Waves (hairstyle)

Short 360 Hair Waves (often shortened to waves or "360 waves") is a very common and sought-after hairstyle for men. The hair is cropped short to the head in the styling of a Caesar cut. There are brushing techniques that will result in the resemblance of "oceanic waves" in the hair. Frequent and repeated brushing (along with adequate moisturizing) is the only way that this hairstyle is maintained- although the amount of brushing may vary from person to person as the grade of hair changes. "360 Waves" are the result of curls of hair that unfurl, allowing natural "rows" of roots to be exposed. As the hair lengthens in a process called wolfing, the waver can achieve "deeper" waves by allowing the hair to grow out.

An African-American male displaying a traditional "wave" hairstyle.

History

There have been similar styles of this haircut dating back to the late 1970s, but the current "360" style of waves rose in popularity in the late 1980s when rappers and R&B artists were seen wearing the hairstyle.

Styles

"360 waves" is a style in which the hair is laid down all around the head in a wavy pattern. For some "360 waves" are hard to obtain because the style requires a lot of brushing and care. The appearance of waves differs from person to person depending on the texture of their hair and how long they've been "waving." Through a popular process called "wolfing" (refraining from getting a haircut for as long as possible while constantly brushing your hair in order to train it to stay down and "wave") the wave pattern in your hair will become more defined. When finally getting a haircut the "waves" may come out deeper depending on the time spent "wolfing" and the type of haircut you get.

In the 1950s African American males would straighten their hair with a homemade lye relaxer or one from the barber shop and have a texturizing cream put in for a wave pattern. This was commonly worn by young men in Doo-wop groups.

Waves are maintained by daily brushing, weekly washing and conditioning, and wearing a do-rag at night. The more the hair is brushed, the better the waves are. Waves can also be obtained by letting soap dry in the hair, preferably white bar soap.

The steps to obtaining a wave hairstyle are:

1. Wet the hair with hot water (depending on the hair type) causing the hair to curl up or show its natural wave pattern
2. Run a bar of bar soap around the head until a thick lather is around the whole head
3. Brush the soap lather into scalp and and the excess soap out of head with a soft or medium wave brush (this will cause hair to lay down but hair will still be white from soap lather). The hair is brushed into the pattern the waves will become.
4. Put a wave cap or a do-rag make sure its tight on all sides for at least one hour.
5. Then put the wave cap or do rag back on for 30 minutes or overnight

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Beginning "Wavers"

Here is another very basic step-by-step method for beginning "wavers":

1. Get a fresh haircut (preferably a traditional dark caesar cut).

Brush as often as your daily schedule allows. Pay attention to which areas of your hair begin to wave up first (the areas where the waves aren't coming in as quick may simply need more brush strokes). In the beginning stages of obtaining "waves" you'll need to brush your hair more than you probably ever have before. The tradeoff is that the more brush strokes you put in daily (while brushing all around evenly) the quicker your "waves" will come in and the better they will look. Wear your do-rag when sleeping at night in order to help protect the wave pattern that will be developing. Sleeping on your pillow without a do-rag on may disrupt the wave pattern on your hair if you are one to toss and turn during sleep.

If your are putting in the work to brush your hair your progress will eventually show. For some people "waves" will come in their hair fairly quickly. For others though it may take some time. You may need anywhere from one to three weeks before you see defined "waves" beginning to form in your hair. Be patient and just keep on brushing. Continue to apply your moisturizer everyday and brush, brush, brush!

(rickspinnin360)

This is a very basic step-by-step method for beginning wavers. Those who have been "waving" for a long time have various methods to maintain their "360 waves" hairstyle.

Do some research (you'll be surprised how much information is out there that you can obtain on your own if you type "360 waves" in a search engine or on a video website). You'll see various methods and tips on how to perfect and maintain your "360 wave" pattern. For example: some people use shea butter (preferably unrefined) as a natural hair moisturizer/pomade. Some people limit the amount of times per week that they shampoo their hair (once or twice- as was mentioned earlier in this article) in order to give the wave pattern a chance to "set-in." Some people wear multiple do-rags to increase compression on the hair- another building block for "waves." Some people brush the hair on the sides of their head by holding the brush at an angle (say, 45 degrees) to help connect the waves on the sides of the head to the waves on the top and back of the head. Brushing your hair in this manner can produce an attractive and well-formed "360 wave" pattern.