Summer is officially here and mermaid hair (AKA beach waves) is set to reign supreme this season, alongside soft glam makeup. But unfortunately, those Insta-worthy waves aren’t actually a result of the ocean water. Perfectly tousled tresses require a bit of time and TLC.
And thankfully, we’ve found the perfect hair hacks to cheat your way to effortlessly styled beach waves. From wave wands to curly hair essentials, here are four easy ways to create beachy locks that will rival even JLo’s picture-perfect mane.
How to create easy beach waves
With a wave wand
A wave wand, for beach waves? Groundbreaking. But seriously, if we could choose one heat tool for summer, a wave wand would be our pick. It’s the ultimate time-saving tool and delivers delightfully disheveled bends in minutes. Mermaid hair, here we come.
Mermade Hair PRO Waver 32mm, $89 at Adore Beauty
With a curler
For the perfect undone finish, a wide-barrel curling iron is the way to go. Our go-to? The Remington 3 in 1 Multistyler Curl & Wave wand. It comes with three different barrels so you can tailor your waves to suit your mood, and features ionic technology to help protect hair health. And don’t forget to prep with a good heat spray to protect your strands as you style.
Remington 3 in 1 Multistyler Curl & Wave, $49 at The Good Guys
Overnight beach waves
Want to create beachy mermaid waves without the potential heat damage? A heatless curler is set to become your beauty BFF – at least for the summer.
All it takes is a heatless curl roller (or you can use a bathrobe belt), a couple of scrunchies and a restful night’s sleep to create perfectly sculpted beach waves. This method takes ‘I woke up like this’ vibes to a whole new level.
Heatless Hair Roller, $4.50 at Kmart
Salt spray beach waves
The other secret weapon for beach waves? Your summer styling product kit. And our most reached for summer hair product is without a doubt a good sea salt spray. Salt sprays are your shortcut to undone and tousled tresses, minus the sand and dry-straw feeling that can often occur from the real thing.
All you need is a quick spritz onto damp hair, then scrunch or twist your strands and watch the mermaid waves fall into place as they dry. If you’ve previously experienced too much ‘crunch’ from the product, we urge you to try again, because the sea salt sprays on the market now are pretty magical. You can also use a salt spray to hold heat-curled waves in place and add an extra beachy finish.
Here are our favourite sea salt sprays for natural, soft waves.
Justice Professional Sea Salt Spray
For finer and flatter hair types, the JUSTICE Professional Sea Salt Spray will boost volume and increase hair thickness by adding natural movement from the roots down. If your hair tends to go frizzy from the sea, this spray is formulated with resins and polymers to create body and texture, minus the frizz.
Read more JUSTICE Professional Sea Salt Spray reviews.
$19.95 at JUSTICE Professional
KMS Hairplay Sea Salt Spray
If your hair struggles to hold a wave, the KMS sea salt spray will keep that ‘just out of the ocean’ look lasting all day. Thanks to the innovative formula using a PVP setting polymer, this spray will provide support and maintain hold within the hair.
Read more KMS Hairplay Sea Salt Spray reviews.
$24.95 at Oz Hair & Beauty
John Frieda Beach Blonde Ocean Waves Sea-Salt Spray
Zhoosh your ‘do and create carefree tousled waves from root to tip with this lightweight spray. A few spritzes onto wet or dry hair will help to transform flat, lifeless hair into fuller, bouncier locks.
Read more John Frieda Beach Blonde Ocean Waves Sea-Salt Spray reviews.
$18 at Woolworths
Schwarzkopf Extra Care Keratin Sea Salt Spray
Think vacation hair that will cost you way less than an airfare. Formulated with keratin for added shine and nourishment, this spray is perfect for all hair types and will create instant natural movement without the stiff, crunchy feel.
Have you tried this product? Leave your Schwarzkopf Extra Care Keratin Sea Salt Spray review.
$10.25 at Chemist Warehouse
muk haircare Beach muk Sea Salt Spray
Perfect for naturally straight hair, this spray separates and defines individual curls while adding natural body and texture from the root to tip. The oil-free formula is finished with a refreshing cantaloupe smell for the full tropical experience.
Read more Beach muk Sea Salt Spray reviews.
