We are here to discuss the highly texturized state your hair takes when you’ve emerged from the sea. You know, beach hair. The hairstyle equivalent of sprezzatura. The salty water makes it look fuller and feel thicker, and you get to enjoy the best hair day you’ve had in months. Beach hair is essentially the opposite of dull, lifeless hair. It’s got volume, texture, definition. It looks effortless—artfully suspended in perfect form without any effort whatsoever. Except if you haven't been to the beach, in which case you have to work hard for it.

To mimic that texture, volume, and definition, you need a few products at home. It takes a few minutes’ time and some zhuzhing. Here’s how to pull it off, and how to look as if you just rolled in from La Jolla or Venice Beach.

Shampoo Every Other Day

You shouldn't shampoo every day, regardless of how much volume or texture you want. It’s not healthy for your hair. Instead, condition daily, both after shampooing and on the in-between days.

That will preserve all the natural oils in your hair, the good oils, and they keep the hair more weighed down as a result. When you do shampoo, use an extra nourishing one. Maapilim’s shampoo is good for this, as it uses oils of argan, spearmint, and coriander to feed the hair instead of starving it. This way you're getting more volume incrementally, but you’re still keeping the hair healthy.

Use Dry Shampoo for Volume and Definition

On the days you don’t shampoo, you can soak up the excess oil with a dry shampoo powder or spray. It gives you a texturized, somewhat gritty and defined finish.

You need to target the roots of your hair to make this work. That’s where the oil is mostly collected. It won’t do you any good to spray the ends of your hair. In fact, that will only dry it out unnecessarily.

If you have longer hair, you’ll find that it’s more buoyant after a dry shampoo application. Same with medium hair, though the effect is that the hair stands up more, since it’s not heavy enough to lay itself down.

Try Living Proof’s Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo.

Texturize It with Paste

Paste is the most versatile hair product, in that you can apply it wet or dry, to short or long styles—plus it's re-workable throughout the day. Basically, it’s the least fussy, and it rinses out clean at the end of the day.

Paste is also the best product for achieving a texturized style. The emphasis there is on “style”, since I’m referring to the fact that you are making an effort to control and tame the hair, even if the end result is intentionally messy.

I’ve been using Martial Vivot’s paste for the past few months, and applying the below tips on blow drying and combing it, whenever I want volume, texture, and control. Try that for yourself.

Blow Dry for Volume

A great blow dryer does two things for your hair: First, it gives you extra volume. Secondly, that heat locks in whatever styling product you use and magnifies its power. So, if you apply a shiny pomade and comb everything flat to your melon, it locks the product into place. The same happens with a texturizing paste or putty. When you apply the product to your towel-dried hair, just coach it into place with your fingers or a comb, and gently lift the hairs as you air it out from beneath. If you continue texturizing it by hand as you dry, this locks the hairs into their designated direction, and you’ll have a layered, medium-to-high-hold style all the day long.

If you’re getting your first-ever dryer, then Conair’s Compact 1975 Watt Folding Handle dryer is a good place to start—plus it’s easily toteable.

Mimic the Post-Beach Texture with Sea Salt Spray

While sea salt spray isn’t actually made of ocean water, it does mimic the sea’s effects. Like dry shampoo, sea salt spray absorbs excess oils so that your hair lifts itself up and separates for some nice definition and texture. It doubles as a gritty, light-hold, medium-shine styler—better in long styles worn back, medium styles combed to the side, and short styles spiked up. It also magnifies your natural curls and waves when it dries. Best of all, its powers also multiply when you use a blow dryer, though guys with curly hair should let it dry naturally.

Try Bumble & Bumble’s Surf Spray.

Comb It, Then Muss It Up

Sometimes your hair refuses to stay styled unless you use a comb. But usually, when you use a comb, you also compromise on texture and volume.

No worries—keep the comb. If you follow the above principles, you can still get the wavy texture of your Highway 1 dreams: Just tousle the hair with your fingers while you blow dry the paste (or cream, or putty, or sea salt spray) into place. Just separate it with your fingers, muss it up real nice like, and you should enjoy a texturized, “effortless” style that doesn’t shift back over your forehead by the day’s end.

Adam Hurly has been covering men's grooming since 2013 (and for GQ since 2016). He is also a travel writer. In Fall 2024, Adam is launching Blue Print by Adam Hurly, a men's grooming platform. Adam resides in Lisbon (previously Berlin, NYC, and San Francisco). He is a Sioux Falls, SD, native... Read moreWriterInstagramRelated Stories for GQHair