It has been so hot lately, and since I haven’t gotten my hair cut since pre-pandemic times (January? February? I can’t actually remember…), my hair is long, heavy, and hot. To get it out of my face, I’ve been pulling it back in a French braid a few times a week while it’s still wet – it keeps it off my shoulders, and I don’t have to worry about blow drying it.

The other plus is that if I leave it in the braid for a full day, when I take it out I have perfectly wavy hair with very little effort involved at all. I always laugh when people compliment me on it, because I think of it as my lazy hairstyle!

I’ve learned that using some product in my hair while it’s wet, before I braid it, helps the braid to stay in place and helps the waves to hold better after I take the braid out. This Beachwaver “braid balm” came up as an ad while I was scrolling through Facebook, so I decided to give it a try.

First of all – it smells so good, and reminds me of the beach! I figure this is as close to a body of water as I’m going to get for a while, so I’ll take what I can get. It’s basically a mousse, so I spread it all over my hair and then comb it through. It says you can use it from the roots to the ends, but I found that if I put too much at the roots it’s a little crunchy, so I apply lightly at the top.

It did a great job keeping my waves looking smooth and frizz-free once the braid was out. I thought they looked, and felt, really nice. I still add a little hairspray afterwards because my hair falls super easily, but if your hair holds a curl/wave better, the braid balm might be enough for you. All in all, I’m really happy with the braid balm, and it makes my work-from-home hairstyles much simpler.