Like many others, I've prioritised air-drying my hair [1] rather than heat styling it [2] over the last few months. It's quicker, requires less effort, and is better for your hair anyway. I have slightly wavy hair and despite air-drying it often pre-work-from-home, I always kept a curling wand close by to fix it just incase I woke up and it looked wonky — which it often does.
Everyone says that to master air-drying your hair, you have to have the right products — what I thought that meant was an assortment of styling creams, mousse, and foams [3]. Turns out, all I needed was one leave-in conditioner.
While meeting with Ashley Streicher [4] (virtual, of course) to learn about her recent product collaboration with hair-care brand R+Co [5], she told me about how she does her hair. (For reference, during our Zoom call her hair had effortless, loose waves.) I was convinced she had styled it with a curling iron until she said that her hopes for her new product would be that people would learn how to embrace their air-dried texture. That's when I basically blurted out, "Wait, is your hair air-dried right now?" and she confirmed that it was.
The R+Co Sun Catcher Power C Boosting Leave-In Conditioner
That conversation led me to have pretty high expectations for the R+Co Sun Catcher Power C Boosting Leave-In Conditioner [6] ($32). It's a hydrating and protective leave-in hair treatment that's formulated with ingredients that are usually found in your skin-care products. (That's how I knew it was going to be good.) Vitamin C delivers antioxidants to your hair to protect it from environmental aggressors and UV damage, hyaluronic acid locks-in hydration, vegetable collagen helps strengthen your hair, and coconut oil extract softens it.
The lightweight cream formula is easily worked into towel-dried hair without weighing it down or leaving behind any oily residue — a must for me because my hair is very fine. To use it, I scrunched it into my wet hair after the shower and followed up with a curl-enhancing mousse. Because the whole point of air-drying your hair is to cut down on styling time, I loved how quick and easy it was to use. The leave-in conditioner paired with the scrunching method helped give my hair natural waves at the end without the need for any additional heatless curling method [7]. For additional texture, you can scrunch more into your dry hair next-day and it acts as a reviver for your waves. I've used it in every post-shower routine since.