In the ongoing saga of growing my hair out, finding styling products that suit my ever-changing hair lengths has been a challenge. I’ve gone from being a dedicated user of Aveda products like Control Paste and Light Elements Defining Whip to give some shape and spikiness to a super-short hairstyle, to needing something to give some lift and volume to otherwise flat, barely shoulder-length hair.

I’ve done the mousse thing. It wasn’t my bag. I haven’t figured out how to use those “root-lifting” sprays without having crunchy roots. Not my thing either… My hair also has just enough curl to it to be really annoying, but not enough to be truly curly.

This is where Frederic Fekkai Beach Waves comes in. One of the perks of my new job is starting my shifts on the half-hour, instead of the hour, as in starting at 9:30 am instead of 9:00 am. I get up at the same time, but I have an extra half hour to get ready. This rocks! What this really translates into is eliminating the need to blow-dry my hair. I simply let it air dry, apply a teensy bit of straightening with a flat iron (just a smidge, to the bangs in the front) and spray a copious amount of Beach Waves to the rest. Scrunch with fingers, maybe use just a touch of the blow dryer on the low-warm setting (if I feel like it) and be done with it.

The Beach Wave spray is awesome. I’m going for a slightly tousled, sorta wavy look to my hair, emphasizing its natural curl instead of trying to eliminate it. The result is pretty cute – my hair has a flippy look to it and doesn’t look flat anymore. I don’t have to use a blow dryer on my whole head (which is much better for the overall health of my hair), and I’m not hating on my hair as much as I used to – I actually am starting to love the way it looks now. I was previously missing my short hair, which always looked perfectly styled. Getting used to this longer length meant going through some serious bad hair days.

Don’t waste your time on imitations of this product, since everyone has some kind of beachy spray, from Garnier to Avon. I’ve tried them, and nothing works like Fekkai Beach Waves. I’ll be stocking up, before it leaves the shelves when the season ends.