How to Make Waves With Blonde Beachy Hair

Let’s kick off with color. Before you style your client’s waves to perfection, create beach blonde hair with a combination of lightening techniques. Here are three we love…

1. Balayage Plus Foilyage

By combining traditional, open-air balayage with freehand highlights in foils (AKA foilyage), you get a multi-dimensional, beachy blonde with spotlights of lighter, brighter color. Try the technique with Blondor Freelights, which features an adhesive mass to ensure the hair lightener stays right where you want it. No smudging or bleeding; just precise, painterly ribbons of blonde.

2. Babylights

Let’s layer in another technique. By fusing foilyage with babylights, you get micro-fine, freehand highlights with a higher lift for a surfer-girl effect. Contrasting against the chunkier balayage, those skinny, brighter pieces look sun-kissed no matter how they’re styled: in curls, in waves or super-straight and smooth.

3. Twilighting

Brunettes can do blonde beachy hair, too. The trick is to try a little twilighting, which sees golden, glistening hues swathed through a dark base to create a moonlit effect. Use the techniques above – balayage, foilyage and babylights – to lift sections of hair, then tone highlights with a warm color, such as permanent Koleston Perfect 8/03 or demi-permanent Color Touch 9/73.

Once you’ve lightened and toned your client’s hair to create a beachy blonde, it’s time to rinse, blow-dry and style those Cali-cool waves. All hair types are different, so your step-by-step will vary from one client to the next. However, these tips and tricks are must-follows for every tousled look.

1. Use an Uplifting Shampoo

If your client is blessed with wavy locks, lather up using the Nutricurls Shampoo For Wavy Hair. It’s lightweight and sulphate-free, helping to define their natural curves. For born-with-it curls, keep coils intact using the Nutricurls Micellar Shampoo For Curls, which combines delicate washing with anti-frizz ingredients to enhance existing texture. Meanwhile, give straight hair a pick-me-up with INVIGO Volume Boost Bodifying Shampoo; a lift-enhancing cleanser that creates the perfect canvas for tousled styles.

2. Opt For Lightweight Conditioners

You want your client’s hair to look lifted, tousled and voluminous. However, if their ends have been lightened, their strands will also need a dose of care. So, how do you nourish colored locks without weighing down would-be waves? The secret is in a lightweight conditioner that helps to nurture lengths. Our go-to is the INVIGO Volume Boost Crystal Mask or, for wavy or curly hair, the Nutricurls Detangling Conditioner For Waves & Curls. Smooth through with a wide-toothed comb, then rinse thoroughly.

3. Mix and Match Styling Essentials

Don’t be afraid to cocktail your stylers. Once your client’s just-washed hair has been towel-dried, layer in volumizing products, starting with the lightest formulas first. Work EIMI Root Shoot into the root area, mist and scrunch Ocean Spritz through the mid-lengths and ends, then massage a pump of Perfect Me over the top. You’ll have volume, texture and smoothness in one look.

4. Dry, Curl and Loosen

Blow-dry your client’s locks using a paddle brush and the Ghd Helios Hairdryer. Lift the roots as you go to boost volume, pointing the dryer nozzle downwards to smooth the cuticle. Then, when hair is 100% dry, wrap sections of hair around the Ghd Classic Curling Iron. Start around two inches down from the root, and leave an inch free at the ends for an undone feel. Once you’ve created ringlets through every section of hair, use fingertips to loosen, ruffle and tousle from root to tip.