25 Most-Gorgeous Wavy Hairstyles to Try This Year

Are you ready to ride the waves of style? Dive into our curated list of the most gorgeous wavy hairstyles to try this year! Whether your tresses are naturally blessed with a curl or you’re looking for ways to revamp your straight strands, we’ve compiled the trendiest, most captivating looks that are sure to turn heads. From beachy bounces to polished mermaid waves, find your next breathtaking look and embrace the effortless charm of gorgeous wavy hairstyles.

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#1: Golden Bronde with Curtain-Swept Layers

The curtain fringe situation happening here is perfect for anyone who wants bangs but is terrified of commitment, because these are really just long face-framing layers that happen to part in the middle and fall in a flattering way. The bronde color, that space between true brown and true blonde, is one of my favorite things to recommend because it suits genuinely every skin tone I’ve ever seen it on. The waves are soft and undone and don’t demand anything from you, which I respect.

#2 Warm Butter Blonde with Loose Bends

The waves here are barely waves, really, they’re more like suggestions of movement, and that’s what makes this look so wearable for someone who doesn’t want to commit to a full beachy texture every morning. A round brush and a blow dryer could give you this, or you could braid damp hair before bed and wake up pretty close. The blonde is warm and natural-looking with just enough variation in tone to keep it interesting.

#3 Dark Chocolate Wavy Bob with Bounce

We’re ending on what might be the most wearable style of the entire list, because this dark chocolate wavy bob is the kind of haircut that works on virtually everyone and requires almost nothing from you in return. The color is rich and one-dimensional in the best way, the bob is cut with enough internal layering to create movement without losing density, and the waves have a relaxed bounce that says “my hair just does this.” Whether it actually does or not is between you and your styling tools, and I’m not telling.

#4 Brunette Beach Waves with Bohemian Length

This is the longest style in the bunch and it’s here because I wanted to show that you don’t have to cut your hair to make waves work. The key when you go this long is making sure you have enough layering to keep the waves from weighing themselves flat, and whoever cut this nailed it. There’s movement from about ear level down, with enough face-framing to keep it from looking heavy, and the dark brown with subtle caramel pieces woven through feels very organic and low-maintenance. If your natural texture is already wavy, growing it out to this length and just letting it do its thing is honestly the move.

#5 Auburn Waves with Old Hollywood Polish

This auburn is serious, and I mean that as the highest compliment. It’s deep, it’s saturated, and the waves have a slightly more structured, almost vintage quality that gives the whole look a bit of glamour that most of the other styles here intentionally avoid. If you’ve ever wanted to feel like a 1940s movie star but in a way that doesn’t look like a costume, this is it. The key is the shine, so invest in a good color-depositing conditioner to keep that richness between appointments.

#6 Caramel-Dipped Lob with Tousled Movement

The caramel highlights concentrated on the ends and through the face-framing pieces give this a sunkissed quality without requiring full highlights, which means less time in the chair and less damage to your hair. The waves are tousled but not chaotic, hitting that middle ground where it looks like you styled it about four hours ago and it’s just been living its best life since then. This is a great option if you’re trying to add some lightness to brown hair without a huge commitment.

#7 Mushroom Brown Waves with Natural Volume

Mushroom brown is one of those trendy color names that actually describes something real and useful, and this is a textbook example. The ashy, cool brown with no golden tones at all gives off a very modern, editorial feel, and when you pair it with this much root volume and these loose, slightly messy waves, the whole thing feels very unbothered in the best way. If you have naturally fine hair but a lot of it, this kind of wave and cut will make it look like you have the thickest hair in any room.

#8 Copper-Kissed Wavy Bob with Glasses

If you wear glasses, you already know the struggle of finding a hairstyle that doesn’t compete with your frames, and this is the answer. The waves give enough movement that the hair doesn’t just sit flat behind the glasses, and the warm copper highlights catch light in a way that complements rather than clashes with the tortoiseshell frames. The length is perfect too, long enough to clear the earpieces without getting tangled in them. Practical and gorgeous, which is a combination I will always root for.

#9 Warm Cinnamon Textured Bob

Short, piece-y, and warm. The cinnamon brown here is one of those colors that doesn’t get the love it deserves because it’s not as obvious as a red or as safe as a neutral brown, but in person it reads as incredibly rich and interesting. The bob is cut to sit right around the jaw, and the waves are more textured than round, which keeps it looking modern rather than matronly. If you’re on the fence about going this short, know that waves at this length are the most forgiving thing in the world because they hide imperfections in the cut as it grows out.

#10 Romantic Brunette Waves with Center-Part Softness

Everything about this reads romantic without being fussy, from the soft center part to the way the layers fall in gentle S-curves around the face. The medium brown color has just enough warmth to feel approachable and the waves are styled with intention but not precision, if that makes sense. Like someone curled sections in alternating directions and then ran their fingers through it all and called it done. That “I didn’t try but I’m still the prettiest person at this dinner party” energy.

#11 Cool-Toned Brunette Waves with Natural Texture

Not every brunette needs to be warm, and this is my proof. The cool, almost ashy undertone in this dark brown gives it a completely different mood than the warmer brunettes on this list, and against blue eyes the effect is really striking. The waves here have a crinkly, natural quality that looks like they weren’t styled at all, just encouraged with some curl cream and left alone. Sometimes the best thing you can do for your hair is stop trying so hard.

#12 Warm Brunette Waves with Sun-Kissed Dimension

There’s a subtlety to the highlighting here that I want to give credit to because it’s not easy to do. The lighter pieces are concentrated around the face and through the mid-lengths in a way that looks like actual sun exposure rather than foils, which is exactly the kind of thing that separates a good colorist from a great one. The wave pattern is mid-size and uniform enough to look polished, and the whole thing has a warmth that just makes you want to go outside and do something.

