How to curl hair in loose waves

You guys–I already know what your favorite part of our new house is going to be.

Want to guess?

Okay, I’ll just tell you.

OUR BLANK WALL.

Yeah, we have a blank wall, right in front of the living room windows. PERFECT FOR HAIR TUTORIALS.

(Also known as the breakfast nook, but magically transforms into BLANK WALL with some simple furniture shifting.) 

…so there will be a lot more hair and beauty tutorials coming to you soon 😉

First up: My most requested tutorial of them all–how to curl your hair in loose waves. I constantly get asked to share my secrets on this subject (which, I’m not sure why, guys, it’s SO EASY. Not even a secret. But if you say so, I’ll take it.)

Ask, and you shall receive. Let’s jump in, yes?

Step #1: Begin with with dry hair (preferably air-dried) 

So, pretty self explanatory, right? Start with dry hair! For me personally, my hair looks best when it’s washed the day before–so if I’m prepping for an event or something where I want my hair to look it’s best, I make sure to wash my hair the night prior.

Why is this? Your hair holds much better when it’s day-old. Clean hair becomes slippery and doesn’t tend to hold as well as dirty hair. (GIMME THE DIRTY HAIR. Yes, gross, but true!)

Additionally, I typically always air-dry my hair unless I’m in a time crunch. This gives it a lot more texture than blow-drying it would. Plus, it’s a little wavy already, so it just helps my hair look a little less “done,” which is something I always strive for. (I’m not exactly the “done-up” type, you feel me?)

My biggest piece of advice: To prep, spray your strands once before curling, and once after. The more you spray it beforehand, the better hold it will have. To avoid it looking crunchy, you can spray it once over, and brush it out before you curl. This step is especially important if you have hair that tends to fall easily!

Step #2: Wrap in sections 

Learning how to curl hair well is a bit of a learning curve. My friends always complain to me, “I can’t do that! I don’t know how to curl hair!!” I constantly reassure them–it’s really (really) not as hard as it looks, but to truly perfect different techniques–like anything, it takes practice!

That’s what I love about this method–it’s not supposed to look perfect. Therefore, it’s pretty tough to mess up. So if you’re a hair curling novice, this is definitely a tutorial you’ll love!

You can use any curling iron you like–the one I’m using here is the Beachwaver curling iron–which is self-rotating, but also works great as a wand. When I want sleeker curls, I’ll use the auto-rotating function, but when I want them to be looser and more casual, I like to use it as more of a wand.

I love this curling iron in particular because it heats up in about a minute, and it gets very hot–which means you only have to hold each section a couple seconds.

Get this: it allows me to do my full head of hair in less than 10 minutes. (Honestly, I could probably do it in about 7 if I tried.) Regardless, being able to do my hair in this amount of time was something I never thought previously possible.

Another curling iron I love is the T3 “whirl trio” curling iron–which is awesome if you like to experiment with different kinds of curls–from loose waves to romantic curls–because the T3 allows you to change out the type of barrel–from a traditional curling iron with a clip, to a wand, and in a variety of different sizes. It also has some great features–it heats up in seconds and also will automatically shut off after 30 minutes so you don’t have to worry about burning your house down. (Off-subject, but if you’re looking for a hair straightener, T3 also makes a really great one that is a lot less damaging than its competitors!)

Anyway! Long story short, it doesn’t really matter which curling iron you use for this tutorial, just make sure that you’re working with a 1″ barrel.

Common misconception about “loose waves”: larger barrels=larger curls. That’s not necessarily true. I have a friend that always complained “her curls never held” and it’s because she was using a curling iron that was too wide for her hair. When she tried a 1″ barrel, she thought it made her look like Dolly Parton. Her problem was that when working with the 1″ barrel, she was holding it for far too long–resulting in those Shirley Temple bouncy curls that nobody wants. If you only hold each section for a few seconds, they’ll come out as loose waves, vs tight ringlets.

Moving on! So, to accomplish this look, you’ll want to work in sections. I typically start with sections nearest my face and work my way back. No need to use any type of fancy clips or pin your hair half-up and do the bottom first.

I work in sections that are about 3 fingers wide–this ensures that the curls aren’t too small. (Shirley Temple, remember?) Holding the wand upside down, wrap the section over the barrel away from your face. Essentially–from front, wrapping around the back of the iron, not from the back, wrapping around the front.

If you were to wrap toward your face instead of away from it, you would end up with a look more like this. (Which is amazing, but not what we’re going for here.)

Step #3: Comb through curls with fingers to create loose waves

Once you’ve done your whole head of hair, rough it up a little! Shake it up at the roots, and lightly run your fingers through it to separate out your curls. This, again, prevents it from looking too “done.”

Step #4: Spray loose waves for hold

Finally, give it a good spray all over to set your curls and hold them in place. Go with a light to medium hold hair spray, so your curls won’t look crunchy! I really have been loving Verb’s products lately–their Ghost hair spray is the perfect amount of hold, plus, it has a touch of Moringa oil (let’s be honest–no clue what it is, but I like it) so it makes your hair shiny as well.

If you’re looking for more texture to make the waves look a little more beachy/beadhead-like, I loveee Oribe’s texture spray. It’s a little pricey but I use it sparingly–it gives your hair a lot of great texture and also smells INCREDIBLE.

Congrats! You’re done! Look at those gorgeous loose waves, girl!

Wellll that was easy, wasn’t it!? Now, off you go to re-create it on your own! Let me know how it goes! (Post a photo on Instagram and tag me, I’d love to see!)

What’s your favorite way to curl your hair? 

P.S.S. Also check out…4 habits that are damaging your hair, 9 skincare mistakes you’re probably making, my nightly skincare routine.