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Originally Written on: January 3rd, 2020

A New Wave of Hair Love: Embracing Natural Texture in 2025

In 2025, there’s a renewed global focus on embracing and celebrating natural hair textures, and waves are finally stepping into the spotlight. The world is moving away from rigid beauty norms, where perfect curls or stick-straight styles dominated, toward a more inclusive narrative that appreciates the unique beauty of every strand pattern. For individuals like Dominique in Dublin, Ireland—where flat irons and polished styles often reign supreme—this shift signals a cultural change that empowers people to connect with their authentic selves, one wave at a time.

This year brings an exciting wave of innovation and understanding in the hair care world, particularly for those with wavy textures like 2A, 2B, and 2C. More brands are focusing on lightweight, water-based products specifically designed to enhance waves without weighing them down. Combined with techniques like the "squish and scrunch" method, these products help wavies achieve those juicy clumps and well-defined patterns that were once thought unattainable without a full head of curls. The emphasis is now on working with your hair’s natural tendencies rather than forcing it to conform to a specific standard.

The online hair community has also continued to evolve into a powerhouse of education and support, providing valuable resources for wavies seeking guidance. Social media platforms, particularly Instagram and TikTok, have become treasure troves of tutorials, tips, and relatable stories from people around the world who are learning to love and style their waves. This collective knowledge fosters a sense of belonging and encouragement, helping people feel seen and valued in the larger natural hair movement.

Additionally, the sustainable beauty trend plays a huge role in the wavy hair journey for 2025. Eco-conscious consumers are turning to refillable styling products, silk or satin accessories, and non-toxic hair care to maintain their hair health while being kind to the planet. Simple swaps, like trading cotton pillowcases for satin alternatives, are becoming standard practices, not just for preserving waves overnight but also for contributing to a healthier, eco-friendly routine.

As Dominique’s journey highlights, loving your waves isn't about striving for curls or lamenting what your hair isn't. Instead, it’s about accepting your unique texture and discovering the tools and techniques that bring out its best. Whether you’re starting to see your natural waves for the first time or are a seasoned pro, 2025 is shaping up to be a year of empowerment, education, and love for the wavy hair community.

Hey guys! My name is Dominque and I live in Dublin, Ireland where the flat iron reigns supreme (cringe). Whether it's super straight hair (which is very popular) or mermaid waves, most of the women here use a flat iron to achieve these styles and haven't seen their natural texture for years. I see very few heads of healthy curls and would love to see more women embrace their natural selves.

Now I don't have a typical curly hair journey story. So, you know how it goes: born with a crazy head of curls that couldn’t be managed and I got made fun of in school…no. I grew up with sleek, flat, STRAIGHT hair, so now you’re thinking “What the? Then how do you have a natural hair journey story?!” Well, like curlies who hate their curls, I hated my straight hair. I envied my entire family's curly hair, particularly my sister's 3b curls and I dreamed of having a full, voluminous MASS of curls. But I had what I had. So, as the years went on and I got older, I would be on vacation hanging on a beach somewhere and notice the tiniest hint of wave.

I didn’t really do anything about it because in all honesty- I had no idea there was even much to do about it. I finally started to do some research and about 2 years ago I decided to only buy nontoxic hair products and amazingly, they happened to be sulphate and silicone free. Over the course of the next few months my hair's true wavy texture was slowly revealed. I was delighted but also completely clueless so I started to research online how to best nurture and style textured hair. That’s when I discovered naturallycurly.com and Lorraine Massey videos on YouTube and many invaluably helpful Curly accounts on Instagram and learned SO MUCH from them for free!

Initially my biggest challenge was trying to figure out how to style my waves. I was using popular curly hair techniques like raking & prayer hands however I found they caused my waves to look stringy and elongated. I hated how this looked, it just felt like there could be a better way. Once I started using a squishing/ scrunch & pump method I got the juicy clumps I wanted, an absolute game changer for wavy hair girls like me.

Another challenge I had, was trying to find ways to make my wash day results last overnight. There’s nothing worse than rocking your wash day and day 1 looks great, you go to bed and wake up with borderline flat, tangled hair. It took me a long time to believe that ditching my cotton pillowcase could have a massive impact on my hair. I couldn't believe the difference once I started sleeping on silk and satin, such a small change saved me day 2 and 3 hair days.

Fast-forward a year later of maintaining these tricks, it dawned on me that I had my own transformation story to share. I chose to do it on Instagram since this was the platform that had originally connected me to many fantastic, knowledgeable women who were passionate about sharing information and their love of waves, curls and coils- and let me tell you how grateful I am to you all!

Before, my main goal was to achieve CURLS. I believed curls were the prize; the end goal. Now, I accept and LOVE my 2C wavy spirals for what they are. Sure, I have some curls, but I mostly have waves and that's beautiful too. I'm on a mission to spread wavy love because waves are spoken about negatively by so many in the natural hair world. I hear "just waves", "only waves" from people who feel waves don’t qualify at all in the natural world. Just because our process is different, doesn’t mean we don’t have challenges that are unique to our hair texture as well. I hope to contribute towards turning that mindset around and I'm already so encouraged by the many wavies proclaiming their love for their hair, no longer feeling envious of our beautiful curly haired friends. #wavesarenotfailedcurls and #powertothewavies are both great hashtags to follow for wavy inspiration!

To all you fine, high porosity wavy haired girls like me: be sure to clarify regularly to avoid build up, to do natural protein treatments like rice water rinses and to style using lightweight, water-based products! Speaking of which…I have a deep appreciation for Curl Keeper Original. My BEST wash day to date involved this product, I always get such juicy, perfectly clumped waves and curls whenever I use this, I love it, it's an absolute holy grail product for me.

Thanks for reading about my hair journey here in Dublin, Ireland everyone! I appreciate so much being able to share with you all!