Help with air drying wavy hair!

[Wiennetta]

I need your help! I’m trying to use heat on my hair less, and air dry it. My hair goes a bit wavy when air dried, but any heat and it’ll go straight - so if I even roughly blow dry it, it’s straight.

I’ve seen lots of products for curly hair, but what about slightly wavy hair? My hair is quite fine, although there’s quite a lot of it, so I don’t want anything to weigh it down. I’d love something I can put it my hair to leave soft waves. At the moment it just looks messy, with uneven waves (some bits more shape than others) and frizzy :( I’ve tried salt sprays but don’t like the crunchy feeling, I’m after something softer.

Picture of how it looks air dried currently.

Mine is similar.
I think it's better when I put something in post it drying rather than before as it can make it a bit straggly, or kind of over moisturised.

Shu uemura hair oil is lovely for this but also since I'm trying to save a bit of money I'm actually using some old face serum I don't like v much and it seems to be working quite well.

Have you tried a scrunching gel or serum?
Mine is wavy (not such nice waves as yours though!) and I use the umberto giannini products in the bright pink packaging.
I scrunch the gel in, let my hair dry (or gently diffuse with the hairdryer) then give it another scrunch to remove the slight crunchiness that gel leaves.

Have you thought of using heatless curl band? About £5 on amazon or ebay its my new obsession, i have wavy hair but tends to be frizzy and dry i have a cupboard full of various curl creams and gels and if i follow the scrunching in a tshirt not a towel, then ‘plop’ i can get quite a good wavy effect but the curl band is just so simple and means i can avoid all the product so i don't need to wash my hair too often either, i just wash and condition, leave to dry until just slightly damp then curl the hair onto the band (you tube is your friend here) it looks quite cute once rolled sort of like a plaited effect or ‘ milkmaid’ type of style i then leave for around 4 hours or even better sleep in it and voila curls next day which once dropped a bit leave a lovely deep wave in my hair for days.

My hair has never looked that good on a good hair day .

Lol, me too. Only a hairdresser could make my hair look that good! Then it would be back to shitty frizz the next day :)

Boots curl creme while soaking wet

Scrunch in some Umberto Gianni curl jelly

Partly dry in a tshirt (Google plopping)
Leave to dry
Scrunch lightly with a t-shirt if it feels crunchy

You have a lovely natural wave, I think you'll be surprised at how curly it can get

My hair's very similar to yours, OP, and l air dry mine in the warmer weather but recently l've been drying it with a diffuser while it's too cold to sit about with wet hair..
I have layers in mine, though, which helps the curl/wave, otherwise the weight pulls the wave down.
I've tried all kinds of serums/sprays and (purely for mine) l find just using a deep conditioner on the ends and mid lengths in the shower works best (the Aussie 3 minute one just now). I wet/damp it when l've slept on it which revives the waves.

Mine is similar and is really enjoying a tiny bit of olaplex 3 after washing. Literally just a pea sized amount. It makes the waves a bit wavier.

Eek me neither! I'd suggest a light mousse as my hair hates anything oily

I don’t generally air dry my hair but I do when I’m on holiday, and it looked much less frizzy this year thanks to this

www.spacenk.com/uk/haircare/styling/hair-cream/complete-air-dry-cream-MUK200033790.html

Thanks so much everyone for the tips (and the kind comments about my hair!) Lots of things to go away and research/try :)

Without a doubt the best thing is to apply whatever product you use when your hair is SOAKING WET.

I use Cantu mousse which is really light but gives great hold.

Thanks @MyOldCaravan another one to check out!

I would recommend you use a curly girl method (cg) safe shampoo (low poo) and conditioner which has no silicone in. And only use cg safe styling products. Your hair will likely go through a transition where it may look and feel worse for a little while but after that your hair will thank you for it. Your waves will likely become more defined using these products.
Examples of safe shampoos are dr organic available from Holland and Barrett and some of the noughty shampoos including the wave hello one.

Following with interest, can I ask, if you apply a product when your hair is soaking wet what do you do then? Wrap it in a towel?

@Fuckingfuckssake give it a quick brush through, then 'plop' it in a tshirt

Thanks @anon2022anon but don't you just ahem drip everywhere? My house is freezing, I can't imagine walking round like that!

You can get a special towel that drys your hair really quickly. You don't rub it, more like scrunch it. Its similar to using a t shirt.

The less I do to mine the better it curls. I've tried all sorts of products including the Boots Curl Creme and Umberto Gianni crunching gel and they all weigh it down too much even if I only use a tiny amount. I brush it through under the shower with conditioner on, rinse, wrap tightly in a microfibre towel for a few mins then let air dry, no touching or brushing. The next day I brush the crown lightly to flatten frizz then run fingers through any matted bits.

Bumble & Bumble don't blow it- especially for air drying, comes in fine or thick hair formulations. Not cheap but good, a cheaper decent alternative is by curlsmith.

I'm getting loads of adverts on instagram for merwave which is apparently formulated specifically for wavy hair. No idea how effective it is although the adverts are tempting, pretty expensive for the whole system though and a lot of plastic. I'm just using a shampoo bar that is curly girl friendly and with lots of nourishing coconut in it and giving my hair a scrunch as it airdries.

Is a heatless curl band just an expensive version of rags? I made DD2's hair very curly (she wanted to be Bellatrix Lestrange for World Book Day) by using rags (DHs old ripped up tshirt) on her damp hair overnight. I was impressed how effective it was.

I came on to recommend the bumble and bumble. It's absolutely brilliant.

Hairstory New Wash and Hair Balm has been an absolute game changer for my wavy nearly curly hair. I don't know if it would work for everyone and because it's a no shampoo thing it does take a week or two for your hair to get used to it. Sadly it is hellishly expensive, but I've tried cheaper versions and they're not as good.

Osis curling cream I use no 3 for curls but no 2 is better for waves

Yes the curl band is a similar thing to rags, i love mine