Nirvana Waves Are the Bedhead Style We Don’t Want to Sleep On

While ultrapolished, glossy blow-dries are blowing up on one side of the beauty spectrum, on the other Nirvana waves are embracing messy, casual, individual texture. Coined by Samantha Cusick, UK ambassador at GHD, the term references the cool-girl waves that we’ve spotted overtaking more uniform beachy waves this summer.

What are Nirvana waves?

According to Cusick, Nirvana waves are all about “undone textures that mimic the ‘no-makeup makeup’ look but for hair.” It’s supposed to look as though it came about naturally—like a slept-on texture with a mix of tight and loose waves, curls, and coils. “The style is nothing but relaxed, super cool, and slightly dishevelled. It’s about embracing and enhancing natural textures with cool-girl kinks and barely there waves,” Cusick says.

As for the name, it references the more casual (and natural) waves we’d see on rockers like Curt Cobain, and on music fans moshing in the crowd—and it has a little grunginess to it, thanks to its rejection of overly polished shapes.

Why are Nirvana waves trending?

We’ve seen more and more people embrace their natural texture, or move between “done” and “undone” looks; Nirvana waves lean heavily into unfussy, natural styles. “The 2024 trends differ from previous years’ by focusing more on natural, effortless looks with a polished finish,” says Cusick. “While past trends leaned toward more-structured and defined styles, this year is all about embracing your hair’s natural texture with a refined touch.”

How to wear Nirvana waves?

To keep it feeling casual, the style tends to be worn with flatter roots and a messier, nonuniform wave, which can be achieved by letting natural hair air-dry and develop its own individual mix of texture, or by sleeping in braids. To style it that way, include a mix of waves by alternating how you tong or clamp your waves with a mix of S waves, flat waves, forward waves, and backward waves. Once you’ve achieved the mix, there’s loads of versatility within the trend. We’ve seen it worn side-flipped, two-tone, wet-look, a little sleek, or ultra undone.

Here are some of our favorite ways to wear it.

Platinum Nirvana waves