.
    • Let go of that section of hair, and you should find that it is wavy now. Note that this only works with thinner flat irons.
    • For both curling irons and flat irons, you can start midway down the section of hair for a more natural wavy look. Too avoid making a line at the starting point in your hair, move the iron as soon as you close it down on your strands.

Trying Heatless Alternatives

1. Start with clean, towel-dried hair. Make sure your hair isn’t completely dry, as having it a bit damp will help it hold its shape better. You might consider using a leave-in conditioner to help protect your hair and boost its ability to hold waves.
   • Note that wet hair is more fragile than dry hair, so you’ll need to be careful.
2. Experiment with different options for adding wave. There are countless options for adding waves or wavy curls to your hair without heat-styling tools. Here are some popular ones:
   • Braids: You can braid your hair in a multitude of ways to achieve different types of wavy looks. Tight french braids on each side of your head will give you voluminous, kinky waves all over your head. A long, classic braid will give you softer waves that start around the nape of your neck.
   • Headband curls: Start by placing a plain stretchy headband on top of your head like a crown, so that it sits low and cuts across your forehead. Starting at the front of your head, twist your hair into 1- to 2-inch sections, and wrap them around the headband moving towards the back of your head. Moving from the front of your head to the back, continue doing this with each section of hair until all of your hair is tucked into the headband. Leave your hair in the headband overnight for the best results.
   • Sock buns: Cut the end (the toes) off a sock (preferably one that matches your hair color) and then roll it up so that it looks like a donut. Put your hair into a high ponytail on top of your head, then pull the ends through the centre of the sock. Move your hair around the sock as you tuck in the ends, so that most or all of the sock is covered by your hair, then begin rolling the sock towards your roots using your hands to keep your hair moving along with the sock. Once it’s at the top of your head, fasten the bun with bobby pins. Leave the bun in for at least one day. When you take it out, your hair will be big, bouncy, and wavy.
3. Use styling products. Using leave-in conditioner will help boost the hold of your heatless alternatives. You can also spray a texturized into your hair before whatever volumizing/wave-making method you choose.
   • You might prefer to limit your product use until you’ve seen how the process turns out on your natural hair. Leave-in conditioner alone might be enough, and then you can just put in a little hair oil to de-frizz or calm your curls into waves.
4. Be prepared for unpredictable results. If you don’t like surprises, the downside of heatless alternatives is that they sometimes produce unexpected results.
   • If you’re leaving something in overnight, give yourself extra time in the morning just in case you need to tame your curls or flatten your hair a bit.
5. Finished.

Tips

• Your hair cut is a key factor in just how big and wavy you can get your hair. If you’re struggling to get your hair into the shape you want it (i.e. big and curly), next time you go to the salon, ask your hairdresser to cut it in a way that will help you reach your goals. Generally speaking, you’ll want layered hair that isn’t too thick at the ends.

Warnings

• Water makes hair weaker, so be careful when working with wet hair!
• Avoid using too much product on your hair. Using too much product on your hair can weigh it down and make it look flat and greasy.
• If your hair is bleached or otherwise damaged, avoid using heat-styling tools as these can cause further damage or even cause your hair to break off near the roots.

Related Articles

• Style Curly Hair
• Manage Thick, Coarse, Wavy Hair
• Make Your Hair Wavy
• Have Wavy Hair Without Using Hair Products
• Make Hair Naturally Wavy
• Treat Dry, Rough and Wavy Hair
• Get Wavy Hair Quickly Without Chemicals

Sources and Citations

See also

• Wave Your Hair With a Straightener
• Get Curly Hair to Turn Into Wavy Hair
• Get 360 Waves
• Get Wavy Hair Overnight
• Style Wavy Hair
• Make Your Hair Wavy
• Manage Thick, Coarse, Wavy Hair
• Style a 1930's Finger Wave Hairstyle
• Make Wavy Hair Dry Straight Without Damage or an Iron
• Care for Naturally Curly or Wavy Thick Hair

Read more ...