Jun 13, 2024
Wet styling in cosmetology is a high fashion hair look. However, you can easily accomplish the style with your biological hair or a hair piece!
Wet styling is more than just styling hair when it’s wet. Instead, it’s getting your hair to look wet with a combination of products and technique. This results in an ultra-shiny, glossy, almost dripping wet look. Wet styling can result in either a sleek, straight, modern finish, or a tousled beachy sexy look.
Ready to sport a high-fashion look? Wet styling is low effort, high impact, and isn’t complicated! To learn how you can achieve this style and turn heads, keep reading.
How to Style the Wet Hair Look
Vogue says you don’t want to look like a drowned rat, and we can’t argue with that. Here are some tips to keep your wet hair look bold, effortless, and versatile.
You don’t want your hair to actually be dripping wet. You should not have hair that’s wet when styling, because that can damage the strands. It’s never better to style your hair wet than damp or dry. This is true for both hair pieces and your biological hair.
When choosing products for wet styling, focus on achieving the look you’re after, not the feeling of drenched hair. Hairstylist Cyndia Harvey recommends using dryer products like hairsprays to set the bottom layers of your hair. Then she suggests using gel sparingly on the top layers for impact.
To keep your look fresh, try different hair styles with the wet look! You can slick back the sides of a tight bun with gel, wear your hair curly and wet looking, or keep things straight and sleek. Play with different hair partings, as well. You can slick back all your hair or keep a sharp part.
One common block in successful wet hair styling is accidental crunchiness. Using a hair oil in tandem with your styling gel will keep hair soft and eliminate frizz, too! Mousse and conditioner can also help when smoothing wet hair into place.
The best way to break down your cocktail of styling products is by thoroughly rinsing your hair under warm water before shampooing. This is true whether you’re working with a hair piece or your natural hair.
Wet Styling Inspiration
From celebrities to everyday people to the runway, inspiration for the wet styling trend is everywhere. You can use the techniques we mention above to style a high fashion sleek look or a casual, effortless beachy look. You’ll find wet styling muses everywhere, but here are a few of our favorite wet hair looks from Byrdie for inspiration.
Ear tuck with Flipped-Up Ends
This cute 90’s-inspired look from Bella Hadid is grown-up and playful at the same time. This tight and sleek hairstyle is edgy and modern while maintaining some fun. To get this look, we recommend parting and tucking your hair into place however you’d like before adding your styling products.
Textured Wet Look Curls
Rihanna is rocking a curly texture with extra product for a wet look. This technique, using conditioner and/or strong hold hair gel, adds definition to curls without making them look greasy. Yara Shahidi pulls off the trend with her long curls by wearing them smoothed back and down her back.
Slicked Back Tight Bun
Depending on your approach, this style could look gym chic, high fashion, or just severe. Use a comb or brush to carefully direct your hair while slicking it back. Hailey Bieber makes her sleek bun look sultry by pairing it with a warm neutral smokey eye look.
Wet Volumized Waves
Kat Graham’s sexy waves are full of volume at the roots, making this wet style extra dramatic and sexy. She makes it look like she’s just walking out of a pool while somehow keeping her blowout perfect. You can get volume like Kat by using volumizing powder in your roots after curling and before applying gel.
Slick Crop
Halsey’s slicked back short pixie makes her look boyishly adorable. The prim part and careful ear tuck soften her look and keep it from being too dramatic.
Wet Hollywood Waves
Kim Kardashian’s iconic Met Gala rain dress and drenched Hollywood waves are the perfect example of this style. However, she’s not the only one who can pull it off! These waves stay glamorous, even while wet, by carefully framing the face. You can achieve this look by carefully forming waves with your fingers and clipping them in place to set.
Sleek Roots and Waves
This method is one of the easiest ways to pull off a wet styling look. Both Zendaya and Shay Mitchell have hair that’s slicked back on the tops and sides, with loose waves cascading down their backs. This is a simple technique for highlighting your natural texture.
Wet Styling Products
Whenever styling hair, we recommend professional hair care products from The Lauren Ashtyn Collection. Our hair products are 100% vegan, cruelty free, organic, sulfate and paraben free. This makes them the optimal choice for caring for human hair in any form.
We also sell a Lauren Ashtyn-recommended Moroccanoil© hair care line! Although these products aren’t specifically for hair pieces, they are safe to use on all our extensions, toppers, and wigs. For the ultimate wet look hair, we suggest trying our Moroccanoil© Strong Styling Gel.
Our 100% Remy European human hair wigs are perfect for styling. Our affordability, convenience, customization, process, and service make us the premium choice for luxury lace front wigs. We triple knot (by hand) each strand of high quality hair and attach them to our unique micromesh base. We don’t take shortcuts in quality or service.