Honest Brand Reviews

10 Best Wavy Hair Products

Written By Nea Pantry on January 29, 2022

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Finding the Best Wavy Hair Products

Wavy hair is one of the most coveted hair types. It looks relaxed, effortless, and has this undeniably sexy, beachy vibe that’s so Bridgette Bardot circa her 007 days. At least, that’s what perfectly styled wavy hair is like. 

Sometimes, the reality for those who actually have this unruly hair type is often frizzier than we care to admit. Depending on how we sleep on it, dry it, or our geographical location in the world, wavy hair can be a major bummer, hovering between poofy and curly, and more often than not, looking like a mess. 

Of course, there are those glorious days when the planets align, we’re at peak hydration, and there’s not a drop of moisture in the air to be found where we can’t stop looking in the mirror. The truth is, wavy hair can be finicky, and adopting the right routine for our specific hair type is critical to attaining goddess-like locks daily. 

If you’re wondering how in the world you’ll ever find your perfect hair care routine — we totally get it. That’s why we’ve put together this Best Wavy Hair Products list. We’ve combed through the mass of sprays, clays, and shampoos out there, selecting the cream of the crop to take the fuss out of overwhelm when it comes to your hair. 

10 Best Wavy Hair Products

No matter how you wear your hair or what kind of curl pattern you possess, this list is packed with some of the kindest, most effective, and delightfully-scented products out there to help lifeless, frizzy, and unruly strands tap into their full, smooth, and shiny potential. 

1. Ouai Wave Spray

Ouai Wave Spray

Founded by celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin, Ouai captures that effortless Parisian chic style in its line of dreamy scented hair care. Its name is the casual way the French say “yes,” and its line oozes a laid-back appeal that modern women flock to.

The Ouai Wave Spray provides limp, wavy hair with a spritz of refreshing moisture and lightweight hold. Using rice protein for texture and coconut water for a little seaside style, this paraben, phthalate, and SLS-free spray captures the heart of Bondi Beach with a heavenly scent that’s light, floral, and tart. Users rate it 4.7/5 stars. 

You can get a 4.9 fl oz bottle for $26.

Related: For more Ouai products, check out our Ouai Shampoo Review

Why It’s Good for Wavy Hair

2. Virtue Labs Un-Frizz Cream

Virtue Labs Un-Frizz Cream

Virtue Labs was created around a single, breakthrough ingredient called Alpha Keratin 60ku. The protein completely transforms hair, and the brand is known for its revolutionary damage-reducing products that boost vibrancy while banishing frizz. As a vegan and cruelty-free line, shoppers love what’s not in its products just as much as what is. 

You won’t find sulfates, parabens, phthalates, or synthetic colors in its line of truly nourishing, repairing hair care. The Un-Frizz Cream is no exception, soothing stressed out strands and lulling frizzy hair into a shiny, smooth state. 

The leave-in treatment cream works by keeping humidity out, while Alpha Keratin 60ku locks onto strands and fills any cracks. Ideal for frizzy, wavy hair, your locks will feel nourished with the rich nutrients found in pink pomelo and soybeans, while your senses are lifted with the luxurious scents of pear, lavender, and mint. 

Users rated the cream 4/5 stars, reporting shiny, bouncy, and smooth hair. Grab a 4 fl oz bottle for $40.

Related: For more Virtue Labs products, check out our Virtue Labs Hair Review

Why It’s Good for Wavy Hair 

3. Shu Uemura Kaze Wave Curl & Wave Defining Mousse 

Shu Uemura Kaze Wave Curl & Wave Defining Mousse 

Developed by international makeup artist Mr. Shu Uemura, his hair care line, The Art of Hair, launched in 2007 and is adored for its minimalistic approach to beauty. The products at Shu Uemura have an artistic feel, with the Kaze Wave Curl & Wave Defining Mousse blending a simplistic Japanese influence with volume and hold.

In Japanese, “kaze” means “wind” and its energy is felt through the mousse’s lightweight feel and flexible staying power. Infused with seawater to give hair a tousled effect, it promotes a natural-looking shine and promises frizz-free perfection. You can pick up a 5.7 oz bottle for $49. (Please note that this product is only available on the Canadian Shu Uemura site.)

Why It’s Good for Wavy Hair

4. Living Proof In-Shower Styler 

Living Proof In-Shower Styler

Living Proof is for those who know their stuff around hair care. Science is the first step in its formulas, ensuring that each one acts as a solution and not a temporary mask. The brand offers a line of 45 clinically-consulted products, all made for fast results and little fuss. ‌

The In-Shower Styler is easy-to-use, applied after washing and rinsed slightly to give your air-dried style a little oomph thanks to cationic resins that lightly coat strands. The result is shiny, soft hair with actual life, enhancing your natural wave pattern for a weightless, healthy look. And according to 102 buyers, this formula is effective too, holding a rating of 4.4/5 stars. 

