Natural looking beach curls in under 20 minutes!
March 16, 2012 by darlene
I don’t know about you ladies, but I’m itching for the summer. It doesn’t help that department stores are already putting out their summer wear and swimsuits. Have you ever wanted to get that beautiful “natural” beach curl look to your hair? I want to share with you a technique that works for ALL types of hair, whether it be short, long, thick, thin, frizzy, or flat… and no curling iron involved!
1. Dampen your hair with a spray bottle or let it semi air dry after washing it.
As you can tell, I have a lot of wave to my hair, but this works for all hair types!
2. Part your hair into four sections. They don’t have to be sectioned perfectly. Tie them off to keep them separated from each other. Spray each section lightly with hair spray.
3. Start twisting your hair in the direction you want your curl to be. I twisted mine away from my face. Keep twisting until it tightens to the point it starts to coil on its own.
4. Coil it into a tight bun and then use bobby pins to keep it in place.
5. Blow your hair until it’s dry. The longer you dry it, the tighter your curl will be.
6. Undo the bobby pins and take your buns out of their coil.
7. Separate your curls using your fingers and then scrunch to add some body.
8. You’re finished! Lightly spray with hair spray then you’re good to go!
Something to keep in mind is, obviously, the wetter your hair is to begin with, the longer it takes to dry. The longer you dry the “buns” the tighter the curls will be. This is great for a nice tight curl look! If you have shorter hair, it works better to use more sections. If you have curly/wavy hair, it works best to make your “buns” as tight as possible and dry them for a little longer.
Give it a try! It’s quick and easy! For a girl who regularly spends over an hour to curl her hair, this is a nice time saver!
Do you have any tips on how this will work on your hair type?
(dardame.blogspot.com)
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Oh I’ve been waiting to see this post. I saw it in the back end. LOVE it and super duper easy. Your hair color is beautiful!
Thanks for this post:)
I LOVE this! I hate curling my hair but love curls – this technique might be my new best friend! Love the pics Darlene!
It’s a great time saver!
Ahhh!!! This tutorial ROCKS!!!
I’ve been doing something similiar to this which helps me out tons. Especially since I’ve got 4 kids and hardly no time in the morning to do my hair. I’ve got a mix of thin/thick hair and waviness.
What I do is take a shower at night and let it air dry for like 10-15mins. The trick is to make sure your hair is moist and not too damp. Then I pull back my hair in a loose/tight pony. (I usually part and dry my side bangs with a hairdryer.) Then I twist my hair and wrap it into a bun with an elastic hair band(so its loose and not too tight). Also,sometimes I divide my pony into 2 parts and wrap opposite of each other. In the morning, I take it out and seperate the curls and scrunch. Then style as desired.
On another note, I like to do this when I’m going out. I’ll wash my hair in the morning and keep it up all day till an hour or so before. Makes it easy.
Great technique Jenn! It works wonderfully to keep it in over night!
Thx! I like the idea of hairspraying in the process
Looks great! I do this one mornings I know I would have a lot of time to spend on my hair. I do it first thing in the morning and let it air dry while I make breakfast, put on make up, clothes….etc
Then let it out last thing before I leave. It’s usually dry by then! A great quick hair style!
Oh definitely, I also have these in when I get to stay inside for a little while to get things done
Thanks for sharing!
What gorgeous hair you have! I only hope this works on my semi straight/slight wave shorter do. I wonder if I should make more sections? If nothing else you could go as Princess Leia for Halloween with that hair!
I do have a lot of hair, so I have plenty to work with. For you, I would go with smaller sections of hair. Since it’s shorter, don’t completely dry it or else it could turn a little Shirley Temple on you, which could actually be really cute!
Great tutorial! I get mine by waiting until my hair is almost dry and then I put it in a french braid for about an hour. After I take it out I flip my head over and add some hairspray and “scrunch”. But, I’m definitely going to have to try this because no-heat curls are the best! Thanks Darlene!
French braiding is a great way to get loose curls! If only I knew how to french braid… haha I need to watch a tutorial for that!
wow this is such a good idea!
it looks so pretty at the end
Bantu knots!!! I do this style all the time
it looks great on you!
If your hair needs some extra volume, you can spray it down with salt water to get it wet. Helps give it that “beachy” texture too!
Awesome idea! My hair is definitely curlier when there is ocean water or ocean air in it. It holds a great curl!
What a clever idea! I can’t wait to try this on my hair…I’d love for you to share this at Mix it up Monday:
http://www.flourmewithlove.com/2012/03/mix-it-up-monday_18.html
I hope to see you soon
Looks beautiful! I have a head of curls to but I haven’t tried this method yet. I may try and sleeping in it and see what occurs. Thanks!
GORGEOUS HAIR!
These are lovely! Perfect for a straight-haired girl like me!
Found you on Made by You Monday – would love to have you stop by for a visit!
