From the French girl to the Aussie beach babe: tousled waves are the Summer hair trend that never dies. Despite being the ultimate ‘I woke up like this’ hair do, the seemingly undone look of loose textured waves can feel near impossible to achieve naturally.

So how do you get your hair to look like you’ve just come from a dip in the ocean without having to dunk your head in salt water every day? Here’s how…

1. Let your hair air dry – no matter how wild your natural hair is, it’s always a lot easier to create texture that holds in hair that has been air dried than after a fresh blow dry. If you’re time poor, roughly dry it until it’s about 80% dry then twist your hair into ringlets allowing it to air dry the rest of the way. When it’s completely dry, you can tousle and treat the twists into loose and waves.

2. Be creative with your styling tools – finding odd ways to use heat styling tools can help you nail that perfectly undone look. I love twirling my hair into tubes and going over it with a hair straightener before loosely running my fingers through it when it’s cool. Curling wands are also a must. Quick loose wraps will help to keep your hair wavy rather than curly and you should also experiment with the direction and thickness of each curl.

3. Mix and match your styling products – your roots will need different treatment to your ends and you’ll also probably find a mix of powder and liquid products work together to create success. Look for fine textured powders that add volume to your hair and sea salt sprays that give you texture without crunch. Together you get long-lasting texture that doesn’t look forced.

4. Don’t be afraid to comb your hair – you’ll probably want to steer clear of a full-blown hair brush however using a wide toothed comb after heat styling and applying your products helps to make your hair perfectly messy. It always works well to use a light hold hair spray then gently comb through sections to help your hair relax a little.

Featured image credit:

Photo: Thom Kerr

Make Up: Bonnie G Oz Beauty Expert

Hair: Iggy Rosales

Styling: Marnie Skillings