How To Get Easy, Cool-Girl Texture — On Every Hair Type

PHOTO: ALEXANDER TAMARGO/GETTY IMAGES.

Despite our growing desire to embrace polished hair and modern updos, there are days when slept-on texture just feels best. Why? It just looks cooler — and it’s far easier to execute.

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Hairstylist John Ruggiero knows a thing or two about creating undone texture — his editorial work includes everything from Vogue covers to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition and he preps Chrissy Teigen, Gigi Hadid, and Chloë Sevigny on the regular. We also consulted Lacy Redway, the hairstylist behind the enviably undone styles of Jourdan Dunn, Lupita Nyong'o, and Olivia Palermo.

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Ahead, all the products and guidance you need to finesse your own bedhead, or create it on clean hair, from these two leading hairstylists.

Fine Hair

When working on fine hair that’s been air or blow-dried, Ruggiero suggests starting with a dry shampoo, like Klorane’s with nettle. “I’ve never found a formula that works quite as well as this,” he told us, noting that most dry shampoos today add too many bells and whistles. The light formula is easily layered, provides texture, and soaks up oil. Brush your hair with a boar bristle/nylon brush from roots to ends, lightly mist the product into the roots and mid-lengths of your hair, then flip your head over and repeat on the bottom layers. Once you’re done, shake out any excess with your fingers.

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Prefer to start on wet hair? Redway suggests misting Tigi Bed Head Queen For A Day spray throughout your hair and rough drying with a blowdryer. “For maximum volume, blowdry your hair with your head facing down to really lift the roots of your hair,” she says. Once dry, finger comb your strands into place.

TIGI Bed Head Superstar Queen For A Day, $19.99, available at Ulta.

Fine To Medium Hair
It may sound unusual, but Redway swears by this trick for medium-weight locks. “Spray a little dry shampoo on freshly washed [and dried] hair to give it a more lived-in appearance,” she says. She recommends Dove’s formula.

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Ruggiero uses a one-two punch: Spray your favorite salt spray through wet or damp hair — try Ouai Wave Spray — then finish with a styling cream. “Blowdry it in, then go over it with a little grooming cream,” he says, which counteracts the drying effects of the beach spray. “Evenly distribute a little cream in your hands then work it into the hair starting from the bottom up and avoiding the roots.” He likes Bumble and Bumble’s formula.

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Dove Hair Therapy Refresh + Care Invigorating Dry Shampoo, $6.21, available at Walmart.

Very Wavy To Curly Hair

You have two options for very wavy and curly hair. To volumize and define already dry coils, heed Redway’s advice and pick up a salt spray. (She recommends Tresemme’s formula.) “Spray a little on the mid-shaft and ends of your hair [and] use your fingers to rough up the texture and work in the product,” she says.

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If you prefer to stretch out your curls, start with wet hair and Bumble and Bumble’s Invisible Oil Primer. “Mist hair and blowdry on low to loosen the curls as you dry,” Ruggiero says.

Bumble and bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Primer, $28, available at Sephora.

Medium to Thick Hair

Both pros swear by hot tools for achieving that messy, bedhead look on thick hair — but stressed that you must first hydrate the hair to ensure the results are soft. “The focus for thick hair is moisture, moisture, moisture,” Ruggiero told us. He suggests working a bit of Moroccan Oil, leave-in conditioner, or styling cream through dry hair, then adding random bends with a curling iron.

Redway suggests the same strategy, but prefers a flat iron. “The key to that perfectly undone, cool-girl hair is to keep the proper proportion of volume in the hair,” she says. “You don’t want your hair to appear too thick, but you also don’t want flat hair. A flat iron helps me smooth out the cuticle in the hair, which minimizes volume, but it also helps me to add texture,” she says.

Tip: Watch this video for an easy technique.

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Textured Hair
When creating off-duty bends on her clients with textured hair, Redway opts for a curling iron.

Prep hair with your favorite heat protectant if you’re planning to start with dry locks. “[I] use a curling iron, like Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium curling iron to create texture,” she says. The trick? “Alternate the direction of the curls to make it less uniformed,” Redway says. And avoid curling the ends of hair (simply smooth them out if needed) which will give it a more casual feeling.

Starting with wet hair? Redway suggests prepping tresses with a dollop of Sachajuan’s Medium Hold Mousse before blowdrying. Scrunch it into damp hair, then “use a blowdryer without a diffuser to rough up the texture, making it appear more lived in,” Redways says. This technique will also work with a diffuser, if you prefer, however she notes that “using a diffuser will help define your curls, but will look [less] ‘lived-in.’”

Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium 1" Curling Iron, $37.99, available at Macys.

By: Lexy Lesback