The Best Wavy Hair Products to Simplify Your Styling Routine

Long gone are the days of crunchy wavy hair of the mid-aughts. Beauty brands have finally created the best hair products for wavy hair filled with moisturizing and frizz-fighting ingredients. But with thousands of wavy hair products across the digital beauty aisles of Amazon, Sephora, and Ulta, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. To help, our beauty editor, Nicole Saunders, tapped a few of our favorite experts for their go-to products for wavy hair.

Best Hair Products for Wavy Hair

How Is Wavy Hair Different From Curly?

Before diving into the best hair products for wavy hair, it's essential to understand how wavy strands differ from other similar textures. Wavy hair is identifiable by its loose S-shape, similar to stars like Shakira and Lorde.

Another way to ID your natural hair texture is to wet it! After shampooing and conditioning, apply a leave-in conditioner, then scrunch hair upside down to get the excess water out. Next, wrap your mane in a hair towel and let it air dry. "This process encourages the natural wave in the hair, and when you take it out of the towel, you'll see if it is curly, straight, or just wavy," says Bailey Englert, a hair stylist at the Fekkai salon at The Mark Hotel. She adds that when wavy hair is air dried, it can feel like fluffy straight hair.

Common Concerns

Like all textures, wavy hair has its own set of problems. For example, you could be dealing with uneven hair texture where the front might be less wavy than the back. And according to celebrity stylist Bradley Leake, styling wavy hair is also a common struggle. Poofy, frizzy hair can be hard to smooth down no matter what anti-frizz serum you use, and bangs can feel impossible to maintain. And, of course, wavy hair is highly susceptible to humidity or inclement weather.

Since wavy hair tends to be finer and tangles easily, hairstylist Raven Hurtado at Maxine Salon in Chicago recommends investing in a good volumizing shampoo, like BondiBoost HG Shampoo, as well as a detangler, such as the Oribe Priming Lotion.

How to Shop

It's All About the Ingredients

👍 Best

The best way to ID hair products for wavy hair is to read the ingredient labels. Leake and Hurtado like naturally hydrating ingredients like aloe vera, coconut oil, and shea butter, which is found in the Fekkai Shea Butter Intense Mask to reduce frizz and prevent split ends.

Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Anna Chacon, M.D., adds that hyaluronic acid, grape seed extract, glycerin, and castor, and jojoba oils are excellent for wavy hair. She's also a fan of argan oil, which is found in our best overall pick: Kérastase Elixir Ultime L'Huile Original Beautifying Hair Oil.

👎 Worst

Our experts advise avoiding parabens and sulfates because they irritate the scalp, strip your hair of its natural oil, and cause possible hair loss. It's also best to avoid anything with formaldehyde because it's a hair-straightening chemical that can damage your wave pattern and cause long-term hair damage.

Ready for a great hair day? Give these best products for wavy hair a whirl, and be prepared for thicker, shinier, and salon-worthy waves at home without the luxury salon price tag. All of these expert-approved products are available on Amazon and collectively boast thousands of impressive 5-star ratings.