The Best Air Drying Tips for Your Hair

It sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Just letting your hair dry itself should be no nonsense and hassle free, right? Unfortunately taking that approach seems to just result in frizzy, lifeless hair that somehow takes all day to approach dry. In the meantime your head is cold and damp.

I love to air dry my hair, and I’ve found a lot of ways to make it dry faster as well as look a lot better afterwards.

Condition Your Hair Deeply

When my hair is dry, air drying is one of the worst things I can do to have a good hair day. It’s just asking for frizz. So I have to be extra on top of my game with hydrating hair treatments and masks. I love Darshana Hair Oil (more in my Darshana review) and Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Moist Conditioning Treatment for a quick deep conditioning treatment in the shower.

Remove Extra Water

Since air drying can take hours it only makes sense to help the process along a bit, right? It’s tempting to just grab the nearest towel and rub your hair with it. But you do not want to do that! It will rough up the cuticle on your hair, making your hair less shiny and more prone to both frizz and tangles.

You should use a t-shirt or microfiber towel and gently squeeze your hair to remove excess water.

Use the Right Products

One of the most common mistakes when air drying your hair is skipping products. You still need those. You will want a bit of hold for whatever style you have, you’ll want to smooth the cuticle to add shine and prevent frizz, all of those things.

Unfortunately not all products are a great choice when it comes to air drying. I’ve found that lightweight styling products such as a looser mousse or a cream work better than dense mousse or a sticky gel. There are also products made specifically for air drying your hair, and some of them will actually speed the drying process.

I have an entire post about which products are my favorite for air drying your hair.

Detangle Wet Hair

Now that you’ve put product in your hair, you can evenly distribute it throughout your hair at the same time you are detangling it. Use a wide tooth comb and work carefully through any tangles.

Add Curl or Wave

Just because you’re air drying your hair doesn’t mean it shouldn’t have style. If you want to add some curl or wave to your hair I recommend loosely braiding your hair or using no heat rollers such as The Sleep Styler (see my Sleep Styler review here).

Touch Up when Dry

Once your hair is finally dry, it’s tempting to just leave your hair as it is. But you still need to a few things to your hair to style it! I will add a little smoothing serum, pull back part of my hair or even add a few curls to my hair with a curling wand.

I’m sharing some of my favorite products for air drying your hair!

Affiliate Links