I have to try this! I am doing it this week!! Thanks for step by step!
LOVE this! As someone with long and already a little wavy hair, I keep trying to get this look right to no avail. Excited to try this!
I think I might try sleeping with the buns in; my hair takes forever to dry!
I feel ya. I have thick hair so I try to just dampen my hair for this. Other girls have mentioned sleeping in their hair and it worked great! Also, if it’s uncomfortable, some girls mentioned wearing the buns all morning as they run around the house getting things done then take them out when they’re ready to leave!
I Tryed this but i think my hair is just too thick because it came all poofy not beachy
Oh no! I hope you give it another try. Maybe try using a leave in conditioner or using a little more hair spray.. Hopefully something will work out for you! Even then, a little poof might be nice!
Hmmm………my hair is SO thick it takes forever to dry! Especially if in a bun. Not sure if the inside of the buns will get dry, but I will try this.
You know what? When I took my buns out, my hair was still damp on the inside. I have really thick hair too. After scrunching, it dried and left me with loose curls. I would recommend to VERY lightly dampen your hair before you put them into the buns. Then use some hair spray and make your buns as tight as possible
I need help! I have tried endless types of this hairstyle. And every time it’s failed. I have fine hair but TONS of it. It’s stick straight, but does take a good curl with a curling iron. I have let my hair be lightly damp when I’ve done this technique and let it dry overnight. I’ve even had it be completely dry, then put a tiny bit of product in to encourage more curl. It always ends up with just a few kinks in it & still with the same dampness that I started with. My hair holds in moisture like you can’t believe. So discouraging. I am going to try this technique and blow dry my hair, I’m crossing my fingers that this works because I can achieve perfect beach waves with a curling iron, but I can’t do it too much because of the damage it creates. I want to do it more often and save time. I’m hoping this is my answer.
What am I doing wrong in past techniques? Thank you!
You should try sitting under a hood dryer for about 30 min. and then keep the knots in overnight instead of blow drying. The blow dryer gets way too hot and will take you forever!! Plus, you’ll damage your hair!! You can get an inexpensive one from Amazon.com for like $35-$50 bucks! I also find that adding a little mousse before I twist helps me keep the curl all day
) Hope this helps!
Great ideas Diana! And Janice, you’re not doing anything wrong! I understand that fine hair has a hard time keeping a curl. Try using a leave in conditioner as well as hair spray before you put them into buns. This will help your hair from damaging. As Diana said, you might need to dry it longer then 20 minutes. The heat is a great way to keep a curl! Let me know how it goes!
Thanks for the tips! I can’t wait to try it on myself and my daughter!
I LOVE it! Such stunning hair!
Thank you So much
I do something similar to this. I part my hair into three sections. Then i split each section into twp parts. Next I wrap them around each other all the way down the hair shaft. After I wrap them into a bun and bobby pin. I normally do this at night so I don’t have to do much when I’m getting ready for school in the morning.
How long should i blow dry it? I have thick wavy hair and would prefer it to be pretty much dryer at the least.
Hi Libby! Great question! I also have thick wavy hair so I’ll let you know what I do sometimes. Just lightly get it wet and then twist the pieces SUPER tight. This will help get rid of the wave. I know it’s hard to get the insides completely dry but this actually is better for the “beach” curl look. It gives it a loser curl. When you take the bun out, keep it in it’s twisted form (picture 6) and then continue to blow dry it. It’s really hard to put an exact time to it because it depends on the thickness of your hair. Hope this helps!
i have medium to shorter length hair, and it is really thick and dead straight. so i tried this, and it worked great! except some of the strands were too straight for the rest, so i took a curler and quick made some waves to the straight ends, and it was perfect. it made my hair look like a beach goddess, and it created the perfect natural effect. thanks so much for the idea!! i will definitely be doing this more often!(:
i’m so glad it worked for you!! and great plan with using the curling iron on the straighter pieces
still gives it that loose, natural looking curl 
how do you do your buns cause their are different ways to put it up.
Since I have short hair, I do this but on a smaller scale
Spray my hair with a saltwater and conditioner (small amount) solution
Twist hair into curls and pin into tiny buns all over my head with tiny banana clips and let air dry (if i have the time).
thanks for sharing! that is excellent advice for those with shorter hair!
This looks like a really great idea. I’m always excited to try out new methods even thought none have worked for me -_- my hair is really thick, so I get the same problen Lynn does, since I’ve tried something similar before, so I know it will take really long to dry but we’ll see how it goes
Hopefully it comes out atleast decent enough to wear to church. Would it work on me? I hae layered hair. The shortest layers are above my shoulders The short ones are like an inch or two beneath…
tami, it sounds like you and i are in the same hair department. i commenting on lynns comment but i’ll give you the same advice. before you get started LIGHTLY dampen your hair. possibly put in some “leave in” conditioner to prevent frizziness. i think this would work great with layers! if not even better since the shorter layers aren’t as heavy as the rest of your hair. let me know how it goes!
