hair

AIR DRYING YOUR HAIR

PHOTOS + POST: KRISTIN ESS

Believe it or not there’s a lot more to air drying hair than just letting your hair dry……. in the air. There are steps you can take to make your air dried hair look pretty epic and it’s not as hard as you might think. Follow these tips and find the air drying product for your hair type down at the bottom!

1. Use a WIDE TOOTH COMB to detangle while you’re in the shower or immediately after you get out. Don’t wait too long to comb through or your curl wave pattern will break up. Find your part (if you want one) and do a quick comb through.
2. Pick your favorite product from the round up below for air drying! I have different favorites for different hair needs so be sure you’re using the one best suited for your own hair. (Here we’re using the new AIR DRY FOAM for which I added a shopping link down below and more info!)
3. “Scrunch” the product of your choice into your hair. Be sure to deliver the right amount to the area where your hair needs it most– for example, if you want volume, scrunch a volume-focused product into the root and work your way to the ends. If you want to focus on moisture, start at the bottom where your hair may be the driest and work your way up using a moisture-focused product.
4. A long time ago I told you guys about my favorite thing for curly hair– t-shirt drying. Use an old t-shirt to squeeze excess moisture out of the hair. Using a t-shirt instead of a towel is genius because the little loops from a towel can easily cause frizz whether you realize it or not! They’re like teeny tiny little combs and sometimes hairs stick to them as you scrunch, breaking up the curl.
5. Always flip your head upside down and give it a little scrunch. By doing that you can avoid that “pasted down” look that is often a result of air drying. By flipping a scrunching you’re lifting the root off your head just a little. For more volume, do this a couple times as it dries.
6. Continue scrunching from the bottom up as the hair dries. Not a ton, but just a couple times here and there to encourage the wave or curl.
7. If you have “puffy hair”, and it tends to get wide or super frizzy, twist your hair into a loose bun for 10-20 minutes as you air dry. Then let it to continue drying. That should help contain some of that puffiness.
8. At the end, add a good HAIR SERUM of your choice! Only if you feel like you need it! If you don’t, lucky you. Sometimes just for extra polishing, I’ll take a flat iron on low heat and just finish off my ends very lightly. Sounds silly because the point of this is air drying but if you’re going somewhere and you just want it a little more refined, seal down your ends with the lightest amount of heat. You’re still skipping heat styling on 90% of the hair.

Here are my favorites for each hair type, including the one we used up top!

1. R + CO CHIFFON This is more like a light leave in conditioning foam, in my opinion. I wasn’t expecting that the first time I used it. I thought it was going to be more like a regular mousse with a little hold. My hair didn’t have hold at all, it was just soft and bouncy. This is great for anyone needing additional softness when air drying. You can use this on straight, wavy or curly hair. Not going to do anything for puffy or frizzy hair, really.
2. JOHN FRIEDA AIR DRY FOAM I loved this and it’s super affordable. It gives a very light hold and doesn’t feel heavy. Weightless foams are becoming very popular for air drying and this was the one we used up top. Kept the waves in and frizz out. May not be enough hold for curlier hair types though.
3. LEONOR GREYL ECLAT NATUREL I’ve been using this stuff for years. I love this for over processed blondes and anyone with significant dryness. Natural oils are packed into this cream and it’s sooooooo great. It brings the most dead hair back to life. Major nourishment.
4. SACHAJUAN OCEAN MIST Love this for exactly what you’d think. Beachy waves. Some ocean sprays have a lil too much grit for my liking, leaving the hair feeling like there’s a film on it. This doesn’t do that at all and it’s pretty light weight which works well on finer hair (as most ocean sprays do not).
5. ORIBE CURL GLOSS Anybody air drying major curls should have this is their bathroom. It lasts a long time (which is important because it’s pretty pricey) but I love it SO much. Curly hair lacks moisture, and often lacks shine because of that. This brings back the shine in a way that just looks healthy, not wet and crunchy.
6. SEBASTIAN WHIPPED CREAM This one is amazing for classic wavy hair and curly hair that needs more volume. It’s whipped and literally feels like whipped cream. It encourages waves and curls to get “bigger” but also feels moisturizing at the same time.
7. LIVING PROOF CURL ENHANCING STYLING MOUSSE I like this for anyone who’s in between. So let’s say you have not-quite-wavy or not-quite curly hair. This curl enhancer will knock you into the next bracket because it actually help form stronger curl patterns.
8. DR BRONNERS FAIR TRADE ORGANIC HAIR CREME Shout out to my organic, vegan- loving curly girls. This a cream formula made from organic natural ingredients. I love it for anyone who needs to “take it down a notch” with the width of their hair. If you hair gets big and wide, work some of this in from root to ends and see it settle. The weight doesn’t over-power. It just helps to calm excess volume. Also, feels like you’ve had conditioner in your hair the whole time when you go to rinse it out.
9. ORIBE GEL SERUM For those of you who need MORE! If you already have wave or curl and you want it big big big, use some gel serum. I love this for wild, untamed crazy curls. It’s going to give you a MAD curly hair flip.
10. SEBASTIAN POTION 9 I’ve been using this since I was a kid and I’ve used it on many hair types. It’s great for the slightest hold and for adding shine and moisture. I don’t use it every time I shampoo, just once a week or so when my fine but very thick hair feels like it needs a little extra moisture and I don’t have time to do a treatment!

Do you have any favorites for air drying?