5 Ways to Get Beach Waves—No Curling Iron (or Beach!) Required
Gorgeous beach waves and swept-back curtain bangs are huge right now! If you were blessed with naturally wavy, voluminous hair, you're all set for the beach waves trend! But for those of us with pin-straight hair, achieving beach waves usually involves heat styling, which can be taxing on our delicate locks.
Not to worry! We put together a list of easy tips for getting the heatless beach waves you want this summer completely sans curling iron or beach! (And check out our list of 17 heatless hairstyling hacks, if you're looking for ideas beyond beach waves!)
Read on to learn how you can rock heatless beach waves even if you have fine or thin hair!
1. Twist Your Hair into Pin Curls
Pin curls might be the easiest way to add gorgeous beach waves to fine, thin hair, and best of all, you only need some bobby pins and a frizz-taming spray to achieve heatless beach waves!
How to get beach waves without heat: Starting with slightly damp hair, spritz all over with a frizz-fighting spray like our No Remorse Heat Protection & Taming Spray. Prepping your locks with a smoothing and hydrating product will help prevent frizz and flyaways when you undo your twists!
Gather a 2- to 3-inch section of hair and twist gently until it resembles a cinnamon roll. Pin in place with a bobby pin or clip. Repeat this process until all of your hair is twisted and secured into tiny pin curls. Spray your favorite light-hold hairspray over the twists, and wait until hair is fully dry. Undo the twists, finger-comb your hair and enjoy lively, vibrant beach waves even on fine, thin hair!
2. Try the TikTok Headband Waves Hack
The biggest trend on TikTok lately is using a satin headband to get heatless beach waves. This is an excellent option for adding volume and beach waves to fine hair because the headband is designed to be worn overnight, maximizing the time your hair is "set" around the headband.
How to get beach waves without heat: Spritz just enough water onto your hair to make it slightly damp. Next, spritz on a volume-boosting product like Lift Me Up Hair Thickener to provide some texture and lift to your fine hair waves, and comb through your hair to disperse the product.
Next, center the headband on top of your head and use a clip to secure it in place. Start twisting hair around the headband near the top, adding a bit more hair as you work your way down and around each side like you would if you were creating a French braid. Secure the ends with a scrunchie or hair tie, and that's it! In the morning, shake out your easy, gorgeous fine hair waves!
3. Scrunch and Plop Your Hair
This is a good option if you already have some natural waves and texture that you want to amp up! Scrunching your post-shower hair products into your hair and plopping your hair will give you gorgeous beach waves for thin or thick hair without the heat! But the prep for this method starts in the shower.
After shampooing, replace your regular conditioner with a deep conditioning hair mask to help prevent crunchy, dry waves. Our Hair Redemption Restorative Butter Masque combines argan oil and a blend of 5 plant-based butters to penetrate deep into hair strands to seal in moisture. After all, healthy waves are moisturized waves!
How to get beach waves without heat: The best part about this technique is that all you need is a soft T-shirt! After rinsing out your deep conditioning treatment, gently dry your hair with a microfiber towel. (Vigorously drying your hair with rough cotton towels can cause damage!) Once the excess water is gone, apply your post-shower leave-in hair-care products, and then scrunch the ends of your hair toward your scalp.
Next, place your T-shirt (long-sleeve styles work best) on a flat surface, like a bed or table, with the collar of the shirt closest to you. Bend forward at the waist to "plop" your hair onto the center of the T-shirt. Take the bottom of the shirt and fold it back so it now sits at the nape of your neck. Finally, tie the sleeves into a knot at the base of your head to secure the T-shirt.
Let your hair plop for 30 minutes to 1 hour before removing the T-shirt to let your hair fully air-dry and you'll be rocking gorgeous beach waves without heat! When plopping beach waves for thin hair, you can try using a shower cap in place of a T-shirt as it won’t flatten hair as much. Just be sure to finger-comb your locks into place—no brushing!
4. Use Heatless Hair Rollers
Damaging hot rollers are out and heatless hair rollers are making a comeback! Cool rollers come in a variety of sizes, so even those of us with short to shoulder-length hair can find the perfect size for the waves we want! (Remember: The bigger the roller, the looser the wave!)
How to get beach waves without heat: Start with damp hair and spritz with a volumizing product like Lift Me Up to add volume to your heatless beach waves—especially if you have thin hair. Taking small sections of hair on each roller, roll up and away from your face and pin the roller at the top of your head. Once you've done your whole head, spritz your hair with your favorite light-hold hairspray and wait until hair is dry. Unroll the rollers and finger-comb your hair for gorgeous soft beach waves without heat!
Pro Tip: Since there’s no heat to worry about, you can position the rollers closer to your scalp than you would with a curling iron to really pump up the volume for lift at the roots!
5. Go for a Low, Loose Braid (or Two!)
This trick is an oldie but a goodie, especially if your hair can hold a curl but just needs a little boost! To get heatless beach waves instead of tight ringlets, make sure you braid your tresses loosely and stick to only 1 or 2 braids. Because loose braids are great protective hairstyles for sleep, keep yours in overnight for bouncy, beachy waves the next day!
How to get beach waves without heat: Before you begin, spritz a frizz-fighting spray like No Remorse onto damp locks and comb through. Then, depending on your hair length and texture, create 1 or 2 loose braids, and secure the ends of each braid with a hair tie or scrunchie. When you wake up, spritz a bit more No Remorse to take care of any flyaways, and finger-comb the chic beach waves you created without heat!
Tell Us: Do you have a favorite method for creating gorgeous heatless beach waves? Share in the comments below!
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Better Not Younger knows that heatless beach waves are a terrific option for women with delicate, aging hair. That’s why we rounded up our favorite styling tips for creating gorgeous beach waves without heat. Best of all, we have the products you need to hydrate hair and fight frizz while also adding volume and lift when creating beach waves for fine, thin hair.