This is great! Thanks for sharing!
Sofi
Beautiful! I must try this.
Wonderful! Loved it! Worked like magic! So fast and wonderful results!
I would probably have to sleep on it for my hair to hold a curl, but this is a great idea that I’m gonna try and your hair is lovely.
I tried this today after reading about it. Sadly, it did not work for my hair. I was very excited about the idea of not having to curl my hair, but alas, back to the curling iron I go!
did you try to dry it all the way while it was twisted? That was how I got it to work for me.
i had the same problems and i tried it with the blow dryer too didn’t work for me either. might be just our hair.
I was lazy and just slept with the buns in… it didn’t work for me that way so I would suggest doing each step the way she tells you!! My hair is super super thick so I thought the longer I left it in the better, but the curls were tighter than I wanted and didn’t stay in. I think blow drying it would have made them work!
oh my gosh, thank you so, so much for this! I’ve been looking everywhere for something like this.
P.S. is your hair naturally red? mine is so I was curious.
It worked really well but the waves didnt stay it for very long as i have heavy hair, but thats not your fault.
i do not know how to curl my hair so i came across this site and i figured id give it a try since it looked pretty simple, i just took out the curls and everything and for some reason my hair is still wet and i took it out because it felt dry.. my hair does not look like your pictures at all, it just looks like what my hair usually looks like when i get outta the shower infact it looks like i woke up….i dunno why my hair hates me so much. is there other ways i can curl my hair and actually look good. please let me know thanks
I did this on my hair overnight and the curls came out very right and frizzy:( Instead of doing it overnight how long would I blow dry my hair for? Also how can I make the curls looser and bigger?
This beach type curly hair ideas is great. I really love it and will try it.
woo,that’s cool,i will try this later
So I tried this on my hair and it wasn’t a success. My hair is too thin I guess cause all it did was make super poof half-curls. And I forgot to take the hair ties out before drying(might want to have mentioned that lol). Oh well. I’ll try again another day. I’m determined!
Cool idea… You can also try to part your hair into many sections, than coil every section and pass the straightening iron on the coild section from the top to the bottom, repeat the same thing on all your hair, it worked well for me..
Cool! Maybe I will try doing that. I love curly hair!
Thank you, so much for this idea i really wanted to know how to get curly hair and this actually helped i havent tried it yet but im going ot try it in the morning hen i get up
i would love my hair curled a long time ago. but i just rebonded my hair, would it be fine if i do this? is my new straight hair wouldn’t be damaged for doing this? help, thanks guys!
Nice post dear, love it!
It work so nice, work gently Thanks for the post Love it.
Its work superb Love it……… Thanks for the post….
This look is amazing and looks incredibly simple. Can’t wait to try it tonight! Will post the results on my website
Love it!!Thanks for sharing.
Wow, this is really nice! Thank you for this!
i have layers with medium length hair will this work still?
That was interesting … I wanna thank stumble upon for bringing me up here …
I love it! Thanks for sharing! I have to try this ASAP!
xx
Marianne Y
BellaMariella.com
Bloglovin
I was wondering if I do this at night without blow drying it, keep it in until morning will the waves be tighter and last longer?
I do this easy hair style all the time and works perfectly! Thanks. I’ve been thinking about dying my hair and I love your hair color…is it natural? And if not what color is it?! If you don’t mind me asking….
This would be great for the front part of my hair! My hair is naturally wavy similar to yours but the front sections always want to go flat and only the back looks pretty. I would love for it all to look the same so I can wear it all down! Thanks for the tips.
I did this for the first time this morning after my shower and getting ready for work. I did not have much time and I realized I would not be able to dry my hair completely. I actually thought why did I start this? I have just wasted my time. So I left for work with very damp hair. Guess what! By the time my hair air dried it looked perfect! I even got a compliment on my hair! I have thick wavy hair and this tamed it. I have also tried at least four other methods to get this effect and your is the best. Thank you!
I love this hair style! Its perf! Tomorrow when we are receiving our awards at MSU, I’m definatley going to try this out! Thank you:) Love your hair!
Does it work if you take a shower instead of using a spray bottle ? (:
This can work with clip in extensions too! I’m trying this.
Hey! I love this technique, it looks really easy which is perfect because I’m just starting out doing my hair! I’m a little confused on the drying part though! Do you let it dry completely, or is it still wet when you let it out? Thank you so much! ((:
nice style and easy way to blow hair..thanks for sharing
Hello! This seems like a great tip, but I’ve tried it and it didn’t work so well for me. I have semi-short hair and even though it’s thin, I have a lot of hair. When I tried this it became a huge poof and didn’t look good at all. Do you have any tips for correcting this?
it looks so cool will try!!
Thanks for this great tutorial, really stylish hairstyle looking awesome. Carry on, waiting more.