Everyday Heat-Free Waves + Current Hair Routine

Hello & happy Monday! I am excited to announce I will now be having a blog schedule (yay for organization). I will be posting every single Monday and occasionally on Fridays too! So check back every Monday for a new post.

So today’s post is definitely long overdue. Throughout my years blogging/on social media, this is been my #1 most requested post: a heat free hair tutorial + my daily hair routine. I have always enjoyed making the previous hair posts (like this one about growing long, healthy hair), so I decided it was finally time to share my little secret to heat-free waves. So without further ado, here is my hair routine + my heat-free method for loose waves.


T H E   P R O D U C T S

sponge rollers

These are my little secret weapons. I sleep with sponge rollers in my hair pretty much every single night. I’ve been sleeping with sponge rollers in my hair since I was about 2 or 3 years old. I personally do not find them uncomfortable, but that is most likely because I have been using them for about nineteen years now (except for those two years in middle school where I was addicted to the flat iron).

I naturally have course, wavy hair. However, my natural waves are messy, unpolished, and unruly (inserts the Miley Cyrus song ‘Can’t Be Tamed’). In middle school, I would spend an hour every single morning trying to straighten my hair, in failed attempts to tame it. When I decided to start the journey to healthy hair, I decided to use my sponge rollers again as a heat-free method to polished, effortless hair.

I love sponge rollers because they give the effect that I used a curling iron. I also love that they save me so much time in the morning. I can just take them out, and go (instead of spending an hour straightening/curling my hair). Sponge rollers take me under a minute to put in, and in the morning, I can just take them out in seconds. Most importantly, I love that they do not damage my hair. I have been bleaching my hair for years, which is incredibly damaging. Using sponge rollers keeps me from using excessive heat on my hair! Almost forgot to mention this final pro of sponge rollers- but they are also very affordable. The set I linked above are under $2.00. Sponge rollers are very budget friendly!

To some, sponge rollers may seem ridiculous or strange. My roomies over the years have probably been so perplexed at first by my strange sponge roller addiction, but to me, saving time in the mornings & preventing damaged hair makes them SO worth it. I love being able to wake up in the morning and get ready quickly- especially if I have work or class.

I hope that you can find my hair tutorial below informative & helpful!

Loreal everpure condition | Batsiste dry shampoo | OGX coconut milk serum | Moroccanoil Loreal shine spray

Here are a few of my favorite hair products. I have repurchased ALL of these products multiple times, and they are products that I plan to continue repurchasing for years to come. I am constantly testing out new products, but these are my top five that I always, always come back to. I find that they work very well for my hair type, and most of them are ultra affordable.


T H E    R O U T I N E

I wash my hair about 2-3 times a week. This is something that I think surprises some people, but my hair really doesn’t get greasy (neither does my mom’s hair). It’s important to try to avoid washing your hair every single day, as it does strip your hair of essential oils.

After washing my hair, I usually dry it gently with an old t-shirt (which is better on your hair than using a towel). I then brush through it, apply a heat protectant, and blow dry it using my favorite blowdryer. My blowdryer is pretty much the only heating tool I use, but to me, it’s an essential. I personally use a blowdryer because my hair takes HOURS to dry naturally + using a blowdryer really tames my hair and makes it straighter/sleeker.

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[ S T E P   O N E ]

I use my sponge rollers at night, and I put them in right before I go to bed (which I can actually do in the dark lol). I start by splitting my hair into two halves. I only use two little sponge rollers in my hair, but you can of course use more by splitting your hair into several more sections.

I only use sponge rollers on dry hair. If you use them on wet hair, you will get a much tighter curl (which I find gets awkward creases). If you use more sponge rollers in your hair, you will have more curls. Because I prefer loose, natural waves, I only use two. However, I sometimes use four for special occasions. As for size, I typically buy variety packs. For reference, the larger the sponge, the larger/loose the curl & the smaller the sponge, the smaller/tighter the curl. I usually opt for larger sponge rollers.

P.S. I decided to this tutorial without any makeup on at all. In addition to hundreds of hair tutorial requests, I have had so many requests over the years to do a no-makeup post. So here I am, looking 12! As much as I love makeup & adore finding new favorite products, I also love to not wear makeup. It’s really refreshing to go bare faced, so don’t ever feel like you ever need makeup to be beautiful or to conform to our society’s beauty standards. You are perfect without it (and with it too!). 


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[ S T E P   T W O ]

I start by putting the sponge roller on the first half of my hair. I wrap my hair around the sponge roller, away from my face (which is what I do too if I ever use a curling iron). Curling the hair away from your face will really add a beautiful, wind-blown, face-framing effect. I only use the sponge roller on the bottom 1/2 to 1/3 of my hair. However, feel free to use the sponge roller higher up on your hair. I personally put the sponge roller so far down because my goal is to achieve a nice wave at the tips of the hair. Because my hair is so long, it is definitely thinner at the bottom/tips. Having a curl/waves at the bottom really helps to create an illusion of volume and thickness.

Additionally, I find sleeping with the sponge rollers closer to the bottom is more comfortable than sleeping with them around the crown if you are concerned about comfort!


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[ S T E P   T H R E E ]

To finish things up, I do the last half of my hair. As you can see, I look so stylish! Now, it’s time to slumber so the sponge rollers can do their thang.

You could also leave sponge rollers in your hair during the day/evening if you have a special event at night. However, I find that my hair needs 4-5+ hours to really lock in the curl. So I would definitely recommend using the sponge rollers at night- on dry hair!


Here is a little close up of my hair + the sponge rollers. As you can see, the hair is wrapped away from my face. In the morning, I will take the sponge rollers out, spray a little dry shampoo at my roots for volume, and then add a tiny bit of hair oil throughout my hair (concentrated on the bottom half).


I hope that you enjoyed this post! If you try out my little tutorial, please let me know. I would love any feedback you may have. Also, if you have any additional questions, I’d love to help in any way that I can! I hope that you are having a wonderful Monday!

xoxo,

Mackenzie

5 thoughts on “Everyday Heat-Free Waves + Current Hair Routine

    1. Thanks for your feedback! Because I use sponge rollers daily, all my blog ootd posts pretty much show what the after effect is 🙂 thank you again!

  1. Loved this post.

    Have you purchased a show me your Mumu swimsuit yet? If not what size do you think you’d wear? We’re about the same size/height! Thanks

    1. Thank you Renae!

      I have never tried a Mumu swimsuit! However, I heard they run on the small side. I would probably order a size small just to be safe! 🙂

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