Way before Blake Lively graced our screens in Gossip Girl and set off a hair obsession that would last, well, it never ended, there was another celeb beachy wave in town that, despite not being in LA or working our way down a red carpet on the regular, we were determined to achieve ASAP.
We're talking about Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
Owners of the two finest heads of hair we've been ogling from roughly the age of eight, even as child tv stars their effortlessly cool, 'I woke up like' this blonde beachy waves was the elusive hair style that, if Pinterest had existed back then, would have covered every one of our inspo boards.
So, when we heard that their go-to hairstylist Mark Townsend had revealed his rules for nailing The Row designers' super casual but oh-so hard to achieve wavy hair, we may have stifled a small squeal of excitement. Ok, it was loud. Like really quite loud...
But less of that, there's So Little Time (sorry), and much genius hair knowledge to put into practice. Bring on the rules!
1. Never Look Too Done
'They are so focused on fashion and designing that a lot of times, their hair takes almost a backseat,' Townsend told HelloGiggles. 'They've really become true wash-and-go clients. It's as little maintenance as possible with cuts and colour. They never want to look like they've been too done up.
'Mary Kate has a rule now that I can only use five hairpins or less to create an updo because she feels like if it takes more than five, then it's too done, we've tried too hard.'
2. More Salt Spray Is More
Unsurprisingly the Olsens' too cool for school waves require a fittingly understated product kit.
'All we ever use is salt water and dry shampoo on their hair,' Townsend told The Zoe Report, admitting that he'll use an entire bottle of salt water in one sitting when styling them. Now that's a lot of salt spray.
16 Of The Best Sea Salt Sprays For Big Beachy Textured Waves
L'Oreal Tecni Art Beach Waves Spray Salt Texturiser - £16.50
Spotted backstage at the Bora Aksu SS22 show, hairstylist Daniel Martin used this Spray Salt Texturiser to attain the 'cool girl that just got out of bed look.' Martin played with each girl's natural hair texture, embracing those with wavy hair by tonging loose beach waves and spritzing this through the ends to get a 'semi-bed head' look.
Hair By Sam McKnight Cool Girl Barely There Texture Mist - £25
Sometimes when you have poker straight hair it's impossible to fake beachy waves by just spraying product onto towel dried hair (no matter how much you spray, trust us we've tried). So when going sans heat isn't an option, try manipulating loose waves with a pair of straighteners, flip your head over and spray Cool Girl with abandon. Be prepared for waves that look effortlessly undone (check) and hold all day (check check) without any tell-tale crispy styling residue. Plus, the scent (floral with a hint of pepper and spice) is in a league of its own.
R+Co Dreamhouse Cold Pressed Watermelon Wave Spray - £27
If you're lucky enough to actually be heading to the seaside, you'll want to throw a bottle of this in your straw bag. Why? Not only does this leave your hair smelling incredible (think woodsy, rustic beach-house vibes), it defines waves while keeping them soft and protects hair from the damaging effects of UV rays. Not to mention, the packaging is adorable.
Innersense Create Waves - £24
For lovers of ritualistic beauty routines, Innersense's Create Waves spray might just be the holistic addition your hair needs. Formulated with aloe vera to give moisture to your hair, amethyst crystal powder (yes really), and scented with lavender oil, not only does this spray deliver surfer chic waves, it'll also leave you blissfully calm.
Sun Bum Texturizing Sea Spray - £15.99
A true gem of the ocean, this salt spray contains black lava sea salt, seaweed and sea kelp to harness that windswept, tousled beachy hair without the unfortunate dryness that a day in the sun can impart. Oh, and the formula helps to shield hair from humidity, meaning your waves will stay relaxed and frizz-free.
Fudge Professionals Sea Salt Spray - £11.50
This spray is as close to the sea as your hair can get without getting your feet wet. Drawing on ingredients such giant sea kelp, red algae and ocean salt minerals, it also contains UVisiShield technology to help protect hair from UVA and UVB rays and leaves a tropical scent trailing behind you all day.
Evo Salty Dog Salt Spray - £22
Want that dried-in-the-sun beach wave look without having to leave your bedroom? This is a great choice for straight and wavy hair types as it adds fullness as well as definition.
Percy & Reed Beyond The Beach Texture Spray - £16
Harnessing the saltiness of the British Coast, this texturising spray is infused with Cornish sea salt and Pro Vitamin B5 to leave hair tousled and soft but with a lasting finish.
