16 Ways to Air-Dry Your Hair (No Matter Your Hair Type)
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Getty Images1/17Ashley Olsen's Volumized Waves
Ashley's waves in this picture are lived-in without being frizzy, and they're 100 percent created by air-drying. Hairstylist Mark Townsend started by raking a palmful of hydrating mousse through her damp hair. To add lots of volume, Townsend says he put her hair in "a big, loose braid for nice, even waves." While it was drying, he twisted and clipped the braid into a bun a few inches below the crown to lift the hair up and give it more body.
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Getty Images2/17Mary-Kate Olsen's Low-Key Bends
Mary-Kate prefers less volume, so Townsend used the same kind of mousse on her hair in this photo, but then purposefully flattened out her roots by setting her hair in two loose braids. He shook them out after an hour for the easy, unfussy look.
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3/17Soft Spirals on Fuzzy Curls
Allure associate digital editor Devon Abelman recently cut off nearly a foot of curls. "Obviously, that changed my process," she says. Now, before bed, she washes with Hairstory New Wash, $40 (Shop Now) and then gently towel dries. "Then I rake a dime-sized amount of the Kristin Ess Hydrating Curl Defining Crème, $14 (Shop Now) from roots to tips, which gives my hair more moisture, control, and definition. If I want to add more definition, sometimes I give my hair a little scrunch, or twist-up one inch sections." That's it. The next morning? Soft and defined curls that stay that way for at least three days.
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Getty Images4/17Kate Moss's Gentle Curves
"She always has the best soft waves framing her face," says hairstylist Teddi Cranford. To get it, if you have straight or wavy hair, all you have to do is tuck your hair behind your ears as it dries and clip a metal hairpin above each ear to exaggerate the bend. "It's a trick we use backstage all the time," says Cranford.
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5/17Smooth Waves on Ultrathick Hair
Allure beauty director Jenny Bailly preps her very thick, straight hair when it's damp with Shu Uemura Art of Hair Wonder Worker Air Dry/Blow Dry Perfector, $33, (Shop Now) and then twists it up into four buns before bed (she pops in U-shaped pins to hold them in place without denting her hair). "If I did one bun, I'd get one weird, big bend," she says. "Four buns give me pretty waves around my face."
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Getty Images6/17Maria Sharapova's Beach Waves
"Setting damp hair in four braids gives you the beachiest waves," says hairstylist Adir Abergel (that's him styling Sharapova's hair). To get her look, mist damp hair with salt spray, divide it into four sections, and then loosely braid each one as it dries.
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7/17Soft Spirals on Thick, Coarse, Naturally Curly Hair
"Curly hair takes a lot of work," says Nicole Chapoteau, Allure's fashion director (that's her here), who has her weekly air-dry process down to a science. She soaks her hair in diluted apple cider vinegar to make it shiny before cleansing with Hair Rules Daily Cleansing Cream, $30) (Shop Now) and then deep-conditioning for 15 minutes with Miss Jessie's Rapid Recovery Treatment, $14 (Shop Now) or Miss Jessie's Super Sweetback Treatment, $14 (Shop Now) and a shower cap. Then before she even thinks about styling, she uses a lighter daily conditioner from roots to ends — Tresemme Botanique Nourish + Replenish Conditioner, $6 (Shop Now) — followed by a bentonite-clay mask for an hour. She finishes with Kinky-Curly Original Curling Custard Natural Styling Gel, $13 (Shop Now), "that holds the shape, and then I'll just let my hair air-dry," she says. "Nine hours later, the process is over."
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8/17Fine, Limp Strands to Soft Bends
"I shampoo and condition daily with Kevin Murphy Angel Wash + Rinse, $33 (Shop Now) — and that's it," says Allure's associate digital beauty editor Sarah Kinonen. Well, that's not exactly it. After her shower, Kinonen wraps her wet strands in a towel to sop up excess moisture. When it’s about 50 percent dry, she removes the towel and doesn't even think about touching or brushing: "It’s usually completely dry by the time I make it to the office, where it finds its new texture: slightly voluminous with a subtle wave from mid-strand to ends."
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Getty Images9/17Penelope Cruz's Polished Waves
"She gave me the best trick ever—she does two loose braids before bed, clips them up into twists, and wakes up with gorgeous waves," says Townsend. That's because twisting braids makes the waves smoother and prevents hair from puffing up as it dries.
