Hair Style Tutorial: Low Maintenance Beach Waves

| Tuesday May 17, 2011

How much effort goes into looking effortless? Surprisingly, not that much when you’re using the right products and techniques. Lia Parsley went to Ritual on King Street West in Toronto, to learn how to create effortless beach hair from Senior Stylist Vivian Ng using nothing but one's hands and a blow dryer.

Step 1: Towel dry hair by squeezing (not rubbing) out moisture. This is especially important if you have a natural curl. Vivian combed out my hair with her fingers using Kevin Murphy Staying Alive Leave-in Conditioner.

Step 2: Emulsify a texturizing product like Kevin Murphy Hair Resort in your hands and crunch it through the ends of the hair working up towards the scalp. Separate sections of hair and wind them around your fingers as you go to start bringing the texture out.

Step 3: If you want more volume, you can “tease” hair from the ends moving upwards as you gently pull on the hair in opposing directions.

Step 4: Use a blow dryer on medium heat without the nozzle to dry the hair. Instead of working horizontally like you’re probably used to, dry hair in vertical sections. Grab your hair and scrunch and hold it as you run the blow dryer over top. Using a bit more tension as you hold the hair here keeps it from frizzing.

Step 5: As you continue to dry the hair, move the temperature on the blow dryer to cold and stop when your hair is about 85 to 90 per cent dry. The moisture left at the scalp will weigh the hair down and keep it from forming the dreaded “puffy triangle.”

Step 6: To set the hair, use an anti-frizz cream and scrunch it softly into your hair.

Step 7: Tilt your head backwards and shake it with your fingers at the root to find your natural part. By parting the hair at the end of the process and not the beginning, it will give you a funky little cowlick.

Step 8: Muss your hair up, twisting it in different directions to get your desired finished look. The beauty about this hair style is that you can constantly reset it, and natural lifestyle elements like wind, sleep and (literal) errand running, only make it better.

Summer 2011 is all about undone, bed and beach-inspired hair. What we might have seen in previous seasons took effort with curling irons and sprays and the look always came out a little contrived. Here’s to truly effortless undone hair for the summer months ahead!

by Lia Parsley

8 Comments

	on May 26, 2011 laur0406 1,912 said: I have stick straight hair that doens't really hold a curl, but I picked up some "Salt of Mine" salt spray by GOSH at Shoppers drug Mart, and that, combined with strategic bloe dryings, bobby pins and hair spray gives me pretty decent beachy waves.
	on May 17, 2011 LadyFlash 8,899 said: I hate blow drying, flat ironing my hair straight in the summer because it gets ruined as soon as I sweat even a tiny bit or by the humidity. So going with beach waves Is always my go to for styling long hair in the warmer weather :)
	on May 17, 2011 jskim07 50 said: @Siofan Thanks for the tip! I'm definitely going to try tomorrow morning!
	on May 17, 2011 Ali de Bold STAFF said: Looks great! @Siofan great tip for doing this with straight hair. I always use my curling iron but the bobby pins and blow dryer trick would totally work for a less structured more beachy look.
	on May 17, 2011 beachbabe 4,164 said: I was actually just thinking this morning how it'd be the perfect time for CA to post a tutorial like this! haha I love the tips here. My hair is naturally wavy so I usually go for a look like this since it requires the least amount of work on hair like mine and still looks nice! And I like hardly having to touch it up at all throughout the day.
	on May 17, 2011 TammyK 1,073 said: Great tutorial! I am so going to try this. I never knew about scrunching and blow drying at the same time.
	on May 17, 2011 Siofan 50 said: @jskim07 Try twisting your hair and pinning it with bobby pins while you blow dry to hold the curls in place.
	on May 17, 2011 jskim07 50 said: This look is great! I love how easy it is to get flawless waves, but I have pin-straight hair. Any way I can get this without using a curling iron?