Paraben and phthalate-free, this formula is also vegan and cruelty-free, the bottle made from recyclable materials. Grab a 5 fl oz bottle for $27.

Why It’s Good for Wavy Hair

5. Verb Ghost Oil

Verb Ghost Oil

Drugstore brands make a lot of claims, with the majority of them not holding up to their promises. For obvious reasons, professional hair care is the solution, but who can afford it on a regular basis? Verb settles in nicely between drugstore and professional products, creating accessible, luxury hair care. 

Its Ghost Oil is quite popular, a 4.9/5 star score from 1,038 users who love it for its clean and nutrient-packed formula. The main priorities of this oil are to hydrate, soften, and increase shine, and Verb states that your hair will be 75% shinier after using it.

Thanks to vitamin-packed plant extracts like moringa oil, bamboo, and soy protein, this weightless formula strengthens, hydrates, and smooths out stressed strands. 

Ideal for transforming frizzy or lifeless curls and waves into silky smooth tresses, the Ghost Oil keeps things classy all around with a vegan ingredient list and a promise that it’s not tested on animals. Love your hair with a 2 fl oz bottle for $18.

Related: For more Verb products, check out our Verb Hair Products Review

Why It’s Good for Wavy Hair

6. Briogeo Curl Charisma Rice Amino + Avocado Leave-In Defining Crème

Briogeo Curl Charisma Rice Amino + Avocado Leave-In Defining Crème

Briogeo is all about uncomplicated, effective hair care. Its most popular product is the Don’t Despair, Repair cream, which helped put this brand on the map. Simple but filled with all of the right ingredients, the brand is free from sulfates, silicones, phthalates, and parabens. 

The Curl Charisma Rice Amino + Avocado Leave-In Defining Creme is one for the books, elevating fluffy, poofy waves into a soft, luscious delight worthy of that classic movie hair toss. Essentially weather-proofing your strands, you’ll get a light, non-crunchy hold that won’t frizz at the first sign of rain. 

Thanks to rice amino acids and avocado oil, strands are flexible, hydrated, and strong, and users attest to this, with 435 of them awarding the cream a 4.5/5 star score. Pick up a 6 fl oz bottle for $22.

Related: For more Briogeo products, check out our Briogeo Hair Care Review

Why It’s Good for Wavy Hair

7. Pureology Strength Cure Shampoo

Pureology Strength Cure Shampoo

Though the brands on this Best Products for Wavy Hair list have clean ingredients, Pureology is one of the brands here that started the ‘good for your strands’ hair care movement. Founded in California all the way back in 2001, its aim was to make professional products for color-treated hair. 

All of its formulas are vegan and cruelty-free with 0% sulfates. Buyers say that the Strength Cure Shampoo makes an immediate difference while still in the shower, and clearly see the results after their hair dries. It makes sense that 2,556 of them awarded the shampoo a high score of 4.7/5 stars. 

Even though it has no sulfates (the chemical responsible for creating lather), this shampoo bubbles up nicely, working to strengthen damaged color-treated hair for healthier, less frizzy waves. It uses a mix of a plant-based protein called keravis and an antioxidant astaxanthin to protect and heal, and has the light scent of raspberry, peach, and water flowers. 

See your hair’s true potential with a 9 fl oz bottle for $31.

Related: For more Pureology products, check out our Pureology Shampoo Review

Why It’s Good for Wavy Hair

8. IGK Rich Kid Coconut Oil Air Dry Styler

IGK Rich Kid Coconut Oil Air Dry Styler

IGK is one of the most professionally-inspired brands on this Best Products for Wavy Hair list. Developed by a team of four male stylists with contrasting backgrounds, its unique approach to hair care has caught the eye of folks around the globe seeking camera-ready looks. 

IGK products were made for both clients and hairstylists. Helping to accomplish trendy styles, the brand’s formulas are stylist-specific to each of the brand’s founders, infused with their home city and personal touch. 

Rich Kid Coconut Oil Air Dry Styler is a gel to give you that tousled, undone look. Moisturizing with a fair amount of hold, this product promises to play all day, giving you that coveted style for as long as you care to rock it. Coconut oil is used to promote shine and provide nourishment to freshly washed, pre-dried hair.

