How to Style Loose, Tousled Waves

I love hair- cuts, colors, styles, volume- all. of. it.  And right now, and for the past year or so I really love loose, messy, textured waves.

Waves are everywhere in the beauty world and they are gorgeous! I really like the current trend where they are messy and tousled because that has been the easiest style for me to achieve. Plus I am able to use lighter products and the waves last for days.

Recently, I found a new techniques that I have been using a lot lately.

Wave Inspiration

I posted a few shots on Instagram of my Alex Garza inspired loose beach waves – my new go-to. The only downfall is that starting with a looser wave does not look so great the next day.  I will keep trying but if I cannot master it I’ll leave the loose waves for 2nd day hair and stick with the tighter ones for clean hair.  The tighter waves fall and loosen up for the 2nd day and still look great.

Tools

To create this style at home, I use a Remington tapered wand.  I have 2 sizes (shown below).  I start by blow drying my hair with a diffuser and scrunching it. This makes it so I only have to wave some pieces and helps give a very texturized look.   First, I wrap the middle of the strand around the wand leaving the part closest to the scalp and the end out.  Next, I use my flat iron to smooth out the ends, especially around my face. I really like the way it looks, especially since I have an angled lob, it really shows off the cut. When I use the smaller wand, I do sometimes curl more of the strand.  After I’ve waved all the desired pieces I use my fingers to comb through and loosen them.  I spray everything with a light hairspray and/or texturizing spray.

The smaller wand gives a tighter wave and can wave more of the shorter strands than the larger. The waves it creates loosen as the day goes on but still look very nice.  As I said earlier, they make for beautiful loose 2nd day waves.

After watching Alex’s tutorial I started using the larger wand to create a look like pictured above.  I still use my flat iron to smooth out some of the ends. Its definitely a pretty style and doesn’t make the hair much shorter like tighter waves or curls do.

The difference between the 2 styles is really a personal preference and maybe how much time you have to get ready.  I’m blessed with naturally wavy hair that allows me to just add some waves so these styles take around 15 minutes.

At the salon, I currently use a flat iron or a closed curling iron (I use marcel styles) until I invest in a nice wand.  Any suggestions?

For me the best thing about waves is that it helps hide that I am growing out my layers and need a trim.  When I just blow dry my hair, it doesn’t lay nice as the shape grows out.  (I still get trims just not as often).  But waves are gorgeous no matter what.

Here is the link to Alex Garza’s video.

Do you love waves?  

What are your thoughts?  

What are your favorite tools?