Beach Babe: 5 Easy Ways To Get Carefree Waves

No matter the season, no matter the destination, no matter the woman — one of my favorite hairstyles is natural, beach-y looking waves. There’s just something inherently effortless and feminine about a thick mane of twisting, curling, waving locks that I can’t help but appreciate.

Tip: As with any curly or wavy hairstyle, you’ll want to use an anti-frizz serum or shine spray to reduce fly aways and smooth hair down. Tamed curls are always better than their crazy counterparts (unless you’re channeling Cruella de Vil or Sweeney Todd’s Mrs. Lovett).

Oh, and here’s a quick tip for those of you seeking out beach waves. If you don’t have enough time to complete any of the following tutorials, you can spray hair with a “sea spray” product and scrunch gently to create some body. This instantly gives hair that beach-y vibe. Make your own beach/sea spray by adding a tablespoon of salt to a spray bottle full of warm water.

FLAT IRON WAVES

How can you not love Lauren Conrad’s The Beauty Department? It’s like a mecca of insightful beauty guru knowledge that every woman (and her sister, mother daughter…) should be aware of. Be wary, though — you’ll get sucked into clicking page after page of tutorials and before you know it an hour will have passed. Anyway, I have to highlight TBD’s flat iron waves tutorial, which has made a splash (get it?) in the beauty world as of late. Essentially, you clamp and twist your flat iron 180 degrees, then flip the iron and repeat. All the specifics are covered on the blog.

GORGEOUS BEACH CURLS

I love the simplicity of this “gorgeous beach curls” tutorial from Darlene at the How Does She? blog. Darlene takes you through this simple process, but I’ll give you the break down. First, divide semi-damp hair into four sections. Next, lightly spray with flexible hairspray and twist each section (in the direction you want the curls to go) until you have a tight coil. Secure into a bun, blow dry, remove the buns and style as you wish. Genius!

MESSY, CHUNKY BEACH WAVES

Whenever I compile these curated posts, I can’t wait to try all the new hairstyles I’ve written about. This one’s moving straight up to the top of my “must try” list because it looks so easy and the results are fab.u.lous! Dana at the Wonder Forest blog dubbed this hairstyle as “messy, chunky beach waves.”She says she created this beach waves technique herself and that it’s her favorite way to curl her hair because she loves the end result no matter what (and loves that you don’t have to sleep in wet hair). Basically, you twist a small section of hair around your fingers, coil tightly all the way up to your head and then flat iron the twisted lock. Release, repeat on entire head and style.