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Getty Images10/17Beachy Waves on Thick Hair
For thick, beachy waves, braid hair and just let it dry. Wait until your hair is damp to start braiding (that way, it'll dry faster) then mist with Paul Mitchell Awapuhi Wild Ginger Texturizing Sea Spray, $20 (Shop Now) to let the product do its thing while the braids dry and your waves come to life.
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11/17Defined Curls on Fine, Curly Hair
To shape her fine, naturally curly hair without weighing it down, Allure's beauty editor, Lexi Novak, scrunches Carol's Daughter Marula Curl Therapy Diffusing & Styling Lotion, $20 (Shop Now) into her wet hair. "I don't touch them again until they're dry, to avoid frizz," she says. When her hair is dry, she flips it over and mists Sachajuan Volumizing Powder Spray, $35 (Shop Now) on the roots to give it all a bit of volume.
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Gregg DeGuire/Wireimage12/17Elizabeth Olsen's Ropy Waves
To give her roots some volume, Townsend sprays them with a root lifting spray, and then quickly blow-dries them. "You can't use a volumizing spray in damp hair and think it'll do the work itself — you need some heat," he says. Then he pins her hair up in little twists. "Think Gwen Stefani in the '90s," he says. "Twist each section back and away from the face and leave it for about 20 minutes."
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Getty Images13/17Anne Vyalitsyna's Barely-There Waves
"She has amazing hair, so I wait until after it's air-dried naturally to layer in products that enhance the movement that's already happening," says hairstylist Bryce Scarlett. He uses a styling cream on the ends and a silicone-based smoothing serum on the length of dry hair. His fave is Wella Professional Velvet Amplifier, $7 (Shop Now). "It creates a nice separation and bumps up the shine," he says.
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14/17Thick and Poufy to Soft and Wavy
"I don’t love how dirty silicone-y styling products feel in my hair, so I try to just hydrate the heck out of it," says Allure's contributing special projects director Patricia Tortolani. Right now she's using Smooth Sexy Hair Smooth Extender Mask, $8, which she detangles with a wide tooth comb before rinsing clean. "After I get out of the shower and blot dry, I spritz in a detangler like It’s a 10 Miracle Leave-In, $19 (Shop Now), combing one more time from the mid-shaft down to avoid flattening my roots." And that's the last of any brushing. If it’s day time, Tortolani leaves her hair down to dry the rest of the way, flipping it back and forth a few times to get some lift at the roots. If it’s night, she piles it on top of her head in a super-loose bun secured with two mini jaw clips. And that's it. "Once dry I’ll spread a drop of Argan oil through the ends and use a flatiron to help define some of the waves," she adds.
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Getty Images15/17Nicola Peltz's S-Shaped Waves
"She had been letting her hair air-dry naturally before I got there—it was already perfect, so I just took a huge amount of Dove Style+Care Nourishing Curls Whipped Cream Mousse, $4 (Shop Now), and raked it through her damp-ish hair," says Townsend, who did the actress's hair here. "My assistant looked at me like I was crazy for using mousse on dry hair, but it's lighter and less obvious than gel." He divided her hair into four big sections and created bends by clipping each section up in a zigzag pattern using flat clips. "Plastic ones won't dent the hair," says Townsend, who let her hair set for 45 minutes before shaking it out.
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16/17Kinky Curls to Smooth and Polished
"Ah, I have so many steps," says Allure's associate social media manager Lara Adekola. If she's starting with a lot of product build-up on her hair, she reaches first for Ouidad SuperFruit Renewal Clarifying Cream Shampoo, $26 (Shop Now). Otherwise, she likes Vernon Francois Co~Wash Shampoo, $30 (Shop Now), before conditioning with Shea Moisture Superfruit Complex 10-in-1 Renewal System Hair Masque Super Fruit, $13 (Shop Now). The final step might be the most important: She coats her strands with a mix of Jane Carter Solution Nourish & Shine, $17 (Shop Now) and castor oil before sectioning off her hair and twisting up one- or two- inch sections, allowing them to air-dry. The final result? "My hair is stretched and smooth so the curls don't tangle and mat-up," she says. "The key with kinky hair is keeping it moisturized since it's on the drier side. I love castor oil because it seals in the moisture."
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