Discover how to do your perfect 360 waves with our extensive guide, featuring all the tips and tricks, simplified techniques, and essential tools.
The road to achieving your perfect 360 waves is a pursuit that’s both an art and a science. It doesn’t matter if you’re an expert waver or you’re just getting into the wave game, being on this path means adopting patience, dedication, and a lot of brushing. But don’t be scared – with the right tools and techniques, you’ll be sporting these 360 waves with style and confidence.
The Tools You Need to Get Your Ideal 360 Waves:
A high-quality wave brush, preferably with boar bristles for better control and shine.
A durag or wave cap to protect your waves and promote compression.
A moisturizing pomade or hair cream to keep your mane healthy and hydrated.
A strong commitment to consistent brushing and maintenance.
The Most Common Hair Lengths to Start Your 360 Waves Are:
Scalp / Bald / 1 Guard or Lower length.
Medium / 2 Guard – 3 Guard / Curl length.
Wolf / 4 Guard/ Longer length.
There’s pros and cons to all the lengths so let’s break it down!
Scalp Length
Whether you have a bald head, buzz cut, or any short length that’s basically not at your curl length at the moment – you can still start your 360 waves!
Pros:
You’d be starting your 360 waves from the root.
You would essentially avoid over curling and over wolfing.
You’d get waves as soon as you are at your hair’s curls length.
Cons:
You will be bald for a number of weeks depending on how fast or slow your hair grows.
The waves won’t come immediately! It will take a few weeks to see the result.
You cannot comb, wash, and style in those weeks leading up to getting your 360 waves. You can only brush your hair in the direction of your waves and wear a durag. To effectively train your waves from the root of your scalp, you need to identify the crown of your head – the center of your scalp, and brush downwards from the crown.
Medium Length
At this length your hair is not too long, and you don’t really have an Afro yet. You’re at a length that allows you to start combing your pattern unlike the scalped level. This is the perfect length to train your 360 waves.
Pros:
You can comb through your wave pattern.
You can stretch and detangle your curls.
It will be fairly easy to get curls because you are already at your curl length.
There’s no chance of you over curling or over wolfing.
You could right away get into the wash and style technique and get waves instantly.
There’s easy manageability because the hair is neither too long nor too short.
Cons:
You will have a lot of forks and ripples in the first couple of weeks meaning that the waves wouldn’t be as smooth as you’d like them to be.
Wolf Length
At this length, you basically have a full head of curls or a mini-Afro. It is not recommended to start your wave at this length because you have a lot of hair to train, and the wave you’re able to create won’t be sustainable which might lead to giving up early.
Pros:
A wash-and-style is very possible at this length.
You can comb through this length without ruining your waves.
Your hair is at a curl length so creating those 360 waves is much easier.
Cons:
There’s a high tendency of over curling and over wolfing when drawing out those waves.
At this length it’s almost impossible to train each layer of your pattern so the waves will mostly likely not be smooth.
The hair is not easy to manage because you simply have so much of it that’s not used to being laid down.
Now that we’ve explored all the lengths and went through all the tools, let’s get into a step-by-step wash and style 360 wave tutorial.
360 Waves Tutorial
How to Do:
Comb out your hair pattern.
Wash and rinse your hair about 2-3 times. Make sure to massage your scalp for better hair growth and increase blood circulation.
Comb or detangle your hair first while the lather is still in.
Brush your hair into place with a medium brush while the lather is still in.
After brushing, you can make a mixture of shampoo and water into a spray bottle and make a few spritz of that on your brush to create a thicker lather.
Going in with the medium brush, brush your hair into place with that thick lather.
Make sure to isolate your crown! A defined crown gives way for a defined wave. Make sure your crown area and pattern are in place.
Smooth out your pattern and crown down with your hands.
Carefully put on your durag.
Rinse the soap out while the durag is still on with slightly warm water if that’s accessible.
Lastly, let your hair dry fully before taking the durag off, and enjoy your results!
Why Your 360 Wash and Style Waves May Not Be Perfect?
Now we know that sometimes you could be following the guidelines to getting a perfect 360 wave to a T, and for some reason, it still doesn’t work out. Here are some of the reasons why your 360 wash and style wave doesn’t come out right:
Your hair is too short or it’s not at its curl length. You wanna make sure you have enough hair on your head in order for them to form into waves.
If you have a straight hair texture, the wash and style method will most likely not be able to get you waves because they are simply curls laid down.
When your hair is at a shorter length, rinsing can easily remove the curls out of place.
Not using enough lather is also a big reason as to why the wash and style method may not be working for you. Throughout the wash and style process, you want to make sure that you have a thick layer of lather to work with.
Your hair is not clean enough. The cleaner your hair is, the more lather you’re going to be able to create.
You’re not brushing or training your 360 waves enough. You want to spend from 3 to 4 minutes on each side of your wave pattern just to make sure it’s nice and trained.
Although it’s not a requirement, using a detangling brush could help in making sure your pattern is nice and detangled.
Not using a medium to hard bristled brush. Make sure your brush is hard enough especially if your hair is thick to make sure your hair is being moved into place and trained properly. Also, you want to make sure the bristles of the brush are training all layers of your pattern.
Not isolating your crown properly. After brushing down your pattern it’s very important to isolate your crown.
You’re not smoothing your entire wave pattern down with lather before putting on a durag. You can use your hands for this – just apply some soap and water, lather that up and there you go!
You’re not tying your durag tight enough or you’re making it too tight. If you tie the durag too loose your hair will fall out of place when rinsing but if you make it too tight, you’d be crushing your waves.
Not putting on the durag gently. You don’t want to ruin the lather and the way your waves are because the durag is meant to lock in your wave pattern.
Using hot water to rinse out the lather. You want to make sure that the water is on the colder side.
Rinsing with too much water pressure. Release some of the pressure from your shower and rinse out your lather with that so your waves don’t move out of place.
Rubbing or scratching when rinsing. Lightly pat your hair down after rinsing out the lather from your hair.
Your hair is still wet. Let your hair dry fully before removing the durag.
Laying down right after rinsing. Don’t lay down on your pillow or any surface while your hair is still drying.
Now that we’ve covered all the basics, let’s get to the quick and easy 360 morning routine that is so necessary to keep your waves looking new every morning.
360 Waves Morning Routine
Apply moisture if the hair is dry: you can add a little hair cream or a nice leave-in-conditioner for proper hydration of those waves.
Comb out and go through all layers to let your scalp breathe after being under that durag while sleeping. This also helps in removing any tangles from your wave pattern and you can comb the leave-in conditioner through those layers.
Use a medium or soft brush to lay down your wave pattern. Go in with vertical brush strokes – brush from your crown and go all the way down to your hairline.
Apply oil to your waves to aid moisture, add lubrication and shine.
Get you a nice plastic bag and lay your frizz down with your hands.
Making 360 waves isn’t that hard – you just have to follow the technique, and voila, you’re all set. Let’s be real, nothing beats a good wave, right?
