The Ultimate Beachy Waves Tutorial for Unruly Hair

Hi, I’m Annie and I have naturally curly hair. 

Translate that to = I have frizzy, wavy, sometimes super curly, and altogether unruly hair.

It’s been this way all of my life and I remember growing up hating the hair brush, and yet reluctantly using it to avoid threats of getting my hair chopped off. Pigtails are pigtails, right? Brushed or not, or so I thought.

My life was a continual Barbados episode of Friends. With large, crazy Monica hair. And then after moving to Florida it was something that lasted much longer than each spring and summer.  

The beachy Barbados look I can totally get down with. The crazy, humidity inspired, frizz curls, not so much.

Now though, I’m pretty well versed in the care of curls. And thankfully so, because I have littles who would rather wear unbrushed pigtails, or unbrushed anything.

First of all, one of the best hairstyle products I use is this Hot Tools Signature Series Digital flat iron, 1 inch for my curls. Secondly, a heat protectant spray is a necessity, because heat. Dry shampoo is another must, because I like to avoid washing my hair daily.

These products take my hair from a crazy, rebellious mess to a tame and a manageably obedient mane of beach-worthy waves. I’m sure you’ve seen how to create a curl with a flat iron more than once, but what I really love about this is that I can go from curl, wave, frizz, or even blown-out-straight locks to a beachy wave with this method.

Now, I like a good curling wand or curling iron as well, but the flat iron truly smooths the frizz while I add in the controlled curls. Plus you don’t typically end up with spirals in the end and they last longer… making it perfect for hard to curl hair as well!

The Ultimate Beachy Waves Tutorial for Unruly Hair

Loving this beachy waves tutorial? Take a look here for more of my beauty favorites!

• Grab your Hot Tools Signature Series Digital Flat Iron, 1 inch

• Apply Heat Protectant.  

• Use a Setting Spray if you have hard to curl hair.

• Separate hair according to your natural part and section off. Take the first piece of hair, about an inch at a time, and place in the flat iron.

• Pull straightener forward towards the front of you, giving it a half-turn and glide it down until you reach the end of your hair, then release. I do 2 full rotations with my flat iron, making sure the end of my iron is pointing mostly down. (Hold the straightener horizontally to get more of a beachy wave, vertically to get curls.)

• Repeat through the rest of your hair. (I sometimes clip up sections to make it easier to work through each piece, then let them down as I move through each section.)

• When finished curling all of your hair, take a small amount of anti-frizz product and work it through your hair.  I don’t usually add in hairspray, and feel as though the curls last really well without it, but if you want your hair to set for a long day or night out, you can finish with a bit of hairspray too.