How To Get Beach Waves On Short Hair: The 7 Easiest YouTube Tutorials To Copy

Lol beach waves—remember beaches? Remember beach-y hair? Remember the world not being on fire in a thousand different ways?! Yeah, 2020 has been wild. But even though you may not be heading back to the beach anytime soon (or, you know, even live near a beach), it doesn’t mean you can’t copy the same wavy hairstyle at home, even if you have incredibly short hair, and even shorter patience/sanity.

Because although beach waves may seem reserved only for Anne Curtis, Heart Evangelista, and that annoyingly perfect friend on your Instagram (does she even know the meaning of bad-hair days?!), they’re actually pretty easy to create on every hair texture and type, regardless of length.

So whether you want to learn how to do beach waves on your short hair because you’re bored, or you have a Zoom date tonight, or because you just need a distraction, I’ve gotchu covered with the best tutorials and products, below.

1. How to get beach waves with a hair waver

   You've probably seen hair wavers (or deep wavers) floating around your social feeds recently—they're those giant, double-pronged, weapon-looking irons that clamp down on a section of hair and leave it wavy, like a modern-day crimper. Here, vlogger Jillian Lansky gets beachy waves on her short hair by first flat-ironing her hair (the waves will look more polished when you're working with straight hair), then clamping section by section, holding the iron horizontally on the lower sections and vertically on the top sections.

   If it's your first time using a hair waver, just be warned: The wider the iron, the more tricky it'll be to navigate around your short hair (as you can see in the tutorial). But, you'll also only need to clamp down on each section once with a large iron, rather than multiple times with a small iron, making the whole process a bit faster.

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2. How to do beach waves with a flat iron

   Vlogger Sadora Paris not only has natural, tightly coiled hair but also a magical skill that allows her to create insanely gorgeous beach waves using only a straightener. After fully flat-ironing her short hair, she works section by section, rolling her flat iron forward and backward down her hair to create a crimped-like wave. It sounds confusing, but trust: It’s surprisingly easy. Mist your hair with a texturizing spray for added volume to finish.

3. How to do beach waves with a curling iron

   Vlogger Chloe Brown has a choppy little bob haircut, so for anyone who says they can’t do beach waves on short hair, may I direct you to this curling iron tutorial? The curls in this video may look a little sausage-y at first, but that’s actually the key: Tight, long curls (blasted with some sea salt spray or texturizing spray, first, to give you a bunch of grip and hold) leave you with hella voluminous beach waves once you rake through them with your fingers at the end.

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4. How to do beach waves with a wand

   Okay, so technically, these waves look more ~romantic~ than they do just-stepped-off-the-beach messy, but, hey, not everyone wants to look like an episode of Love Island. This tutorial is crazy easy—just curl your hair with a one-inch wand and rake through it with your fingers for soft waves. If your short hair can’t hold a curl to save its life, spritz your damp hair with a sea salt spray before drying it, then blast your roots and ends with a texturizing spray before and after curling it.

5. How to do heatless beach waves

   This is pretty much the same hairstyle you accidentally created as a kid after a day on the beach, but now, it’s a short-hair lewk. This vlogger has naturally curly hair—which means a ton of built-in texture already—but if you don’t, try coating your damp hair with an even layer of sea salt spray before making your French braids to help keep your waves from falling. Sleep on the braids, gently unravel them in the morning, give them another spritz of salt spray to curb frizz, and boom: overnight beach waves with absolutely no heat.

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6. How to do beach waves with a flat iron + curling iron

   The biggest issue short-hair struggle? Trying to wrap your short layers around a curling iron without them slipping off the barrel. But vlogger Brianna Fox has a trick: After blasting the section with texturizing spray, clamp each section at the middle, rather than at the ends, to get an even curl. Her second trick? Flat-iron just the ends of your waves to get a natural, bedhead-y finish.

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This article originally appeared on Cosmopolitan.com. Minor edits have been made by the Cosmo.ph editors.