A good beachy blowout takes you from the sand to the street

Sexy Brazilian models may have popularized the beach wave bombshell look what seems like ages ago, but even in 2012, it’s not going away. “Yes, I’m still a fan,” says Franco Della Grazia, global designer of Matrix. “I’m biased—I grew up in Australia by the beach, so textured, beachy hair means summer is here. There is a casualness to the look that will never date.” The effortless Sports Illustrated-inspired hairstyle is perfect for Sunday brunch; sunny, cocktail-filled afternoons with girlfriends; and casual evening events, says the mane guru. And “it always looks good with a suntan!”

Summer is most definitely the time to unleash free-flowing waves, a look that benefits almost every hair type, especially fine and colored hair with longer layers, Della Grazia says, though “if you have perfect cascading hair, it will always look great any time of the year.” But how can mere mortals go about snagging Gisele Bundchen’s signature style? Della Grazia walks us through two options.

Route No. 1 requires a gritty texture, so start by not washing your hair that day. If it’s been a few days and is oily, use a dry shampoo (like Matrix Design Pulse Clean Remix Instant Dry Shampoo) and blow-dry it in. Next, using a large two-inch curling iron, begin wrapping two-inch vertical sections starting at the top of the head around the iron, making sure the barrel is behind the section and the last inch of hair is left out. “You don’t want to curl the hair, you want to see an S formation when you release it,” says Della Grazia. Be sure that when curling around the face, the barrel is wound behind the hair and away from the face. Afterward, loosely shake the sections out, using your fingers to separate. Use a light hair spray like Matrix Total Results Amplify Performa to keep the texture.

Starting with freshly washed, towel-dried hair, take a finger dip of hair cream (like Matrix Design Pulse Beach Clay) and golf ball size of light styling mouse, mix them together and with your head upside down, scrunch the product in from the middle to ends. “Do not comb the product through, this will make your hair frizz,” he says. “And do not use gel, this will make your hair sticky.” Once the hair is 90 percent air-dried, take random two-inch sections of hair and place a large-barrel curling iron at mid-lengths, wrapping the hair and leaving out the ends. With this technique, “the randomness of the hair wrapping makes the style look more natural and undone.”

Ultimately this style is not about perfection, but effortless beauty. “It’s a look worn by women wanting to portray a sense of free spirit—they want their hair to be animated, to have texture and movement.”