Wave Your Hair With a Straightener

Wavy hair is a wonderful middle ground between having poker straight strands, or big, curly hair. However, when most people think about waving their hair, a curling iron comes to mind. Rather than using a curling iron, you can create soft, beachy waves all with the help of a straightener.

Steps

Waving Your Hair With Braids and a Straightener

1. Apply a heat protectant. Use your hands to collect and lift your dry hair, and evenly apply a heat protectant spray. This will help reduce heat damage from the straightener.
   • Be sure that you don’t dampen your hair too much with the heat protectant spray. If you do, wait for your hair to naturally dry, or quickly blow dry your hair so you are working with dry hair.
2. Section your hair. Use your fingers to separate your hair into 2-6 different sections. Try using the part down the middle of your head to section your hair into a right and left portion, and then section up each side into smaller sections. Do your best to make all the sections of hair the same thickness.
   • Keep in mind that the fewer braids you make (meaning more hair in each braid), the bigger your waves will be. The more braids you make (meaning less hair in each braid), the smaller and more crimped the waves will look.
3. Braid your hair. Braid the sections of your hair using the normal three strand braiding technique. Once your braid comes within an inch or half inch from the bottom of your hair, use a thin hair tie to secure the bottom of the braid.
   • Where you start your braids depends on where you want the waves to start. If you want waves starting at the top of your head, make your braids as close to your scalp as possible. If you want the waves be start midway down your hair, start your braids down more, near your ears.
   • Depending on the tightness of your braids, the end result will either be loose waves made with looser braids or tighter waves, made with tighter braids.
   • Pull the braids apart to make them less cylindrical, and more flat. The flatness will help when moving the hair straightener along the braids.
4. Apply heat to the braids. Clamp the flat iron onto one braid at a time. Start at the beginning of the braid, and hold the straightener in place for about three seconds. Open the clamped straightener, and move down the braid a little bit. Again, apply heat for about three seconds. Open and close the straightener as you move down, applying heat to the entire braid. You want to be sure that you can feel warmth on both sides of the braid. Apply heat to all of the braids.
   • Allow the braids to cool for about ten minutes after you have run the hair straightener over all of them. When the braids are cool, you can quickly run over the braids once more with the hair straightener, or finish up, and lightly mist the braids with a hairspray.
5. Take out the braids. Remove the hair ties at the bottom of each braid, and use your fingers to gently loosen and undo the braids. Don’t pull too hard, because you don’t want to mess up any of the waves. Rub the top of your head with your fingers to give your waves a more natural look and add volume your roots.
   • At this point, you can add a texturizing spray or hairspray to help the waves stay in place.

Waving Your Hair Back and Forth With a Straightener

1. Add heat protectant to your hair. Heat protectant usually comes in a liquid spray form, so generously spray heat protectant all over your dry hair. Be sure to lift up sections of your hair to coat the inner and bottoms layers of your hair with the heat protectant.
   • Heat protectant will add a protective barrier between your hair and the heat from your hair tools, so your hair is less likely to burn.
2. Section your hair. Depending on the length of your hair, you may need to section your hair in 2-3 times to make 2-3 different sections. Start your first section by placing your thumb nails at the top of your ears on the sides of your face, and draw a horizontal line through your hair, meeting at the back of your head. Take all the hair that you’ve collected in your hands, and pin it up on your head so it’s out of the way. The bottom portion of your hair should be hanging down now. Once you have your section, split it in the middle, half on the right side, half on the left side.
   • Keep in mind that you’ll be working on each section on both the left and right side of your head. For example, If you only section your hair in two sections, it will really be like working on four sections of hair.
   • It’s most helpful to start waving on the bottom portion of your hair (the bottom 1/3 of your head), and work your way up to the top of your head to your roots and bangs.
3. Wave your first layer. Grab a 1-inch section of hair from the back area of your head (starting on either the left or right side of your head), and clamp on the hair straightener about an inch down from the root of your hair. Rotate and bend the hair straighter downward (toward your face) about 90° and hold it for one second. Then slide the straightener down a little bit (perhaps an inch), and bend the straightener away from your face, 180° the opposite way. Keep doing this back and forth bending motion slowly sliding the straightener down your hair, until you come to the last inch or half inch of hair.
   • Don’t wave all the way to the last strands of your hair; it will make your waves look less natural.
   • Once you have finished waving a section of hair, move it behind your shoulder so you know that section of hair is complete.
4. Tie back your waved section. Use a small, thin elastic hair tie to loosely tie back the section of your hair that’s completely waved. This way, you can keep your completed and uncompleted sections of hair separate, as you section off the next section of hair you’ll be working with.
   • Do not tie your hair back too tightly. The elastic should be just tight enough that it keeps your hair section together, without leaving an indentation in your hair.
5. Section off your middle section of hair. With your waved hair tied back, unclip the rest of your hair from your head and let it hang. Then place your thumb nails on the sides of your face near your temples, and draw a horizontal line back to your head until your thumbs meet. Twist together the collected hair, and pin it up on the top of your head so it’s out of the way. You should now have your middle section of hair.
   • Split this section of hair down the middle of the back of your head, so you have half of your hair on the left side of your head, and half of your hair on the right side.
6. Wave your second section of hair. Just how you waved your first section of hair, wave your second section of hair using the same bending motion of the straightener. Start with about a 1-inch portion of hair at the back of your head, clamp the straightener on the hair about an inch down from the roots, and rotate the straightener to turn it approximately 90°downward, away from your face. Slide the straightener down your hair about an inch, then rotate the straightener 180° upward, toward your face. Slide the straightener a little more down your hair, keeping it in its upward turned position, then rotate the straightener 180° downward again.
   • Continue this until you get to the last inch or inch and a half of hair, then release the straightener.
   • Once you straighten all of the hair in the second section, you can add this section into the elastic holding together the hair that has been waved. Then you can move onto waving your third, and final, section of hair.
7. Wave your third section of hair. Depending on how you part your hair, your third section of hair may be separated unevenly between the left and right sides of your head. If you part your hair down the middle of your head, the left and right sides will be even. Separate your hair how you naturally wear your part, and start waving 1-inch pieces of your hair starting with hair at the back of your head, and moving forward, toward your face.
   • Once you are finished waving all sections of your hair, lightly run your fingers through your hair to blend the waves together and give it a more natural look.
   • Then lightly spray your hair with some hairspray to set the waves in place.

Tips

• The heat setting you use may affect your results. High heat will help wave the hair more effectively than using low heat.
• Your hair will be smoother if you comb through each section before you use the straightener.
• If you use heat on your hair a lot, deep condition your hair once a week.
• If your hair ends up too curly for your liking, don't apply hairspray afterward.

Warnings

• Be very careful to not burn yourself while using your hot straightener.
• Consider doing these hairstyles sporadically. Your hair can get dry out from all the heat.

Related Articles

• Scrunch Wavy Hair
• Care for Naturally Curly or Wavy Thick Hair
• Get Curly Hair to Turn Into Wavy Hair
• Grow Hair Waves
• Get Rid of the Waves in Your Hair

Sources and Citations

• Videos provided by Hayley Paige

See also

• 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
• Create Wavy Hair With a Curling Iron

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