While ultra-polished, glossy blow-dries are gaining popularity on one side of the beauty spectrum, on the other, a new trend embraces the messy, casual, individual texture of Nirvana waves. Coined by Samantha Cusick, UK ambassador at GHD, this term describes the cool-girl waves that have overtaken more uniform beachy waves this summer.
What are Nirvana waves? According to Cusick, Nirvana waves are all about “undone textures that mimic the ‘no-makeup makeup’ look but for hair.” They should look as though they came about naturally—like a slept-on texture with a mix of tight and loose waves, curls, and coils. “The style is nothing but relaxed, super cool, and slightly dishevelled. It’s about embracing and enhancing natural textures with cool-girl kinks and barely there waves,” Cusick explains.
The name references the more casual (and natural) waves we’d see on rockers like Curt Cobain, and on music fans moshing in the crowd—and it has a little grunginess to it, thanks to its rejection of overly polished shapes.
Why are they trending? We’ve seen more and more people embrace their natural texture, or move between “done” and “undone” looks; Nirvana waves lean heavily into unfussy, natural styles. “The 2024 trends differ from previous years’ by focusing more on natural, effortless looks with a polished finish,” says Cusick. “While past trends leaned toward more-structured and defined styles, this year is all about embracing your hair’s natural texture with a refined touch.”
How to wear Nirvana waves? To keep it feeling casual, the style tends to be worn with flatter roots and a messier, nonuniform wave, which can be achieved by letting natural hair air-dry and develop its own individual mix of texture, or by sleeping in braids. To style it that way, include a mix of waves by alternating how you tong or clamp your waves with a mix of S waves, flat waves, forward waves, and backward waves. Once you’ve achieved the mix, there’s loads of versatility within the trend. We’ve seen it worn side-flipped, two-tone, wet-look, a little sleek, or ultra undone.
Here are some of our favorite ways to wear it:
* Platinum Nirvana waves
* Two-tone Nirvana waves
* Sleek Nirvana waves
* Cherry cola waves
* Layered waves
* Wet-look waves
* Tossed waves
* Golden waves
* Wet side-flipped waves
* Old-glamour waves
* Soft-mussed Nirvana waves
* Stretched Nirvana waves
* Crimped waves
Originally published on Glamour.com
