Two Easy Ways to Create Heatless Waves

Ever since coloring my hair, I’ve been laying off the heat styling. I want to do my best to restore my hair back to its pre-color health, which will take a lot of mindfulness. Bleaching also took out a lot of my natural wave pattern, so I have had to figure out ways to give it style without risking more breakage.

Mastering heatless waves has been that solution— wearing my hair in certain styles that will create beautiful shape and texture when taken out. The cool part is that these styles only take about five hours to create the waves as your body heat sets the pattern. So, you can either sleep in them to wake up with hair that’s already done, or wear the styles during the day to reveal fierce waves for a night look. They’re perfect for summer activities, so I’ve been wearing them day-to-night most frequently.

Keep reading for the step-by-step instructions to create my two favorite ways to easily create heatless waves.

Twists:

1. Part your hair how you will want to wear it wavy.
2. Working one side at a time, take a section in front and split it into two.
3. Start twisting the hair over each other. Each time you twist one section over the other, add more hair from the bottom to incorporate it into the twist.
4. Once you get to the start of your neck, take your two sections and start twisting them individually away from the face.
5. Then, twist them over each other toward your face. Doing this the right way will prevent them from unraveling once you tie them at the bottom. You’ve done it wrong if they untwist on their own.
6. Either sleep in this style, or wear it for at least five hours before taking out the twists.

Result:

The twists turn into a kinky wave that’s super beachy and perfect for summer.

Dutch Braid:

1. Brush all of your hair toward the back. Start your braid at the top with three strands.
2. You’ll be using the same technique as french braiding, but inverted. So you’ll be pulling the hair under the middle strand, incorporating more into the side pieces from the rest of your hair, then weaving them under each other again.
3. Finish off the braid as normal.
4. Either sleep in this style, or wear it for at least five hours before taking out the braid.

Result:

The dutch braid gives you looser, more voluminous waves that are my favorite to wear.

These two techniques have been the only way I’ve styled my hair in the past couple weeks. The methods give me enough definition to make my hair look “done” but still natural. You can also put in a bit of leave in conditioner before you style for a double-duty hair treatment, as the twists and braids lock in moisture.

Do you have any other heatless wave hacks? Share them in the comments!