Smelling like a fresh cocktail on a summer day, the styler is made without nasty ingredients like mineral oil, petroleum, sulfates, or parabens, but it does give strands a touch of UV protection. Go ahead and play in the sun, this one’s got you covered.

Given a 4.6/5 star score by 46 users, they say it eliminates frizz and brings back natural-looking volume. Vegan & cruelty-free, get a 5 fl oz tube for $29.

Related: For more IGK products, check out our IGK Hair Review

Why It’s Good for Wavy Hair

9. Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray

Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray

Bumble & Bumble is a well-known name in the world of professional hair care. Used in salons across the USA, Canada, and the UK, its line of take-home products promises the same level of results its world-renowned salons pump out. The brand has been around for over 40 years and is extremely popular for it’s high caliber results.

The Surf Spray was made to accentuate wavy hair, even helping straight hair get a little saucy love too. Delivering beach-inspired waves that won’t look greasy, it uses salt to boost volume no matter what time of year you find yourself using it. 

The Surf Spray creates a picture-perfect, effortless look, transforming unruly waves into soft, shiny, and manageable tresses thanks to the nourishing kelp extract. According to 221 shoppers who rated it 4.5/5 stars, the spray is a treasured part of their casual, hair care routine for textured, beachy waves. Get a 4.2 fl oz bottle for $29.

Related: For more Bumble and Bumble products, check out our Bumble and Bumble Review

Why It’s Good for Wavy Hair

10. DevaCurl Low-Poo Delight

DevaCurl Low-Poo Delight

DevaCurl is the go-to brand when it comes to curly hair. Catering to all kinds of curl patterns, it’s known for its clean, kind formulas that help enhance and define natural curl patterns.

Developed by Curly Girl herself, Lorraine Massey, in 1994, the brand got its start as a salon-only product that later launched into the at-home hair care market due to its extreme popularity. 

Those with curly hair know that sometimes, shampoo isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Stripping curls of the moisture they need to truly look their best, DevaCurl created the Low-Poo Delight to cleanse while adding much needed moisture to parched, limp strands. 

It’s great for those with dry, fine curls, conditioning them to become soft and full of life, defined and individual instead of matted and poofy. The formula was co-developed with a dermatologist for safety and efficacy for curly hair, awarded 4.4/5 stars from 55 customers who love it for the results it brings.

Change the way you wash with a 12 oz bottle for $24.

Related: For more DevaCurl products, check out our DevaCurl Curly Hair Review

Why It’s Good for Wavy Hair

What Curl Type is Wavy Hair Considered?

The original curl typing chart was created by a hairstylist named Andre Walker but altered over time by professionals who work in the world of curls. Determining what type of curl you have is important in picking the right kind of hair care products, as those with ultra curly hair will need a completely different formula than those with simple waves. 

Your curl type refers to the shape of your unique hair follicle (where your hair grows out of your scalp). More oval-shaped follicles will create tighter curls, whereas circular follicles will sprout straighter strands. 

The shape of your hair also comes into play when determining your curl type, and the original curl typing system uses numbers and letters to distinguish between classes. Here’s a rough breakdown of how it works:

  1. Type 1: Straight
  2. Type 2: Wavy
  3. Type 3: Curly
  4. Type 4: Coily

Then the letters A-C are added in each number type to distinguish the different widths of curls. For those with wavy hair, it looks like this:

Once you determine your unique curl pattern, you’ll be able to shop for products that work with your hair and not fight it each morning.

How Can You Enhance Wavy Hair? 

Enhancing wavy hair refers to the process of defining curls or waves to make them really stand out. It’s all about adding bounce, shine, and texture, and getting rid of frizz and poofiness while defining individual waves. 

To do this, you’ll want to focus on products that don’t weigh hair down. Choose a weightless formula (we’ve got a ton of those in this Best Products for Wavy Hair list) that won’t stretch out the wave or curl. 

There are a few techniques that can help enhance your natural wave. These are normally done to freshly washed hair to help form and enhance your curl/wave pattern to dry with your desired effect. 

Diffusing is a common technique that’s done alongside scrunching to promote a wavier texture. Curly girls also warn against using a brush, instead, choosing a wide toothed comb or your fingers to detangle wet strands. 

Of course, there is a heap of styling products that can also enhance your wavy hair, and any of our picks for Best Products for Wavy Hair will do the trick. Some can be used before finger coiling wet hair for spiral waves or prior to blow drying your locks for a casual, windswept look.

How to Style Wavy Hair? 

The best way to style wavy hair is with the right product. The perfect style comes from great preparation, and selecting the right styling cream, gel, or leave-in spray, giving your hair an advantage as its dries. 

