Easy Steps to Beautiful Beach Waves

     

Relaxed curls are a great look for Summer! They are easy to achieve and look so effortless! Whether you are heading to the beach, a barbecue, or running errands, beach waves are pretty! It is so simple to add in a headband, flower, or hair accessory to change up the look a bit. It is super easy to achieve beach waves no matter what the hair type may be.

Step 1: Sleep in twists, braid it, bun it, twist it, or pineapple.

Wash your hair at night. You should always remove all tangles with a wide tooth comb. Next, choose your pick on how many braids or buns you feel comfortable sleeping in. The less braids, the bigger the waves will be! For example, I stick with two braids wrapped into buns to produce more loose flowy waves to change it up from my naturally tight coils. To increase the texture, use more braids! A smaller braid will result in smaller waves. When you wake up the next morning, let your hair loose! Don't comb the braids out! Use your hands to gently separate the hair from its braided position. If there is a little frizz, you can run a finishing serum through your hair. 

2. Use a curl extending styler.
This is for my naturally curly friends who have tight coils like myself. We need to stretch out our curls! Extending creams like Curly Hair Solutions Extenzz and Original Moxie Shape Shifter Re-Forming Cream are great for this! These creams allow you to manipulate your natural curl pattern without using harsh, damaging chemicals. After your next wash, your hair will return to its natural state. Apply extending cream onto wet hair after showering and then use your fingers to shape the size of the waves you desire. Try to air dry hair to stray away from disrupting the shape of the waves.

(When I used curl extender I noticed that the top of my hair
was less curly which added about two inches to the ends! Wahoo!
I was in a rush when I was getting ready this morning so I had to use the diffuser.
 If I was able to let it air-dry, my hair would have been more wavy.)

3. Use sea salt spray.

You know those gorgeous beachy, waves you achieve after swimming in the ocean? You can recreate this look without the shore. You can find sea-salt sprays at most beauty supply stores or you can make your own! There are plenty of recipes on the web! The key when using this spray is to use it on freshly washed hair, spray section by section, and scrunch lightly. If you scrunch too much, you will see more curl (which is okay, but not the look you are intending to achieve). 

My Everyday Hair Routine

I have become extremely low maintenance when it comes to my everyday hair routine due to my college lifestyle. I am also a self-proclaimed product junkie; however, this has changed a bit since I've been trying to save money for when I graduate. My ultimate goal for my hair is a little above waist length. It usually only takes me a few steps to get beautiful defined curls!

If I decide to take a shower at night which is not every often. I stick with the pineapple method. If you have never heard of this, you don't need an actual pineapple ;) When you get out of the shower, make sure your hair is still soaking wet. Comb through your hair, starting at the ends and working your way up. This prevents any damage. Next, grab a pony tail holder, flip your hair over and make a pony tail on top of your head. The very top. So you look like a pineapple. This allows the hair to dry in a more natural way while sleeping.

Most days, I shower in the morning. It helps me to wake up! I wash my hair with shampoo every other day, but condition every single day. I'm currently using Carol's Daughter Sulfate-Free Shampoo and Conditioner, but I haven't been that satisfied with the results of this product. Some brands I recommend are DevaCurls, Wen, and Eufora. If my hair is in need of a deep conditioning treatment, I skip my shampoo and conditioner completely and allow my hair to sit in the deep conditioner for my entire shower time. I use a basic coconut oil

conditioner that you can find at any drugstore in your area. This is my favorite trick of them all. When my shower is over, I wrap my hair in an old t-shirt. Towels are made with terry cloth which rubs against your hair causing friction and frizz. Secondly, most towels take a ton of moisture from your hair. We need moisture people!!  I swear this reduces my frizz by half.

My hair doesn't sit in the t-shirt for long because I want my hair to still be moderately wet when I use my comb. Like I said earlier, start at the tips and work your way up. I don't use a brush, combs only!

Once my hair is tangle free, I add in DevaCurls Ultra Defining Gel. This product is great! It allows my hair to be well-defined without the crunchy ramen noodle look. I flip my hair over like I'm on an inverted roller coaster and just scrunch it in my hair from tips to top.

Lately, I have been allowing my hair to dry on its own. If I am in a rush or need to have my hair dry, I use a diffuser. It's my second favorite trick and also cool because it looks like a weapon you see cartoon villains use. I try not to blow dry my hair all of the way either. Less damaging!

That's it! I can get ready in about 30 mins with my hair blow-dried and all! If you have any questions, feel free to comment!

Choosing Shampoo Wisely

Most commercial shampoos contain sulfates. If you pick up your shampoo bottle, check out the ingredients label and odds are something like "sodium laurel sulfate" or "ammonium laurel sulfate" will be listed. Funny thing is (well not so funny) your dish detergent usually contains one of those two ingredients as well.

Thats right you are using dish detergent in your hair. Harsh...on your hair.

Why do these two products contain the same ingredients? They're grease fighters! Their main job is to make everything they come in contact with oil-free.

Well my curly headed friends, these products won't cut it for us, but it may for the straight haired folks. Straight hair tends to contain more moisture giving the hair more of a shine. We all have sebaceous glands that secrete oil on our scalps. The oils tend to move though straight hair much more quickly and easier compared to spiraled hair. This is why curly hair tends to be more dry; no oils!

