What is bedhead hair anyway?
You know it when you see it. Hair that looks amazing, but not perfect. Bedhead hair that looks like you’ve been having fun with a special someone. Or maybe that bedhead hair is the tousled look after spending time on the beach or a motorcycle. It’s a sexy look that isn’t easily defined, though it is easily surprisingly easy to achieve.
Someone who’s really excelling at the whole bedhead thing is Kylie Jenner, though her version adds the perfect amount of motion to the look.
Just add waves!
If bedhead hair is the ultimate look in cool hair, bedhead with waves is more like bedhead hair, and I really don’t care.
For billionaire reality TV star Kylie Jenner, dating everyone’s internet boyfriend Timothee Chalamet, comes with a lot of pressure. After all, the star of Call Me By Your Name and Willy Wonka had lots of famous girlfriends before Kylie including Lily-Rose Depp and Lourdes Leon. That adds a lot of pressure for Kylie to want to look as perfect as possible at all times. But the queen of lip kits instead created a perfectly imperfect look. And that includes lots of loose and luscious bedhead waves. And you can too.
Beachy waves vs. bedhead waves
Before you start styling your hair, it’s worth noting that at this point beachy waves are a classic and will never go out of style. If you want more of a beach look, try to finger-style your waves. If you’d like the look of bedhead waves instead, you might need some styling tips.
How to style bedhead waves:
Whatever your chosen style, be sure to start with Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Soft Waves Sea Salt Spray. You can spray onto either wet or dry hair, making sure to saturate hair fully from about an inch past your roots to the ends. For beachy waves, scrunch your hair and air dry or use a diffuser. For bedhead waves, you can incorporate a trendy and affordable heatless curling set (keep reading since we’ll tell you how to make your own).
Related: Everything You Need to Know About Heat Protection
What’s a heatless curling set?
We’re glad you asked! If you’ve seen influencers everywhere wrap their hair around giant puffy satin curling rods, you’ve seen heatless curling sets in action. Women love them because hair curls quickly and there’s no heat damage. Simply spray hair, then split it into sections and gently wrap each section around the rod, and voila! Bedhead waves. The looser your wrap, the bigger the waves for maximum bedhead, with no damage from heat tools. Bonus: satin styling products protect hair from breakage as well.
Smooth things out
If your hair needs a bit more attention, we recommend All Eyes on Me 10-IN-1 Hair Perfector detangling leave-in treatment. Simply spray on clean, damp hair (avoiding roots!) from mid-length to end. Use your fingers to distribute the product evenly and coax your hair into waves. We also love the way you can use a tiny bit on dry hair to tame frizzies and flyaways.
Related: Give Your Curls Some Extra Lovin’ With NYM’s Full Curl Talk Collection
Sculpt those waves
Depending on your hair’s natural texture, your waves could be weightless and bouncy, or a bit fuller. Even if you’re not naturally a curly or coily girl, NYM’s Curl Talk collection Sculpting Gel allows you to achieve more flexible hold. If you don’t love using spray-in products, you can rub a quarter-size amount in the palms of your hands and then rub fully through the length of your hair. Scrunch the sections that you’d like to look wavier, and apply a bit more where you need more serious styling.
Super-secret and slightly strange pro tip:
Because we’re all about achieving style in an instant, we often come up with easy hair hacks. We’re going to share one of our hair care editor’s favorite trick for bedhead waves – use a padded hanger. You know those fancy satin hangers that seem to show up around Valentine’s Day and Christmas? They make really great hair stylers! Simply use the spray or scrunch techniques we shared above, but wrap hair around a satin hanger if you don’t have a heatless curling set. Be careful though since hangers have more weight to them, and you don’t want to put too much pressure on your roots. If you can spare a hanger, pull off the satin padded parts and create your own curling set.