Sachajuan Ocean Mist - £21.90
This is basically the Mediterranean sea, bottled. Its ability to make locks look accidentally perfect, voluminous and mermaid-like sans the gritty, brittle feel is pretty much unrivalled - no wonder it has a huge celeb following.
Playa Beauty Endless Summer Spray - £27
Formulated with sea salt harvested from Southern California, Playa's nourishing formula protects your hair from damaging UV rays whilst giving your lengths the most realistic Cali girl waves ever.
Philip B Maui Wowie Beach Mist - £25
Essentially like taking a trip to a tropical beach, this contains a blend of coconut, aloe vera and orchid, to give you those naturally perfect island beach waves without any dryness.
Ouai Wave Spray - £22
Jen Atkin is the queen of carefree, windswept waves, so adding this baby to her award-winning OUAI collection was always a given. For flexible, shaggy and windblown waves, veil over damp or dry hair, run your fingers through, et voila. Think Kim Kardashian at the 2014 VMAs.
We Are Paradoxx Volume Texture Salt Spray - £20
This vegan formula gives waves endless amounts of texture without leaving hair feeling weighed down or crunchy. It also adds a sunlit gleam to ends, so hair looks a whole lot healthier.
Davines Sea Salt Spray - £18.50
If you're looking for a salt spray to add a bit of grit to hair to solidify those curls, this is the one for you. It acts like hairspray (without the stickiness) to keep waves intact all day long.
Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray - £10
Not sticky or overly salty, Bumble and Bumble's Surf Spray is the closest thing to a dip in the ocean - and it doesn't come with a mouthful of seaweed. For that dishevelled, beachy look, tip your head upside down and go wild.
Redken Fashion Waves - £16.30
Slip backstage at Fashion Week and you'll spot a bottle of Redken's Fashion Waves near most hair stations. Harnessing epsom salt, it separates layers to give hair amazing definition while imparting a semi-matte, effortlessly tousled finish. Kate Moss, eat your heart out.
3. Anything Goes For The Met Gala
'That's the day I'm allowed to do anything,' says Townsend.
His favourite Met Gala look? 'It was an antique that [Mary-Kate] found, it was really heavy. So when we were trying to figure out how we were going to drape it, she literally gets in the mirror and she's like, "What if it's kind of like this?" And I'm like, "Okay don't move." And then I just pinned frantically around her fingers.'
Townsend's second favourite? The crimp-tastic look from 2019's Met Gala. 'When they sent me photos of their black leather dresses, my mind blew up,' says Townsend. 'I showed them images of the Wonder Twins, who were huge in the clubs in NYC in the '80s. So we went in with a plan that they would have the same hair.'
4. Don't Go OTT With The Coconut Oil
According to HelloGiggles there was an incident with wet look hair and coconut oil...
'Because of that, we came up with a different version and now I make conditioner. I usually make it once a month. Maybe every five or six weeks. I make a big enough batch to send to my clients.'
ELLE Edit: Raw Coconut Oil
Garden Of Life Raw Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil
5. Do Make Your Own Conditioner
'Both Ashley and Mary Kate were going on vacation right after the Met Gala that year, both beach destinations. So I made this conditioner and I told them to put it in their hair every day before they get in the ocean or the pool to protect against the chlorine.
'It was one cup of coconut oil to one tablespoon of each almond oil, jojoba oil, macadamia oil, vitamin E. That's it,' says Townsend.
How to use Mark's miracle cure? 'It's more of a pre-shampoo treatment. They put it on their ends and just leave it for a few minutes and then get in the shower and shampoo like normal, but it protects their ends from the shampoo stripping out their colour. Shampoo can be a little harsh and sometimes you don't really need it on your ends.' Genius.
6. Just Say No To The Perm
'I binge-watched "Sex in the City" the whole flight to Japan, but I thought it would be really good idea to give Ashley [Olsen] that Carrie Bradshaw big, curly hair,' says Townsend, 'It was not a success, let's just put it that way. It was quite a look.
'She was I think 16, 17 at the time and it just wasn't, it didn't look right. It didn't look that fresh on her at all, it looked really contrived. I was like, I'm going to stick with their "less is more" approach from now on.'
7. Ditch The Fishtail Braid
'I can't look at another fishtail braid, to be honest. But I love using braids as accents,' Mark told HG.
'Like if you look at Mary Kate at the Met Gala, we had five different little braids in there. You can braid it with a really, really fine gold chain and wrap an entire thread into it, just for tiny little bumps of colour.
'It really showed up just as like a sparkle or a flash on the carpet, and I loved that. I also love the big, thick side-braid that's coming back. I just did that for Mary Kate the other night.'
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