How to Style Long Wavy Hair

Are you stumped on how to style long, wavy hair?

Well then. Today is a new day for you.

How to Style Wavy Hair

Today, we are going to talk about how to style that gorgeous, beautiful, jealousy-inducing long wavy hair.

First, you should take a read at my post on how to do the Curly Girl Method (the easy way). A lot of the background for what I do here is explained in that post.

Next, let’s meet our model.

Mermaid Hair

Fairy princess, mermaid, Guinevere, Maid Marian, elf queen, boho hair…

Thy name is Sierra.

Sierra and I have known each other for around seven years or so. Maybe closer to nine? She was a high schooler and a student at the dance studio I taught at (still teach at. Mama’s gotta pay some bills).

It’s funny she grew up to be a writer and dance teacher too! She’s like my Mini Me.

Meet Sierra, the model for today's hair tutorial. — This was seconds after taking out of a messy bun, a style this dance teacher and free-lance writer rocks on a daily basis.

Meet Sierra! — This is her response when asked how she normally feels about her hair.

I even had long hair like this at her age. Then I chopped it all off and it got mad at me and never grew again. I have stubborn locks. You could say my hair has an attitude problem and you’d be right.

This Tutorial In My Kitchen is for you long haired, wavy/curly, type 2C-3A, fairy princesses out there.

Products Used

I’ll talk about the products more in depth as we use them, but I used Twisted Sister shampoo and conditioner, Aunt Jackie’s Curl La-La Curl cream, and Gaurnier Gel.

Step 1: Rinse/Detangle

Her hair is fairly thin and it didn’t need too much detangling. I used a wide tooth comb. Normally I would detangle with the conditioner still in, but her hair is so long it was falling down the garbage disposal!

Style Guide for Long Curly Hair — Having fun reminiscing and catching up. Her twin sister is our photographer here.

She’s such a good sport. I promise I scrubbed out my sink well, pinky promise!

Twisted Sista Product — This conditioner is super funky, in a good way! It looks like and feels like shampoo, until you get it in your hairs. Then it melts into a nourishing conditioner! Also, what’s a seaberry? And a mangosteen?

When asked what kind of products she normally uses, she replied … um, Suave shampoo.

“That’s it?” her own twin sister asked in disbelief.

“I mean, I have the conditioner too. But it’s just in the shower for “looks,”” Sierra confessed.

Let us all take a moment of silence here.

Long Wavy Hair Style Tutorial — I pause in my combing in fascination. What magical creature owns exactly zero hair products?

In the beginning stages — Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled program. I knew I looked pregnant in this shirt!

Her hair is practically straight when wet, which is not unusual with wavy/curly hair.

Sidebar: The longer I went without flat-ironing my hair, the more I noticed when washing the kinks and coils and bumps and ridges staying in, even while the water poured over them. It seems the longer you go taking care of your curls, the more they retain their springiness during washing. Does that make any sense?

Step 2: Curl Cream & Coil

I chose a curl cream just because it has been super hot here in Southern Oregon this week, with a smidge of humidity, so me personally, I have needed a cream rather desperately lately. The frizz is real, my friends.

Honestly, I was taking an educated guess, as I always do with these Kitchen Sink Hair Tutorials. I probably could have gone with a mousse with Sierra, since her hairs are fine.

After applying the cream in two sections (sister said to part it on the side, not the center, so we agreed), I did a little bit of finger coiling.

Her “clumps” are small and fine, so I just twirled a few pieces here and there to encourage some ringlet patterns. Once that was done, I used a small amount of gel to lock in that gorgeous style.