Waves (hairstyle)

An African-American male displaying a traditional "wave" hairstyle.

A young African-American male displaying the 360 waves hairstyle.

Short 360 Hair Waves (often shortened to waves or "360 waves") is a hairstyle, generally worn by men. The hair is cropped short to the head in the styling of a Caesar cut. There are brushing techniques that will result in the resemblance of "oceanic waves" in the hair. Frequent and repeated brushing (along with adequate moisturizing) is the only way that this hairstyle is maintained- although the amount of brushing may vary from person to person as the type of hair changes. "360 Waves" are the result of curls of hair that unfurl, allowing natural "rows" of roots to be exposed. As the hair lengthens in a process called wolfing, the waver can achieve "deeper" waves by allowing the hair to grow out; preferably 4–10 weeks.

Styles

"360 waves" is a style in which the hair is laid down all around the head in a wavy pattern. For some, "360 waves" are hard to obtain because the style requires a lot of brushing and care, and many people's hair grade ranges from coily to curly to straight. The appearance of waves differs from person to person depending on the texture of their hair and how long they've been maintaining their waves or "waving." Through a popular process called "wolfing" (refraining from getting a haircut as long as possible while constantly brushing your hair in order to train it to stay down and "wave") the wave pattern in your hair will become more defined and pronounced. When finally getting a haircut the "waves" may come out deeper depending on the time spent "wolfing" and the type of haircut you get. Although if people grow their hair out without training it or if the barber cuts hair uneven or too low, the waves may disappear. Wolfing takes times and dedication, you can't get a haircut after 1 week (you should at least do 3 weeks).

In the 1950s African American males would straighten their hair with a homemade lye relaxer or one from the barber shop and have a texturizing cream put in for a wave pattern. This was commonly worn by young men in Doo-wop groups. While not involving the use of chemical relaxers, the "wave" style, commonly worn by young African-American men and teens today may be considered to be a new version of the conk, in that the natural hair is artificially waved through use of pomades and pressed [formed] into place using a du rag.

Waves are maintained by daily brushing, weekly washing and conditioning, and wearing a do-rag at night.^[1] The more the hair is brushed, the better the waves are.

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