When we use these sulfate shampoos on our hair, it causes more dryness which is not pretty unless your a model on the runway...that stuff always seems to be in.

So how do we fix this problem?

Good news! Don't shampoo and if you do make sure to choose a shampoo that is sulfate free!  If you choose to drop the shampoo completely, replace it with a gentle conditioner wash or co-wash. Conditioners don't just condition! They contain surfactants, just like shampoo. They still lift off dirt and oil leaving your luscious locks perfectly clean and moisturized.

If you are like me and you can't completely ditch the shampoo. Try a sulfate-free shampoo. I've tried many, but one of my favorites comes from Deva Curls (www.mydevacurl.com). As a college student, it is the worst feeling in the world when you are out of shampoo, and your favorite shampoo costs $20 per bottle. To save some money, try making your shampoo at home! Below I'll include a great recipe I found!

At this point in my post, I feel like many of you may be saying..."There is no way I can wash my hair with conditioner. It becomes way too greasy!" Well, you're wrong. I can be pretty harsh like those sulfates (hehe). Not many people have naturally oily scalps. The reason many curly haired people believe that they must wash their hair with shampoo everyday is because their scalps are pleading for some help. When you strip natural oils from your hair, your scalp becomes dried out. I don't know about you all, but when my skin is dry, I lather on a lot of lotion. Your scalp has the same mindset. The glands in your scalp respond by producing more oil to compensate for what is missing. Sebaceous glands don't have brains so they don't realize that all of this extra oil is making you feel completely gross. With that being said, let's forgive those sebaceous glands and take them by the hand. Let's show them that everything will be okay by simply changing your own shampoo routine.

I hope this post has helped you! I would love to hear some feedback if you try the switch!


Homemade Sulfate-Free Shampoo Recipe
- 1/4 cup of distilled water
-1/4 cup of castile soap
-1/2 tsp. of vegetable oil
-Plastic bottles

Directions:
1. Pour 1/4 cup of distilled water into a large measuring cup.
2.Add 1/4 cup of castile soap into distilled water. Combine the two ingredients together with a whisk.
3. Stir in 1/2 tsp. of vegetable oil. Whisk to combine the vegetable oil with distilled water and castile soap.
4. Pour the contents of the measuring cup into the plastic bottle.

Flintstones, Meet the Flintstones...

These magical vitamins are not just for kids. Thanks to Fred, Barney, Wilma, Pebbles, and Bam Bam,  my hair has grown one and a half inches a month.

Trust me, these vitamins work wonders. I've taken lots of multivitamins to make my hair grow as quickly as possible and none of them have worked as well as Flintstones!

All Flintstone vitamins have Biotin in them. Biotin is important for cell growth and the metabolism of fats, sugars, and some amino acids. It helps release energy from carbohydrates. Something that a lot of people don't know is that Biotin doesn't actual stimulate hair growth, it promotes it. It basically renews the follicles and roots of your hair that are already growing which results in thicker, fuller and much healthier hair. Flintstones also have Folic Acid which promotes hair growth as well because it stimulates tissue growth and cell work.

In order to achieve the longest hair possible you should do the following:
1. Stop hair breakage by reducing heat on your hair. Always AIR DRY. Especially on the days you have time. I had off of work today, so I let my hair air dry as I caught up on a few episodes of New Girl (Obsessed with Zooey Deschanel). Not to mention, air drying reduces frizz greatly.
2. Increase the growth phase by using vitamins... I recommend Flintstone vitamins....just in case you haven't caught on ;)
3. Address any other problems that may limit your hair growth. For my curly headed friends, DON'T EVER DRY BRUSH/COMB YOUR HAIR EVER. It causes major breakage!

The key to hair growth is hair health. Give Flintstone vitamins a chance!

My Hair Story

I've had crazy curly hair my entire life which is not surprising since I come from an Italian and Irish heritage. Growing up, my hair was always a blessing in disguise. The disguise part included plenty of knots, frizz, and products.

As a young girl, I allowed my mom, an 80's diva, to style my hair. Let's just say I hate looking back on old photos of my younger days. I guess you could say Frizz was my friend at the time. As I began to transition into becoming a young woman, I began to become less confident with my curls. I would hear boys talk in class about how they were only attracted to girls with straight hair. This sounds so minuscule now, but looking back those were the times that made me hate my curls. So I began to straighten...

Everyday for 5 years, I would blow out, straighten, and loosely curl my hair. At first, I received so much positive feedback from my fellow classmates and friends. However, the feedback slowly declined as my hair began to fall out. Hello Damage! During the first year of this horrid and extensive  routine, my hair was at the length where the ends of my hair brushed my lower back. By the end of the straight journey, my hair reached the end of my jawline.

                 

What did I learn? Love and cherish what God has given you. It took me 3 years to retrieve my natural curl pattern and to grow out all of the damaged pieces. Within the past 3 years, I have tried almost every trick in the book on how to obtain frizz-free, healthy, and gorgeous locks. Now, there doesn't go a day that someone doesn't mention how they wish their hair would look like mine. People pay big money to achieve these curls!

I want to help other curly women learn to love their hair and to keep it healthy while I am still in the process of learning to love mine! Hair looks happy when its healthy!

(Most updated hair length!)