If you keep up with the fashion trends (as we love to do), you may have heard the term “lived-in” hair before.  It sounds cool, but what exactly does it mean?  Lived-in hair refers to a style or vibe more than one particular look.

Imagine you’ve been riding in a Jeep or strolling through the park on a windy day or you curled your hair yesterday, but the theme of the day is “I woke up like this”… THAT’S lived-in hair.  Have you seen the gorgeous piecey, almost-falling-out boho braids?

Lived. In. Hair.

What about the rooty balayage look where you can’t tell if they just left the salon or got their hair painted six months ago?  You guessed it.  Lived-in hair.  Want to know more about how you can get in on this amaze trend?  Of course you do…

First up…

Lived-in Waves

(because they’re our current obsession tbh).

Lived-in waves can look a lot like beach waves, and can be achieved in a few different ways.  Our obsession with them comes from the fact that they look great on basically everyone, they compliment pretty much EVERY hair color, and they exude casual beauty (which, of course, goes right along with the current minimalist makeup trend).  We also love a hair trend that can be achieved through a variety of methods because some things work better for different hair types and lengths.

Method One: Start off by curling your hair either with a flat iron or curling iron (we love a good flat iron curl) then comb out the curls to create loose waves.

Method Two: take a section of hair, twist the hair tight, and run your flat iron down the twist.  Boom.  Waves.

Method Three: if your hair is long enough for a braid, braid it while damp, let it air dry, then undo your braid and comb it out.

Method Four: Curl your hair, wear it for a day, sleep on it, get up and go.  (We gotta admit, that’s our fave.)  No matter the method, a few spritzes of texture spray and a good hair flip add the perfect finishing touches to this care-free look.

Next up…

Lived-in Braids

We talk about braids a lot because, well, they’re timeless and gorgeous, and look great on everyone.  Lived-in braids, which pair wonderfully with autumn’s classic over-sized sweaters and blanket scarves, give off the same casual, perfectly undone vibes as lived-in waves.

The braid version of the look can be created with a french braid, dutch braid, or fishtail.  The key to making a braid look lived-in is to loosen it up by pulling gently on the outside of the braid.  If a few strands fall out—even better!  That just adds to the whimsical wind-blown look of lived-in braids.

Now that you’ve got the styles down, it’s time to explore…

Lived-in Color

Invented by Johnny Ramirez of the renowned L.A. salon, Ramirez-Tran, lived-in color is thus named because it’s designed to only be done or freshened up a couple of times a year.  The main characteristics include an extended darker root and hand-painted dimension, often in a balayaged ombre.

The look also typically features brighter face-framing pieces (aka the “money pieces”).  Lived-in color is most often a blonde or brunette color palette as it’s inspired by the natural sun-kissed hair that children magically have.

The lived-in color takes a bit longer to create as it often combines hand-painting and foiling, along with requiring a root extension or smudge and always a glaze.  The benefit to that longer salon visit is that you can go several months in between colors and still look just as gorgeous and on-trend as you did when you left the salon.

Lived-in color is beautiful, customizable, and unique to each person.  Those aspects combined with the option of flexibility in terms of how often you need to get it redone makes this trend pretty fantastic.

Once you’ve got your lived-in color you can work on your lived-in waves and braids and you’ll be winning the “lived-in” lifestyle.  If you’re struggling with your waves or braids, talk to your stylist about which method might work best for your hair texture and length.

And don’t forget to pick up a can of Kevin Murphy’s Bedroom.Hair or R+Co’s Death Valley… they’ll be your lived-in hair’s best friends. Stop by the Garnish counter to get yours!