Wavy hair products

[MissMogs]

I come from a very curly family, yet have always thought I had straight hair. However unless I blow dry it straight, it ends up sort of bushy and you can see loose waves underneath. Many Facebook ads have convinced me I actually have wavy hair and I could make those waves look fantastic (if only I buy a hundred expensive products and dip it upside down in unicorn tears…)
On a serious note, is there a way to enjoy wavy hair that isn’t too high maintenance without too many expensive products? I’d like to give it a try without spending a bomb on things I might not use again! (Looking at you, merwave!)

To add, my hair is also fine rather than thick. WLI have thinned it out quite a bit, so a bit of volume would be nice!

I have similar hair. I tried the merwabe products and didn’t get on with those.
I try to use SLS free shampoo and conditioner. I comb through the JVN hair dry cream and leave it to dry naturally. Sometimes my waves look good, sometimes a frizz ball! I’m still looking for the ultimate product!

https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/beauty/hair/jvn-complete-air-dry-cream-review

Watching with interest! Fine hair, definitely wavy. Looks great on first day, then a greasy, frizzy mess on the second day.

So generally I blow dry..

Interesting link, but the writer looks like she has really thick hair!

I would try washing it, raking some mousse in, scrunch and leave it to dry and see what it does as a starting point

Aveda be curly shampoo and curl cream, colour wow root lift. Next day - non shampoo day colour wow dream coat curly hair and Aussie leave in conditioner. Once a week ish sleep with old fashioned non colouring henna conditioner in and wash it out next morning as above. I have very few grey hairs though so don’t know if that would alter effectiveness.

I wash with SLS-free shampoo and conditioner (I like innersense products but haven’t found the brand matters too much for my curls).

I then use a thick tooth comb to brush it when sopping wet so that the strands clump together, then coat well with boucleme curl cream and sort of scrunch/squish the hair up towards my head.

Leave to air dry if loads of time, otherwise diffuser dry and when completely and utterly dry I “scrunch out the crunch”.

Took a lot of faffing around with different products to find a relatively low maintenance routine.

On non-wash days I dampen my hair a bit with tap water and apply some more curl cream to get rid of the chaos that never fails to occur when I sleep (silk pillows, silk caps, sticking hair up in a pineapple overnight- nothing works for me!).

I vary between straight and curly depending on mood😊

I have fine hair with a slight wave and the best thing I’ve found is shockwaves mousse which costs about £3

Merwave and only curls do nothing for me

I would start with just making sure you are using a sulphate free shampoo, put some leave in conditioner in and then scrunch and leave to air dry.

That's pretty much all I do with mine and by treating my hair right I have gone from poufy and fluffy "straight" nightmare hair to this. Sometimes I scrunch some gel in to help it stay better.

In the morning I dampen it down with a spray bottle, comb with fingers and scrunch again. I do not ever brush my hair.

It takes time for things to develop and can be frustrating at the start but by sticking with it and not chopping and changing the waves/curls get better and better.

Oh and my favourite leave in conditioner is this stuff. It is brilliant and the bottle lasts ages so it is much cheaper than using all the "just 1152 simple steps" routines.

I don't bother with SLS / silicome free products as they don't seem to make any difference to mine. Shampoo, condition, a frw minutes in a microfibre turban then either leave to dry totally naturally for waves, or use a bit of Umberto Gianni curl gel raked through and scrunch then leave to air dry and gently run fingers through to de-crunch, this makes it curlier. Second day for either wet the aide tooth comb and run it through then scrunch a bit, air dry. Occasionally diffuser dry if I really can't go out with wet hair but air dried is best.

I was exactly the same as you, merwave has made my hair look amazing. Ive now used it for 18months. I now dont need to use all of the products all the time and often just use the curl cream and foam, but to start with I used all 5.

Try 'Aussie Bouncy Curls' products. They work well.

Also I think it's better to scrunch using a diffuser.

VO5 curl detangling milk is good. I was bought it when ill in hospital and have repurchased it several times since. Better than my Tigi Ego Boost but that’s a leave in conditioner.

My hair was straight and fine (but lots of it) but also wavy. I’ve mostly had it straight I just brush it straight. If I don’t comb it it dries in ringlets and looks great tonged/curled/permed.

Thanks so much for all the replies! Off to read my shampoo to see if it has sulphate. Might order some of these cheaper products first.

Correct ! My hair is curly and it's perfect. I hope they never discontinue it. I wouldn't rake products through though. I find glazing works better as it doesn't disturb your curl pattern. I use it on it's own.

I have similar hair to you OP, and get on well with 2 products from Merwave. I wash and condition as usual, then use the mousse and gel, before just shaking my hair back over my shoulders, and leaving it to air dry. Then I just scrunch it a bit in my hands to break up the slightly crisp feeling and it’s nice little ringlets.

I have very fine ‘not curly, not straight’ hair that has thinned out a lot due to menopause (sigh). I was frantically using tongs and huge circular brushes trying to get some volume into my hair. But then I found Flora & Curl Activating lotion and Curl defining gel products and my head is now full of soft cascading curls and waves. It looks amazing! I’ve had actual compliments about my hair! I just smooth through the lotion and a touch of the gel on wet hair, scrunch it up and leave it. It’s about £30 for both products but it lasts for weeks. Would fully recommend.