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Reagan Baker is a hair genius. Today, she’s sharing her proven method for air drying your hair, with lots of volume and zero frizz. The best part? It all boils down to one easy trick…
First, shampoo and condition your hair as you normally would, then brush through the conditioner in the shower. Next, rinse your hair to get all the conditioner out, and gently squeeze out the water.
When you’re out of the shower, gently blot with a towel to remove any excess water. “The best way to do this is by cupping your hair with the towel,” Reagan explains. “Make sure not to shake it back and forth.” Then, add product based on your type of hair (see below) and scrunch up your hair with the towel.
Finally — and this next part is very important — never touch it again, until it’s completely dry. According to Reagan, not touching it AT ALL is the big secret to getting hair to air dry nicely. “Once it’s completely dry, then you can tousle it,” she says. “You can also put in some product to touch it up, if you’d like — at that point, you’re just spot treating.”
Here are Reagan’s tips for each hair type:
Shoko
Hair type: fine, silky, straight
“For fine, silky hair, you want to add texture,” Reagan explains. To do this, she loves Grandiose mousse by Oribe. For Shoko, she applied just a gumball size amount in the roots, for volume. Next, she sprayed Ocean Mist by Sachajuan at the ends, for texture. Finally, she scrunched her hair, using her hands instead of a towel, and let it dry — without touching it, of course. What a difference that makes! “For people who have super straight hair, try tucking it behind your ears while it’s drying, and it will give you a little kick there.”
Reagan
Hair type: fine, dry, wavy/curly
“My hair is fine and curls naturally, so I need to encourage some curl in the roots so it doesn’t fall flat,” Reagan says. To do this, she sprayed some Ocean Mist by Sachajuan directly in the roots, to add volume. Because her ends are dry, she sprayed some leave-in conditioner at the ends, for added moisture.
Claire
Hair type: coarse, thick, curly
First, Reagan sprayed in Curl Revive by Iles, which is good for wavy and curly hair. “It’s a cream-based product, but there’s a little hold in it, so it will prevent frizz without being too heavy or crunchy,” she says. Next, she scrunched her hair using the towel and left it to dry.
One final note: “There’s a period while it’s drying where it looks like it’s really frizzy,” Reagan says. “But it’s still wet! If you wait until it’s fully dry to touch, all that frizz should go away.” If you avoid aggravating your hair in any way and are gentle with it throughout, she promises it will work. “It’s going to bring out so much more texture than you thought you had. Just try it!”
What do you think? Do you let your hair air dry? Do you have any other tricks for air drying you’ve discovered over the years?
P.S. More hair tutorials, including a fishtail pony and how to blow dry your hair like a hairstylist.
(Photos by Christine Han for Cup of Jo. Makeup by Ashlee Glazer.)
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