How To Have Those Waves For Days

As I have been learning to curl my hair and take pride in how I can make my hair posh and lush. I've learned that my hair will turn out differently every time to make these messy tresses. I had to accept that it's OK if it doesn't turn out the way I want it to.

When it came my hair, I was frustrated that I couldn't achieve the same way the women in various media had their hair, I never understood why it was so hard when I followed all the rules. I forgot that my hair would be different then others did their hair as they also have different hair, as I said, it doesn't come out the same style, every time that it's curled.

The process of curling hair has changed over the course of the years to be a casual style, there are endless possibilities to curl your hair and how you can find your style. It's important that you've done your hair homework prior to the process of hair curling.

Over the years I've curled my hair, I have learned some important details that you can add to your hair routine to make these waves and stretch the style out for a couple days. The most satisfying part of the regime is seeing the process of the curls relaxing over the next couple days, to enjoy some lazy hair days. The photo that you see at the top of this article is from my fourth wave day and I am going to share that hair journey on how I can do that.

Before I begin this article, please keep in mind that I am not a professional hair stylist, I'm just someone who has just wanted to have nice hair days without destroying my hair and enjoy the mane that I maintained.

As you read about my hair regime, don't abide by my entire regime because most of my mane maintenance might not work on your hair if you have a different hair type then mine. Any section of this might be the one thing you needed an elaboration on, or an idea to consider as a possibility to try out for your hair curling process.

Now, I'll share the steps to my styling for these waves for days.

Grease Is The Word

In my research I've seen a lot of hairdressers explain that if you want to curl your hair, it's best to wait a day after you've washed your hair, and it's more acclimated to hold a curl.

My long tresses have been through some messes. I've always had greasy hair; you could put a picture of me next to Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead, and you wouldn't see a difference. I've learned how to care for my greasy hair to have it cared for, but when I curled my hair, the curls wouldn't as long as I thought it did. It would deflate within an hour, sometimes minutes. Little did I know that the very thing that had been infuriating me would actually help me if I just prepped my hair right.

I decided to give it a shot and curl my hair after one day. After I waited a day to curl my hair, I sprayed some dry shampoo along my roots and tousled it in my hair to have it prepped to grip to the curling iron.

I can defiantly confirm that waiting a day to curl my hair has made a difference. When I used to curl my hair in the same day it was washed, it never stayed styled even with copious amounts of hairspray.

Now after waiting a day, that little bit of grease that begins to start in hair does help with keeping the curls intact as opposed to freshly washed hair that would make the hair too slippery to hold the curl.

Hair Care Beginning Regime

Now it's been known that too much heat is bad for your hair and the proper steps have to be taken prior to curling your hair. But with the intense amount of curling I do, everything counts to have my hair protected. These are the products I use in the shower to care for my hair.

So you might be wondering why I’m explaining the shampooing process is vital to explain before I get into the hair curling process. I never knew that my shampoo and conditioner process was what made life harder on my hair styling process.

I have to set my hair up to not be as nourished but still have a cleansing property to it to be cleaned and not be to hydrated to the point that it can’t hold a curl. I’ve noticed that when I use a little bit too much conditioner or if the conditioner is too rich, it's heavy on the hair. In turn when I’ve tried to curl my hair, it deflates faster within the next couple of days when I’m trying to ride out these waves. These shouldn't be too bad to try on your hair because it's universal for all hair types.

Shampoo: I mentioned to an associate at Ulta that I had a stringy hair problem, I found out that it was a product buildup problem. That was saved due to the Paul Mitchell shampoo, keep that in mind that if you have a problem like mine with stringy hair, it would be product buildup. If you don't, then this is a product you should have anyway, because if you think about it. Tons of products go into hair curling or any kind of styling. Your hair should be cleaned from the excess dry shampoo, hairspray, heat protectant, texturizing spray, or any other hair product you use.

Conditioner: I opted to do something that would help with the curling process by having a conditioner that would revitalize the heat damage. Let me tell you when you use conditioner, do a dime sized amount. That conditioner is very rich in hydration because it's a revitalizing conditioner.

Second Shampoo: Repeating the process of shampoo really does help the health for your hair, I decided to do a different shampooer that would lift my hair up a little bit more, but not be too hydrating. This is to purposely thicken my hair that will in turn make the curls look very posh and pretty, but it wouldn't weigh down my hair.

The Prepping Products

Now we are finally getting to the good stuff for how this styling works.

I'll explain how these products to use for curling your hair can benefit your in any way, no matter what your hair type is.

The Hairspray : TRESemme' Compressed Micro Mist (Boost Hold Level 3)- This specific hairspray will give you the ability to have flexible styling. When I first got my hair done by a hairstylist, I asked what hair spray she used on my hair. She told me it is a hair spray that is a dry spray, in other terms it is a micro mist spray. Most hair sprays have that wet application to your hair, which leads to the crunch. A micro-mist hairspray would give you the freedom to comb your hair while maintaining the style of the curl instead of a hair spray with a wet finish that will leave your hair harder to brush. Another perk of this product is you can spray it the next day for second day waves and still have the ability to brush it out as it still maintains those waves.

