hair

A NEW KIND OF FINGER WAVE

photos/post/design: Kristin Ess

Look out vintage vixens, there’s a new fingerwave in town and we’re hoping to see lots and lots and lots of this wave at Coachella! Many gorgeous gals with fine/straight hair seem to be having trouble getting natural looking waves that will stay.  Here’s my favorite way of making that happen!

You’ll need A) Oribe Superfine Hairspray + B) Leonor Greyl Mousse au Lotus Volumatrice. A less expensive option would be Elnet + Pantene Stylers Mousse. You’ll also need a blowdryer with multiple heat setting. I like this one from Elchim because it has the best hot and cold settings and the ratio of wind to heat is perfect. Okay, here we go:

1. This is just a visual so you can see how naturally straight her hair dried on the day we shot this.
2. Start with freshly shampooed, towel dried and brushed out hair. Pour a little mousse into the palms of your hand. For this length a ping pong ball-sized amount is good.
3. Start by applying a little to the root and then work the rest in on the way down.
4. I like to comb mousse through using a brush or a comb. An even application of mousse is vital! Otherwise, you can end up with flat spots.
5. Take a section of hair and zig-zag it through your fingers like you see in photo 5. It’s important that you have the nozzle on your dryer and that you’re using a medium heat setting so you don’t burn your little fingers! Start blowdrying with the nozzle up parallel to your fingers. Your first “wave” will go right above your fingers. Try not to hold the hair too tight.
6. Now move down to the hair in your fingers. Dry that (still on a medium setting and not getting too close) for about 45 seconds to 1 minute. By the way, it’s okay to let go of the section and then pick it back up again if you loose some pieces from the wind.
7. Let go every now and again to check your progress and see how it’s drying.
8. Decide how low you want the wave to go. If you think you want to stop with just one set of waves in the middle, great!
9. If you want to keep going, that’s great too! Just slide your fingers down and start the next set of waves the same way. If the waves above are fully dry, you won’t mess them up as you move downward.
10. For sections on top, start by lifting the hair and blowdrying underneath to get a little volume if you want it. Doing this will help the hair have movement.
11. Then continue making waves the way you did in the previous section. NOTE: Nothing needs to be perfect– in fact, I find that when it’s perfect, it looks less like natural waves and more like you did it with a curling/waving/or flat iron. Sometimes I like to put my fingers on a diagonal angle to get a more natural appearance.
12. Doing the back isn’t hard and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Turn your head to the side so it makes it easier to reach. See photo 12 if you’re confused.
13. Once you finish everything, spray the waves with a light mist of hairspray.

Between the mousse and the hairspray, I’ve never had a problem getting fine hair to hold this wave and I don’t think you will either. It’s also nice to have an alternative to irons! xo