#13 Chocolate Waves with Effortless Scrunch

This is what I want people to picture when they think of wavy brunette hair, because it’s the platonic ideal. The chocolate brown is rich and glossy without any highlights breaking it up, which means all the visual interest comes from the texture itself, and there’s plenty of it. The waves are tighter than most of the others on this list, leaning almost curly in spots, which gives it incredible volume and movement. If your hair naturally does something close to this, please stop fighting it with a flat iron because you are sitting on a gold mine.

#14 Soft Blonde Wavy Bob with Feminine Edge

I’ve seen so many people go short and then panic because they didn’t realize how much a wave changes the perceived length of a cut. This bob accounts for that beautifully, sitting right above the shoulders with waves that scrunch up just enough to give it personality without making it look shorter than intended. The blonde is soft and slightly rosy, and the whole thing has a quiet sophistication that I think gets overlooked when people are chasing more dramatic looks.

#15 Sun-Bleached Honey Blonde with Tousled Ends

This is what I point to when someone says they want hair that looks like they live near the ocean but they actually live in Ohio. The darker roots melting into that buttery blonde give it depth without any maintenance stress, and the wave pattern here is loose enough that you could scrunch in some sea salt spray on damp hair and walk out the door. The center part keeps it easy, the length keeps it manageable, and the whole thing just looks like she’s not trying very hard, which is exactly the point.

#16 The “Before and After That Changes Everything” Waves

I’m including this because I think it’s important to show what a good cut and the right styling can actually do for wavy hair that’s been left to fend for itself. The before is what happens when you have natural texture but no shape to contain it, and the after is what happens when someone finally cuts into it properly and gives those waves somewhere to go. The volume, the bounce, the way it frames her face now versus before, that’s not a blowout or a flat iron trick. That’s a good haircut doing what it’s supposed to do, and it’s a reminder that waves need structure to look their best.

#17 Strawberry Blonde Lived-In Waves

Okay, if I had to pick a favorite on this list, we’d be in the running right here. There’s a slight strawberry undertone running through this blonde that most people wouldn’t even notice consciously but it’s doing so much for the warmth of the overall look. The wave pattern is genuinely imperfect in the way that real waves are, with some pieces bending more than others and the ends going slightly different directions, and that’s what makes it look real instead of curated. This is air-dried energy at its absolute peak.

#18 Warm Toffee Chin-Length Bob

I’ll be honest, this length scares most people and it shouldn’t. A chin-length wavy bob is one of the most flattering cuts that exists if your stylist knows where to place the weight, and this one has it right. The waves start close to the root which gives the whole shape a fullness that reads as healthy, thick hair whether you actually have it or not. The toffee brown with those tiny honey highlights through the front is warm and dimensional without screaming “I just got my hair done,” which I think is always the goal.

#19 Polished Champagne Lob

There’s a specific energy to a blonde lob with a deep side part and I would describe it as “person you’d trust to plan your wedding and also your financial portfolio.” The champagne tone is cool without being icy, the waves are controlled enough to look intentional but not stiff, and the whole thing is giving quiet competence. If you have finer hair, this is one to bookmark because the shorter length and the wave together create the illusion of thickness that a longer style would completely flatten out.

#20 Collarbone-Length Textured Bronde

This is the hair you get when you tell your stylist you want to look like you don’t care but you actually care very much, and that’s a compliment. The length is ideal because it’s long enough to pull back but short enough that the waves don’t stretch out and go flat by lunchtime. There’s a slight piece-y quality to the ends that tells me there’s either some light layering or a good texturizing spray involved, and honestly either answer is fine with me.

#21 Buttery Blonde All-Over Waves

Sometimes you don’t need dimension or a complicated balayage, you just need one really good blonde and a wave pattern that cooperates. This is that. The tone is warm and creamy without any brassiness, and the waves have that wide, relaxed S-shape that comes from either naturally cooperative hair or a large barrel curling wand used loosely. Either way, it looks like a warm Saturday afternoon.

#22 Shadow Root Blonde with Beachy Texture

That shadow root is doing about 80% of the heavy lifting here, and I’m not mad about it. The grow-out is built into the design, which means this looks intentional at every stage between salon visits. The face-framing pieces are lighter and chunkier than the rest, which is a small detail that makes a massive difference when you’re pulling your hair back or tucking one side behind your ear. Genuinely one of the most low-commitment blondes you can get.

#23 Rich Espresso Waves That Mean Business

If every other wave on this list whispers, this one has a firm handshake. The deep espresso color is almost single-process in its richness, and when you pair that kind of saturated brunette with waves that have actual body and bounce, the whole thing reads as incredibly polished even though the texture is relaxed. This is what I’d recommend for anyone who needs their hair to transition from a 9am meeting to dinner without touching it. A little lightweight hair oil on the ends and you’re done.

#24 Toasted Caramel Lob with Effortless Bend

There’s a difference between waves that are styled and waves that just happen because your hair has been in a bun for three hours, and this gives you the latter in the best possible way. The caramel tones running through a medium brown base are warm without being loud, and the cut hits right at that collarbone sweet spot where it still swings when you move but doesn’t get tangled in your necklace.

#25 Warm Copper Waves with Salon-Floor Confidence

I am obsessed with this color, and I need you to understand the restraint it takes to get this particular shade of warm auburn without it veering into Halloween territory. There’s golden threading through the mid-lengths that catches light in a way that feels expensive, and the waves are just disheveled enough to keep it from looking like a shampoo commercial. If you have medium to thick hair that already has some natural texture, this is going to be your easiest style because most of the work is in the color, not the styling.