Heat Primer/Protectant : Pantene Heat Primer - When you are curling your hair, it's an intense amount of heat to put your hair through. Having a heat primer to help hold the curl while protecting your hair from the heat. I've used this for about a year, spray it in your hair, and it dries fast within minutes and then your good to start curling your hair.

Dry Shampoo(s) : Hask Charcoal Purifying Dry Shampoo & Batiste Dry Shampoo - As I mentioned, I curl my hair a day after I wash it, so it wouldn't be as clean when I curl it. The dry shampoo does give some grip to your hair to help with the curl. It's not a heavy product so you can spray it on your hair and it'll disperse evenly and lightly.

There is one more product that is not pictured here but you'll see it again later on in this article.

Texturizing Spray : Not Your Mother's Beach Babe Texurizing Dry Finish Spray - This product is a must for maintaining those waves. This is the most important product to have with hair curling. This helps define your waves as well as boost some volume. This is the equivalence of hair spray but without the sticky strands. As soon as I take my hair out of the alligator clips, and after I hair spray, I will spritz this on the curls and my roots. I have also used this days later, but you'll see how I do that in further reading.

It is very vital that I say that the hairbrush to use for brushing out the curls for the next several days is to invest in a good bristle brush. It'll de-tangle your hair and give your hair the shine and volume to help the transition for waves. It also doesn't pull your hair out of the style.

How I curl my hair

The best way to get these curls is with a skinny curling iron. The tighter that initial curl is for the first day, the better the curls will fall into a loose wave over the days. The curling Iron I use is from Conair, and it fairly priced between 20-30 dollars. When you curl your hair, make sure to twist your wrist, so that way the underside and the top of that section get curled, it also adds the dimension.

Now your wondering why I'm curling my hair while it's gathered in a scrunchie. This method works better to keep the barrel away from your scalp, and having the hair curled in this position will create very soft curls when you take the scrunchie out. To have beach waves, or looser curls, you would need to have the curls be at about mid-length, this process does help produce that style in an easier way.

It's been said that the longer the curl is contained, the longer it stays to be styled. I take all the time I can get, so I curl it and clip it up the night before and sleep on it.

• After the heat protectant is in I'll do a light spritz of hairspray to help hold the style as it's curling. That makes the curl last longer for the days ahead for the waves
• As mentioned, I gather up my hair into a scrunchie on top of my hair.
• The temperature I select is at the setting 360 degrees
• I take a piece of hair that is about a quarter of your pinkie and wrap it around the barrel.
• I leave it wrapped around the barrel for about 10-20 seconds.
• then I use the alligator clips to secure the curl

The Alligator Clips

This just needs it's own section to explain how I put these clips in. When I curl my hair, because of the amount of hair I select, it needs two clips going in two different directions to contain the heated curl.

You might wonder why I'm explaining this, because it's vital to take these excess steps to maintain the curls on the first day because it'll last through the first night.

Then it should look like this all around the base of the scrunchie. Just a bunch of medal pieces for you to be a metal head.

First Wave Day

So to start the process for the first day of curls in order to keep them in tact as much as possible by finger comb through the waves and then take my hair out of the scrunchie, tussle the hair, and try to loosen up the curls without having to pull them apart. Sometimes if you use a brush on your curls it might accidentally straighten out the style a little bit because of the pull from the brush might pull the curl looser.

At the end of the day, brush the hair with a bristle brush and secure it up into a loose hair bun (preferably a scrunchie).

Second Wave Day

If you sleep on your hair it can accelerate the process for the curls to unfurl. I usually put my hair up in a ponytail or a bun to secure the curls while I sleep. That way it can still hold the curl as it gradually starts to loosen up over the next days you can stretch out the style. When you put your hair into a bun, make sure it's with a scrunchie because it won't leave a dent on your hair from the way your hair was placed.

Third Wave Day

For the third day, the hold of these curls start to form into a loose waves but you can see the curl start to unfurl slightly. The one trick that has helped me is the easiest; keep your hair in that bun as long as you can. As I mentioned, I put my hair in a loose bun while I sleep, when I wake up in the morning, I don't take the bun out immediately. To maintain the waves, the best way is to keep that style is having it secured so the waves don’t weigh down from constant touching or the air from the weather, protect those curls so it can fall out on its own to loose waves. When I have my hair down, it knots up faster than putting earbuds in a pocket and having to untangle it. If your hair is kept in that bun for as long as you can to seal the style, that will defiantly help for the gradual waves.

The Texurizing Spray

Now remember I said earlier that this would be elaborated on, this hair care item, is the most important item for having those waves for days. Using this can help fluff the hair up and it can help hold those curls without copious amounts of hairspray. This will add volume and keep that style intact after scrunching it in your hand.

This photo set was taken when my hair was on the fourth day of waves, it still maintained the waves after putting my hair up in a bun at night and only using texturizing spray and minimal hairspray. This is why this fourth day wave style was chosen to be the showcase photo for this article to prove how well the waves last after this regime I did.

As much as the process for hair care can be hectic to find what exactly works for your hair, as well as making sure it continues to work for your hair. This process took trial and error, and I hope that there were parts of my process can help you in your own regime for styling. There's a pride to be taken with styling hair, that satisfying feeling of having my hair done does wonders for my self-esteem.

I hope that this process can help you to enjoy your hair to have days to have these waves.