Wavy hair techniques Archives

Wavy Hair Routine For Shorter Wavy Hair or Shags

October 23, 2021 by Emily Evert 2 Comments

First, I want to say that I know my hair doesn’t seem especially short. I got a haircut a couple of months ago, and I only lost about 1-2 inches of length at the longest layer, so it doesn’t look much shorter than it used to be.

However, I got a lot of layers added in, and that has resulted in the shorter layers of my hair being much shorter than they used to be. My shorter layers are about chin length. Because of those shorter layers, I can’t style my hair the way that I used to, and get results that I feel look good. Here is a collage showing my before and after. In the back the length difference is minimal, but on the sides, where I have shorter layers, it’s fairly significant. This is because I was given a shag-style haircut.

I used the same styling techniques in the ‘before’ and ‘after’. As I think you’ll probably agree, my old styling methods did not work as well with my new, shorter haircut!

I wasn’t in love with my haircut mostly because it just wasn’t what I had in mind. You can read more about that in these two posts if you’d like:

Getting a devacut on naturally wavy hair [my experience]

Dry curl cut on wavy hair advice

Anyway! Since getting a shag-style haircut, I’ve had to change up my regular routine. I used to do a lot of methods that encouraged volume. I did almost all of the methods listed in my post 13 methods to get more volume in wavy hair, post prior to my haircut.

After getting a shag haircut and having shorter hair (at least on the sides) I no longer liked the appearance I got when using techniques that aimed for ‘all the volume’. I felt like it resulted in ‘all the poof’ more so than ‘all the volume’.

My hair is growing out more now, but I thought I’d share the routine I’ve been using for shorter wavy hair, for those who have shorter hair and/or shag haircuts, this may work better for you than my other routines from when I had longer hair.

How To Make Natural Wavy Hair Looser | How To Get Beachy Waves

September 29, 2021 by Emily Evert Leave a Comment

So often it feels like we want the opposite of what we get! Girls with looser waves often want tighter ones, and those with tighter waves often want loser ones.

If you’re someone who often gets tighter waves or spirals but prefers that looser, beachy waves look – this post is for you!

Can You Change Your Natural Curl Pattern?

I have a blog post on wavy hair curl patterns. In that post I talk about how my hair can have pieces that range from 1C-2C in different sections and/or on different days. It’s very common for people to have a range of curl patterns naturally. It’s also common for hair to have a range of possibilities depending on how it’s styled. I have a blog post where I attempted to show proof of how wavy hair technique matters more than products. So technique can definitely make a big difference in outcome. That’s what much of this blog post is about, is sharing techniques that can give you results in the looser end of your curl pattern.

However, can you truly change your natural curl pattern? No, at least not naturally. There are chemical relaxing treatments you can have done if that interests you. Or, it’s possible that as you age your body will make natural changes that will change your hair. Many people see their hair get curlier or straighter after hormone changes such as puberty, pregnancy, childbirth or menopause.

My hair without product, and brushed out. This isn’t a look that I like on myself. However, I don’t have much natural definition. Others with naturally wavy hair can get some really voluminous, soft waves if they brush their waves out.

Ways To Make Natural Wavy Hair Looser

How To Take Care Of Fine Wavy Hair

September 12, 2021 by Emily Evert 6 Comments

A couple months ago I got a devacut on my wavy hair. It didn’t turn out like I had hoped…but I still benefitted from the experience. One of the best parts of the experience was that my stylist told me that I have fine hair. I didn’t know this! I had previously believed that I had normal to thick hair strands, as that’s what results I got from a microscopic hair analysis test I did a couple of years ago.

While I would typically be inclined to believe the microscopic analysis over the stylist, when I thought about it, it made SO MUCH sense that my hair is fine rather than normal to thick. I had always thought that my hair didn’t behave the way that my hair type ‘should’. It makes way more sense that I just had my hair type wrong.

I often see others in wavy/curly communities recommend to newbies that they determine their hair type before they try to determine a hair routine that will work for them. I understand the logic behind this, but I also have found that it can be tricky to determine your hair type, which is why I don’t often give that advice myself. So first, I’ll share how to tell if you have fine hair and then I’ll go into what techniques or practices may work best for you if you have fine wavy hair.

How To Determine If Your Hair Is Fine

Take a single hair and place it between your thumb and index finger. When you look away from your hands, ask yourself if you can feel that hair. If you can’t really feel the hair, then your hair is fine!

I had heard about this test early on, and had initially thought my hair was fine. However, microscopic hair analysis told me that my hairs ranged from average to thick thickness, so I believed that for a long time. I now believe the hair analysis was incorrect, and the “finger test” and my hairstylist were correct.

How To Care For Fine Wavy Hair

How To Diffuse Wavy Hair 4 Ways: Step By Step With Pictures

April 4, 2021 by Emily Evert 13 Comments

There are affiliate links in this post.

How To Diffuse Wavy Hair

I diffuse my hair every single wash day. For me, air-drying just isn’t practical because it literally would take all day. Diffusing is a way of blow drying your hair without disrupting your curls, and without heat damage. Diffuser attachments for blow dryers basically just disperse the air so that it comes out from several smaller sources rather than the entire barrel of the end of a blow dryer.

For many people, diffusing can help your curls to dry in a tighter pattern, by drying your hair quicker, before it has a chance for the water in your hair to weigh down your pattern.

I have a whole post on air drying vs diffusing wavy hair already. So I’ll cut to just talking about diffusing!

How do you diffuse wavy hair? Well, there are multiple techniques. I’ve prepared to cover four of the ways that I’ve seen discussed most often. The first diffusing tutorial I ever watched was pixie diffusing so that became my default and it’s what I usually do, still. I did find benefits to some other diffusing techniques though, so I may change it up in the future!

For those who may be curious, my blow dryer is the Revlon Pro Collection IONIC Hair Dryer (available through Walmart) and my diffuser attachment is the Xtava black orchid from Amazon. I bought both of them nearly 3 years ago and they’ve held up great. The diffuser comes with a ring in the base that you can remove to make the opening slightly wider. You have to do that to get the diffuser to fit on the dryer I have, but it’s a perfect fit once you take out that removable ring.Continue Reading