Emily Evert, Author at Wavy Hair Care

Day 2 Wavy Hair: How To Refresh With Water

January 1, 2021 by Emily Evert 10 Comments

How To Get Day 2 Wavy Hair

To get good day 2 hair, starting with hair that was styled well on wash day and protected well while you slept is really beneficial. This will have you starting with better results. To refresh your hair, simply get your hair wet and allow it to dry, squeeze out any cast that forms, and you’re done!

If you find that on day 2 you wake up with hair that is really in rough shape, whether it’s fallen flat, lost all definition, or become really frizzy, I’d start by looking at your wash day and sleep routines. The easiest way to get good day 2 hair is to keep your waves in good shape after washing.

I have a whole blog post about how to make wavy hair last longer. It talks about the importance of getting good definition on wash day by using a hard hold product. Getting good hold on wash day allows your waves to hang around longer, which makes refreshing far more successful.

Refreshing wavy hair with water is great for reviving a bit of definition, re-activating hold in your styling products, and settling some frizz. If you’ve lost too much definition, or never had waves to begin with, refreshing isn’t likely to give you the results you want. If your wash day goes poorly, the best solution is to re-wash.

If you have good hair on wash day, it’s also really important to sleep in a way that protects your hair overnight. If you leave your hair down and sleep on a microfleece pillowcase, you’re likely to wake up with your waves flattened and your hair frizzy.

You may have even broken some strands overnight. See my post How To Sleep On Wavy Hair for specific instructions for how to sleep on wavy hair including long wavy hair, short wavy hair and thick wavy hair. Ultimately, the goal of sleeping on wavy hair well is about reducing friction (as this reduces frizz) and protecting your waves from being flattened by the weight of your head.

Does Wavy Hair Technique Or Products Matter Most?

December 31, 2020 by Emily Evert 12 Comments

I remember spending so much time over-thinking what products I would buy when I was first starting the curly girl method. There was so much information to take in, and I wasn’t positive about my hair properties.

I wasn’t sure about my porosity, I worried I may be protein-sensitive, I didn’t know whether to believe the people who said “you get what you pay for” with hair care products – the list of uncertainties goes on. At first, I thought finding the perfect products for my hair type was the answer to getting the look I wanted.

Over time, I grew to realize that my hair routine or my hair techniques matter a lot more than what products I use. So sometimes, I find it a bit surprising how much conversation in wavy/curly hair groups or forums seem to be product-focused.

It’s very common to see people sharing a problem they’re having or an improvement they’d like to see in their hair, and then ask what product they should buy to fix it. It often seems like the assumption is that products are always the problem and products are always the solution.

Sometimes products can be the problem or the solution, no doubt. In my blog post best mousse for wavy hair, you’ll see that I did get dramatically different results (especially on day 2 and beyond) depending on what mousse I used. I also have a post answering if products with hold are needed for wavy hair, with the answer being ‘yes’. For me it make a huge difference.

If you use products that have too much protein, or not enough protein, or too much moisture – you can make your moisture – protein balance out of whack and that can really impact your hair a lot. If you don’t clarify often enough that can cause build up and result in problems.

If you haven’t heard of clarifying, definitely check out my blog post about clarifying wavy hair – it’s important! There are a lot of cases where products 100% absolutely do matter. Check out my wavy hair product recommendations page to see products I recommend for various purposes.

Cheap Wavy Hair Products That Have Worked Well For Me

December 28, 2020 by Emily Evert 5 Comments

There are affiliate links in this post.

If you have wavy hair and are frugal, or are just mindful of your budget, it is easy to be shocked at what some wavy hair products cost. Early on, I remember wondering if I had to buy $30 conditioner if I wanted really good results. At the time I thought, if I have to spend that much money, this just isn’t for me.

These days, I am more open to spending a little money on my hair than I was in the beginning. Still, I’m not someone who is of the mindset that drugstore wavy hair products can’t work well. I know from experience that some affordable hair products work great! Are professional hair products better? I can’t answer that, but I get results that I am satisfied with on a budget.

Someday, I’d like to try more expensive products and even to learn more about the science behind ingredients in higher-end hair care products and how they may differ from cheaper ingredients. While I don’t currently have all that knowledge, I do have the experience that has shown me that some affordable hair care products can provide results that meet my expectations.

On this website, I’ve intentionally spent more time writing blog posts talking about technique. I try to write a lot about technique because I think too many people expect products to be the primary answer for getting the hair style results they want. I’ve found that technique is really the most important thing.

I even put it to the test by comparing using “bad” products with “good” techniques, vs using “bad” techniques but “good products”. The difference was huge! You can see that in my post Do Wavy Hair Techniques or products matter most? I do think products matter too though.

Cheap Wavy Hair Products

Hair Isn’t Straight Or Wavy?? What Is It?

December 23, 2020 by Emily Evert 1 Comment

What does it mean if hair isn’t straight or wavy?

The straight hair spectrum includes hair that has a slight bend to it, so if your hair isn’t “perfectly straight” is still may qualify as straight. Or you may have naturally wavy hair that is being brushed out so it doesn’t look how you typically expect wavy hair to look, despite being naturally wavy.

Hair isn’t perfectly straight or pin-straight

You may think of “truly straight” hair as being perfectly straight. Yet, hair that has a slight bend to it is still considered straight. The difference between straight hair and wavy hair, is wavy hair goes back and forth in both directions, left and right. Straight hair can twist ta bit to one side, but won’t go back and forth.

Naturally Wavy Hair Looks Different Than Heat-Made Waves

Sometimes people think they don’t have straight or wavy hair because they don’t really recognize what naturally wavy hair really looks like! It sounds silly, but it really is true. Prior to a few years ago, if I saw someone with naturally wavy hair that was well defined, I would have said they had curly hair.

I thought wavy hair was very rare, and I thought it was when hair looked more like straight hair in that it would largely be one big group of hair, but that sort of “waved” in and out…like the results you get from a barrel hair crimper or “hair waver” tool.

Those tools don’t make results that look very similar to naturally wavy hair. Basically, my idea of ‘wavy hair’ was based on artificial wavy hair, and I didn’t realize it. I didn’t know that wavy hair could have individual waves, like the photo below.

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