When I was a kid, I had a Cabbage Patch doll with hair that was thin wire coated in yarn, so no matter how you bent or shaped the doll’s hair, it stayed put in that shape. Curl it around a plastic “curling iron” and it stayed, twist it up into a knot and it stayed. It was fantastically entertaining. As an adult, I may have found a product that has the same effect on real hair.
Glamour shot or trying to conceal a blemish on the left side of my face? You’ll never know…
At my last cut, my stylist used L’Oreal Kerastase Spray A Porter on my damp hair before blow-drying. He explained that although you can use this product without heat styling to get beachy waves, it also works to make hair take better to curls and waves if you use it with heat. I’ve tried styling my hair multiple times both with and without the spray, keeping everything else in my hair styling routine the same, and there’s no doubt about it, this product works.
Spray liberally (5-10 sprays) on hair right before blow drying. Incidentally, this stuff smells awesome, just really fresh and delicious. Blow dry as normal, though for extra benefit, use a round brush (in the photo above, I’ve used only a round brush to get this look). If you leave your hair curled around the round brush and take the hair dryer away, or blow cool air on it, the curl/wave will set much better. After hair is dry, style with a curling iron or wand, or put into hot or velcro rollers. You’ll find the curl stays for much longer. A different look I’ve been experimenting with that I found on accident is dividing my hair into two or three sections after blow drying, and twisting each section into a tight bun and pinning with one bobby pin. Obviously you’ll want to do this one only if you can stay at home…it’s kind of an odd look. No, I don’t have any photos of myself with the multi-buns, but Cheri Oteri gives you the general idea (though hers stick out and mine lay flat on my head):
It’s the price we pay for beauty.
After an hour or two, release pins and you’ll have really beautiful, imperfect waves. Spray lightly with firm hold hairspray and you should get a lot of wear out of your ‘do. In fact the style below lasted all afternoon and evening, which is usually pretty near impossible for me unless I get my hair professionally styled:
I don’t know, Cheri Oteri’s look might be better.
As mentioned earlier, you can also use on damp hair and let air dry for beachy waves. The benefit of this product is that unlike other sprays for beach hair it doesn’t contain salt, so you won’t dry out your locks. As far as price goes, it’s not cheap. It goes for between $30-35 depending on where you purchase, for a 5.1 oz bottle. I’ve justified the price by using it only when I know that I’m going to actually curl my hair and want a long hold (I also wash my hair every other day, so that cuts down on use). So by using it only 1-2 times a week, I’ve managed to make the bottle last for quite a while and I still have a lot of product left.
Bottom Line: A wet-hair spray that delivers on its promise to create a better hold for curly and wavey styles, and which also extends the life of such styles. At $30/bottle, it’s a splurge but you get what you pay for.
