hair

AIR DRYING FOR BETTER CURLS

PHOTOS/POST: KRISTIN ESS

We’ve been very into 90’s vibes as of late with all these short blunt cuts + hair flips. Another look that pairs well with a major flip is big volumious curl. We love air dried hair and think it’s gorgeous just the way it is, but did you know that air drying can be nearly as beneficial as a styling product? Let me explain! When you blow your hair out before you curl, you pull your natural wave pattern out with heat. That means you’ve relayed the message to your hair, the cuticle and root that you want it straight. Even if you go in with hairspray and a curling iron or wand, the likelihood is that your curl is going to want to return to the state in which you blowdried it.

If you have wavy or curly hair and you allow your hair to air dry before you curl (no matter how big, frizzy, kinky, janky or funky you may think it looks) you allow the pattern to come through and that pattern provides so much curl support. More than most products, in my opinion.

WASHING: In the top photo, we prepped the hair by shampooing with a curl enhancing shampoo + conditioner. (I’ll add budget friendly options below!) You’ll want to comb your hair out in the shower when you’re rinsing your conditioner through and then avoid brushing it out once you’re out of the shower, other than parting it if you need to. Doing so will help your wave pattern look more defined. Towel dry only.

DRYING: All that was added before going to sleep was a small amount of curl enhancing serum. Literally woke up like this.

THE WAND: The reason the wand is good for this is because unlike the classic curling iron, the hair doesn’t get pressed from both sides, in other words, it’s not smashed between two hot plates. Translation: wand curls will almost always be fuller, bouncier and more voluminous than curling iron curls. THIS WAND that we used can be found here and it’s our lucky day because it’s on sale. HOORAY! The hair was wrapped back and away from the face all over the head. We applied absolutely zero product to the hair as we curled and zero product after.

If you’re looking for an alternative curl enhancing system that’s budget friendly, definitely try THIS + THIS + THIS which can be found at many drugstores! We’ve tried this before, and although we aren’t major fans of the scent, the product works very well.

I’m very excited for those of you with wave and curl to try this out. Learn to use what you’ve got naturally to your benefit. Sure, adding curling iron or wand curls defeats the purpose of air drying, but we’re not saying air dried hair is bad. We’re saying if you want stronger, longer lasting curls, use your own for extra support! If you have any curl support tips, please share them with other readers in the comments below. Xx