Unfortunately, most of us can’t spend every morning lounging on the beach for the sake of a good hair day. But it is possible to create those beautiful beach waves with the right tools, products, and techniques at home. According to Paul Cucinello, a celebrity hairstylist and co-founder of Cucinello Beauty, real beach hair is totally different from what most hashtag results show. “It’s more of that surprise you get when you come out of the saltwater and run your fingers through your hair with leftover suntan lotion,” he says. “If you have any kind of natural wave to your hair, you’ll probably discover that it looks really good when you do less intentional styling to it for a change. The heat from the sun coupled with salty beach air is like letting nature give you a beautiful blowout.” To create hair that looks like you really spent the day at the beach, you’ll probably need to use more than one product at a time, and more product than you’re used to using. “Dry texture spray or dry shampoo at the roots keeps hair with lots of product in it from looking greasy,” says Cucinello. Continue with your waving wand on about six 1-inch sections, and make sure to leave the ends out and let the top of the section fall straight back to give you some extra-beachy volume. “Finish with a light mist of thickening volume spray all over and gently scrunch hair to break up waves,” says Cucinello. Add a few smaller braids around the hairline to replicate the tighter wave patterns that usually occur around the nape of the neck, temples, and sideburns. “Give hair a light mist of dry spray at the roots and then undo the braids,” suggests Cucinello. “Finish with a dime-sized amount of the same curl sculpting cream scrunched into hair to combine textures.” Clip the ends of each twist up to its own base using small clips until the next section is revealed. “Continue lightly misting each new section with water, then repeat the twists using larger and smaller sections and clipping them up,” says Cucinello. “Once all your sections are done (and your arms feel like they’re going to fall off), spray your entire head with a generous coat of dry spray.” Let your hair set until each section feels dry to the touch. If you prefer, you can speed it up with a diffuser and hairdryer set to low speed and high heat. “Remove all the clips, dropping sections from the nape of the neck moving up to the part,” says Cucinello. “Flip your head over and shake twists out by massaging your scalp with your fingertips and shaking hands through hair stopping mid-shaft.” Flip hair back over and finish with a light mist of workable hair spray, like the DesignME Hold.Me Three Way Hair Spray ($12; amazon.com) or Sachajuan Moulding Spray ($30; amazon.com). After the entire head is done, rake out waves with your hands and add texturizer. “R+Co Badlands Dry Shampoo Paste ($32, amazon.com) makes hair nice and beachy with a little grit—I love this product,” says Rubenstein.
