How To: Messy, Beachy Waves!

Hello everybody!

Recently, I have had my hair chopped. It isn’t massively short, but compared to what it was, and what I’m used to, it was a huge deal for me. I have never really had short hair, but I’ve always wanted longer hair, and as soon as it actually started growing and got to a certain length, I decided it wasn’t really for me. So, I got the chop. And honestly, I do not regret it in the slightest and I even want to go just a teeeeny bit shorter! Whilst I was having my hair cut, I did have the initial thought of, “sh*t, what am I doing?!”. But I could not have been happier with going through with it, and I now wish I had done it sooner! My hair feels much thicker, and in a much better condition. I find my hair much easier to style, and it looks a heck of a lot better too!

My go-to style for this length hair is loose, beachy, textured waves. When my hair was longer, I achieved this look with my GHD Platinum Copper Luxe straighteners. However, since cutting my hair, I found it more difficult trying to wave my hair with straighteners. I also think that messy, beachy waves look a lot better on shorter hair. I found that when it was longer it still looked very neat, which wasn’t really what I was going for. So, I decided to get a curling wand to make it a bit easier and to get the look that I really wanted to achieve. It took me a while and I did try about 3 different stylers before I bought the GHD Curve Creative Wand. I have only ever used GHD’s, so I don’t know why I didn’t buy these straight away. These curlers are perfect for all hair types and lengths, but I find it to suit the length of my hair perfectly. Once I’ve created this look, it lasts me around 2 or 3 days with the odd touch-up.

Step 1:

The first thing I do when I want to create this look is wash my hair. Recently, I have been using the L’Oreal Professional Mythic Oil shampoo and conditioner. This makes hair feel incredibly soft, and makes it look super healthy and shiny. I love these products and they have made such a difference to the quality of my hair and I can’t wait to try out more from the range!

Step 2:

Next, I towel-dry my hair and spray it with the Lee Stafford Coco Loco Heat Protection spray. I have used Lee Stafford for years and they do some amazing products and I can really tell the difference when I don’t use this! I then partly dry my hair with my Lee Stafford hair dryer. Although, I have had this FOREVER and I am about due for a new one! While my hair is still a bit damp, I spray on some sea salt spray. My favourite is the Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray which is incredible, and doesn’t leave any residue or leave my hair feeling all crunchy and stiff, like some others do. This helps give my hair that beachy, fresh out of the sea kinda vibe, which I am totally digging right now. It also makes it a lot easier to curl and helps it to stay in for longer. I find curls never seem to stay in when my hair is freshly washed as it is too soft and silky and the curls just seem to drop out, so this is a life saver!

Step 3:

Now that my hair is dry, I clip up the top section of my hair. Focusing on the bottom half, I take large sections of hair and wrap it around the curling wand, holding it for 5-8 seconds, leaving out a little bit at the ends to give it a messy, tousled look. Each time I take a section of hair, I wrap it around the wand in different directions. This avoids the hair gathering together in one big curl. When I get to the top section of my hair, I do the same and for the pieces at the front, I curl these away from the face as I feel it gives a bit more structure and frames the face a lot more.

Step 4:

The last thing I do is run my fingers roughly through my hair. This helps to loosen the curls. I then apply a small amount of the OUAI Wave Spray through the mid-lengths and ends of my hair and this just gives my hair a bit more hold and volume and gives more of a messy, edgy feel to it, which I LOVE. I bought the travel-size bottle of this spray and it has become an absolute staple to my hair routine, so I will definitely be picking up the full-sized bottle!

And that is how I create loose, beachy waves for shorter hair!

I hope you enjoyed this post. It is my first ‘How To’ post, so let me know what you think and if you would like to see more! I may also do a YouTube video to accompany this post, so again, let me know if this is something you would like to see!

ALSO, thanks to Jake for taking the photos for this blog post even thought it is his least favourite thing to do!

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Links below;

L’Oreal Professional Mythic Oil Shampoo £11.34

L’Oreal Professional Mythic Oil Conditioning Masque £15.15

GHD Curve Creative Wand £120

Lee Stafford Coco Loco Heat Protection Spray £5.99

Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray £23

OUAI Wave Spray £22