In general, you’re looking for a product that provides a flexible hold and minimizes frizz, that way, your waves will be prepped and stay in the position without looking crunchy. After applying your preferred product, either twist, scrunch, or diffuse your hair to reach your desired look. 

If air drying, consider braiding or plopping (where you pile your hair on top of your head and let it dry in a loosely-wrapped towel). These methods create more natural-looking waves and require minimal effort.

Buying the Best Products for Wavy Hair: Things to Consider

You’ve just read about the Best Products for Wavy Hair out there, and now, you may be wondering what to do with all that information. It’s a lot, we get it, but it’s important you know exactly what you’ll experience with each product and what kind of brand you’ll be supporting, right?

To help sort out the swirl of freshly infused facts in your head, we’ll walk you through a short and sweet (we promise) list of what to consider next.

Brand  

In this day and age, people are learning to look at the whole picture of a product and not just what it does. If a leave-in conditioner comes from a brand that’s known for causing hair loss, is it really worth giving it a try? 

This Best Products for Wavy Hair list is full of amazing picks that balance dreamy, clean formulas with sterling reputations, but for your peace of mind, check out the star ratings and feedback we included on each one. 

There’s a good chance you’ve already heard of a few names on this list, but hopefully, you’re leaving with a few new ones too. Perhaps even one that will be what you’ve been searching for. 

Ingredient Quality 

Are you looking for something that’s simply effective or effective and natural? Depending on your needs, one of the Best Products for Wavy hair mentioned here may be more appealing than another. 

We’re talking about hair care here and the word “care” is super important. You want something that’s going to nourish your hair instead of stripping it and causing breakage. We have a lot for you to choose from on this list, but some prioritize plant-based ingredients more so than others. 

Double back and sift through the products again, the more ingredients mentioned here in a product, the more natural the product. Figure out what you’re looking for and don’t compromise, we promise you’ll find something that meets your needs. 

Quantity 

You may have noticed that the Best Products for Wavy Hair come in all different formulas, forms, and sizes. Some are styling products, some are oils, and others are shampoos. 

We’ve made sure to include the size of each item above, but keep in mind that you can’t really compare a 12 fl oz $29 bottle of shampoo to a 2 fl oz $18 oil — the usage amount for each is incredibly different. Just be sure to compare products in their own category to see if one may be a better fit for your budget. 

Additional Benefits

The Best Products for Wavy Hair are all about making your hair what it’s always wanted to be: truly wavy and not frizzy, uneven, or limp. The goal is the most perfect wavy strands, but remember that someone else’s idea of “perfect” may be different from yours.

You may find that certain products on this list come with additional benefits along with helping your hair look fantastic, and though some are designed to work with wavy hair, others do a better job of enhancing waves. There’s a big difference between the two. Figure out what your wants are for your tresses and then sort through your options. 

Price

There’s no sense buying a product that’s out of your price range as it’s probably going to be something you’ll want to keep in your hair care routine long term. If a $30 bottle of shampoo is too much of a jump from the $5 bottle you usually buy, it’s something to think about (though, we won’t say it’s not worth it).

A lot of the items on this Best Products for Wavy Hair list have similar prices, but their quantities and formulas are very different. Remember to look at what you’re getting for the price (benefits, quality, etc.), as well as how many uses you’ll get from a single bottle. If it all adds up, you’ve found your perfect product.

Final Thoughts

Just like how wavy hair can vary, the products designed to bring out the beauty in the squiggly style do too. The Best Products for Wavy Hair on this list were made to work with those with waves, but their formulas differ. 

You may find that some focus on shine and hair health while others aim to give you a tousled, beachy look. Both are fantastic for creating waves, but as you can imagine, each can create a different kind of look. 

There’s no reason why you shouldn’t try several of the products on this list — a salt spray for frisky, playful dates or a leave-in for a simple everyday air-dried style. Remember that when it comes to waves, the type of shampoo you use is critical too. 

With that in mind, all of the names on this Best Products for Wavy Hair list are top-notch picks. Chosen for their effectiveness, formulas, and brand reputation, we hope we’ve made the process of finding your perfect product that much easier.

Looking for other top brands? Check out these curated lists below:

Best Hair Product Brands for Women

Best Hair Product Brands for Men

Best Multivitamins for Men

Best Multivitamins for Women

Best Coffee Subscription Brands

Ms. Nea Pantry

MBA in Health & Wellness, Skincare, Food, Decor & Plants

Nea Pantry is a Writer from Toronto, Canada. She is passionate about Health & Wellness, Skincare, Food, and Decor & Plants. She is currently finishing her Creative Writing Certificate at the University of Toronto.