This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through one of my links, at no additional cost to you.
If you’ve seen my hair lately and wondered how I get that messy, wavy, slightly undone bob look… I have good news:
It is ridiculously easy.
And honestly, I think the biggest secret is that I don’t try to make every piece of my hair look the same.
I don’t curl my entire head. I don’t carefully section off 700 tiny pieces of hair. And I definitely don’t have the patience for a hairstyle that takes 45 minutes every morning.
Instead, I use three tools and a combination of waves and curls to give my bob that messy, textured look that I’ve been loving lately.
Here’s exactly how I do it!
Step 1: Wave Almost Everything
My first step, and the tool doing most of the heavy lifting. is my Bed Head Waver.
Shop my Bed Head Waver on Amazon
I use the waver on basically everything except the top layer of my hair.
I section off that top layer and leave it alone while I work my way around the rest of my head with the waver, in layers that make sense!
The deeper waves give my bob a ton of texture and help create that slightly messy, lived-in look underneath. The Bed Head Wave Artist uses deep tourmaline-ceramic plates designed to create defined waves, which is exactly what I want for this part of my hair.
And here’s the important part:
I don’t need it to look perfect.
We’re not creating perfectly symmetrical mermaid waves here. This is a messy bob. Imperfection is actually helping us. 😂
Step 2: Curl ONLY the Top Layer
This is the part that I think makes the biggest difference!
Instead of using the waver all the way to the top of my head, I grab my Bio Ionic Long Barrel Curling Iron for the top layer.
Shop my Bio Ionic Long Barrel Curling Iron on Amazon
The Bio Ionic has an extra-long barrel and is designed for creating loose, modern curls and waves.
But I’m not looking for perfect curls.
Quite literally the opposite.
As I curl the top sections, I alternate the direction of my curls.
One goes one way.
The next goes the other way.
Then back again.
Alternating the curls keeps everything from falling together into one giant uniform curl and gives me more of that tousled, piece-y texture.
The combination of the waves underneath and the different curls on top is what gives the whole style some dimension.
It looks like I did way more than I actually did.
Which is ALWAYS the goal. 😂
Step 3: Straighten the Bangs
And finally…
The bangs.
Because, naturally, they need their own separate styling tool. 😂
I use my Bio Ionic Straightener on my bangs.
Shop my Bio Ionic Straightener on Amazon
That’s it.
I don’t wave them. I don’t curl them into oblivion. I just use the straightener to smooth and shape them so they sit where I want them.
Then I’m DONE.
The Secret Is Mixing Textures
I think this is why I like this method so much.
When I’ve styled my whole head with the exact same curling iron or waver, sometimes it feels a little too…done.
That’s not really what I want.
I want messy.
I want texture.
I want volume.
I want my bob to look like I casually woke up with cool hair, even though there were, in fact, three hot tools involved. 😂
Using waves underneath and alternating curls on the top keeps everything from looking too uniform.
And because the top layer is curled instead of waved, you don’t see one continuous wave pattern across my entire head.
My Entire Messy Bob Routine
If you just want the quick version:
1. Section off the top layer of your hair.
2. Wave everything underneath with the Bed Head Waver.
3. Let down the top layer and curl it with the Bio Ionic Long Barrel Curling Iron.
4. Alternate the direction of your curls as you go.
5. Use the Bio Ionic Straightener on your bangs.
6. Mess it up a little and GO.
Seriously.
That’s it.
The Three Tools I Use
🖤 Bed Head Waver — I use this on everything except my top layer.
🖤 Bio Ionic Long Barrel Curling Iron — I use this on the top layer and alternate my curl direction.
🖤 Bio Ionic Straightener — strictly on bang duty.
Three tools might sound like more work, but because I’m only using each one on a specific section, the whole routine is actually really simple.
Don’t Make It Too Perfect
This might be my biggest tip.
Stop trying to make every curl perfect.
If one piece bends a little differently? GOOD.
If one curl is looser than the one beside it? ALSO GOOD.
If you finish and it looks a little wild? Run your fingers through it, fluff it up, and see what happens.
The messiness is the entire point.
I’ve learned that I like my hair so much more when I stop fighting to make every single strand cooperate and just let it have some texture and personality.
My bob and I have finally reached an understanding:
She gets to be a little chaotic. 😂🖤