$25.95 at Oz Hair & Beauty
Main image credit: @beyonce
Have you used a sea salt spray before? How was the result?
It’s good that we can get the look of this without the salty crispy feel. I wonder which of these products does that best?
Not a huge fan of the look that I wore when younger. My hair is too short anyway ATM.
I can’t use them either. Will just have to put up with my naturally dead straight hair instead.
I’ve never used a sea salt spray before but I have a feeling it wouldn’t work for my curly/wavy hair
I really like the look of wavy hair. I’ve never used a sea salt spray, I always imagined they would be very drying.
I love the look of beachy waves
I scrunch my hair up after washing and then I use a volume spray and it looks pretty good, as I have a wave in my hair
Lucky lady
Quite like the effect of salt spray
Wow these products look amazing
Not too cold to swim in QLD ….just saying 😀
Ha Ha love it !! Who needs products when you can get the real deal
Lovely products, I look forward to giving them a try.
I love the look of sea salt sprays, but they contain salt (obviously), so I was worried that they’d be damaging to my hair. I’m going to have to try a new brand.
I’ve never been able to make sea salt sprays work for me.
No and I don’t like the feel in my hair -I am a clean shiny hair person
I’ve been making my own and it works great, but it’s pretty drying. I will probably have to try one fo the commercial ones. Particularly tempted by the ELEVEN as I really like their products.
I’m lazy when it comes to my hair, it’s wash n wear, that’s it
Just not into beachy waves my hair does it naturally most of the time I straighten them out. Not sure that it would work for me. Having silvery grey hair?
One good thing about sea salt spray is that it also helps you if you want to increase the number of days between hair washing 🙂
Still have John frieda one, smells divine! But prob with using sea salt sprays on my hair type, hair gets all stuck together and hard to brush afterwards.
I don’t think my Asian hair will ever have beach hair
I’ve never tried these, my hair is naturally curly!
I haven’t tried any of these but I know somewhere in my stash I do have a sea salt spray. I really wasted lock down, I should have been trying out all my stash.
I tried John Freda sea salt spray.
I’ve tried that one too years ago, but more recently I’ve been using the Justice one and I love it – it’s great to use as a pre-styling lotion too. Haven’t tried the others
Never tried a salt spray before… Sounds interesting…
I used to have such perfect natural beach curls, but I straightened them out so I will have to try one of these to get them back. Thank you Beauty heaven!
I tried , it made my hair so sticky and tacky, it looked ghastly, i wish i knew how to use them properly
Thats what happened to my hair too -Yukky
Sounds too drying to me
I already have dry hair so I think i would still give it a try though. Thank you
I have used a sea salt spray before and it does give you beachy waves but the one I used made my hair sticky/heavy.
I’ve tried it in the past, but didn’t quite get the look i wanted,
No it doesn’t suit me at alkl
Some products that I am sure will help my hair Must look out for them
I’ve heard of these..
I’ve tried Bumble and Bumble a few years back but it didn’t work, I will look into it again though.
I was recently gifted a sea salt spray product but I haven’t tried it yet. My hair is already very dry and I’m concerned that it might make it straw-like.
Hope it works well for those who try. Not for me though.
Love my sea salt spray from Schwarzkopf, but definitely need to check out some other brands!
It’s hard to find a salt spray that doesn’t make my hair crunchy, will have to check these out!
I hate that crunchy feeling
i might try this!
I just bought the VS Sassoon wand in the rewards room. Can’t wait for it to arrive.
What a great buy, cant’ wait to hear what you think of it
I do like her look.
My hair is already naturally curly and wavy so I don’t have to do much
lucky lady
I love the beachy hair look
Forget the salt spray I’m shook at the results of the Heatless Hair Roller, $4.50 at Kmart.
I’ve never used sea salt spray before.
my hair is too thick and does not suit this product
It’s a nice look for summer. The wave wand looks fun to use.
sea spray is not good on my hair
With a wave wand. This almost looks like something you can give to someone who has everything??
The Justice Professional Sea Salt Spray at $19.95 sounds just the kind of spray my daughter needs. Her curly hair is hates any moisture.
Crunchy. And hard to brush.
Us fine haired gals can only dream of this
It’s not a look that would suit me but I do like beachy waves on others.