The below guide breaks down the most common questions we’ve received. It’ll provide you with the tools and knowledge you need to unleash your wavy hairs true potential.

We need to understand that everyone’s hair is unique. What works for one person may not work for someone else. So be open minded during this journey. Experiment with different quantities and test different techniques. One day you’ll hit breakthrough where your hair will be transformed into soft, defined, gorgeous waves.

Watch Tutorial videos and demos 

Wavy hair blog - dozens of articles on how to unlock your hairs true potential

Merwave Members Group - share tips and get advice inside our wavy hair community

All questions in this guide are below. Click on any to get directed to it. 

A - Getting Started

A1 - Does my hair need protein or moisture?

A3 - I've used other products and heat tools before, will this cause issues

A4 - Can I brush my hair?

B - Wash day questions

B1 - What's the process?

B2 - What quantities should I use?

B3 - How do I dry my hair?

C - Post wash questions

C1 - When should I start seeing results?

C2 - What do I do on non-wash days? Refresh routine

C3 - How do I protect my waves when sleeping?

C4 - How often should I wash my hair?

D - Help! My hair is...

D1 - My hair is crispy/crunchy

D2 - My hair feels producty

D3 - My hair is dry, brittle and feels like straw

D4 - My hair looked great yesterday but now a mess

D5 - Lots of hair is coming out when I brush 

An optimum protein-moisture balance is the key to incredible hair.

A simple test you can do to determine if your hair needs more moisture or protein is by stretching a strand of your hair downward and seeing how far it extends before breaking.

Balanced Hair: If the strand stretches a little, then returns to its original length without breaking, your hair is balanced. 

If this is the case, continue using steps 1-5.

Protein Deficient: If the strand keeps stretching without breaking, your hair is likely protein deficient. 

Use steps 1-5 as normal. Step 3 (Feed Treatment) will provide your hair with a protein boost, restoring strength and reducing elasticity.

Moisture Deficient: If the strand stretches very little before breaking (feeling dry, brittle, and straw-like), your hair is moisture deficient. 

In this case, skip Step 3 (Feed Treatment) for the next couple of washes, as you don’t need more protein. 

Instead, allow the Repair Conditioner to soak into your hair for a couple of minutes before rinsing off. This will help rehydrate dry and brittle strands.

Note: Your moisture/protein balance will change over time, so it’s a good idea to perform this test every month.

If you’ve used heating tools and harmful products (hair dyes, silicones etc) before then your hair may be damaged. So more protein will be required to repair your hair.  

If you want a hard reset, wash your hair using a clarifying shampoo. This will remove any old product build up so you can start from scratch. It will leave your hair dehydrated and super dry though, so make sure you deeply condition after. 

Bear in mind, if your hair is really damaged, then it will take some time for it to get back to full health.

Only when it’s soaking wet and coated in conditioner. Use a tangle teaser or wide tooth comb to detangle. 

Brushing your hair when it’s dry causes tension on your hair strands which leads to breakages. 

Full video demos can be found here. We advise watching them to see the routine in action. 

This is where the fun begins! The process may look daunting, yet it’s super easy once you’ve done it a couple of times. 

Everyone’s hair is different. Some people (like me) have lots of hair so need more product. Others have finer hair that reacts better to less product. There is no right or wrong amount.

Experiment with different quantities until you discover what works best for you. Start off with less and add in more if required.

Few options depending on how much time you have. The big no no is blow drying. This will cause all sorts of problems with your waves.

Option 1: Diffuse

Full video on this page. Quickest method if you’re in a rush. Use on a low heat and low speed. 

Post diffusing your hair may look a little crunchy, so you’ll need to break the cast (see how here).

Option 2: Air drying

Healthiest option, yet also the longest. Just let your hair dry as normal.

Option 3: Microfibre hair towel and air dry/diffuse combo

Best of both worlds. The microfibre hair wrap will absorb excess moisture. You can then air dry or diffuse to finish it off.

Some people’s waves will be unleashed after the first wash. Others will take time. It all depends on how you’ve cared for your hair prior to starting this process.

If you’ve been using products that contain sulphates, silicones, parabens and damaging it using heating tools (blow drying, straighteners, curlers etc), then your hair will likely be damaged. It’ll therefore need to go through what’s called the ‘’transition stage’’. Read this article about it.

Your hair is a living thing (like your skin). So the longer you use the products the healthier your hair will become, which equals more defined waves.

Product build-up, humidity, sleeping, day to day life. There are multiple reasons why your waves lose definition on non-wash days. They become weighed down, lose their shape, appear messy.

Which is why you need to understand how to quickly refresh your waves.

This guide (with video demo) shows you how to do that.

 Click here to watch.

Nothing worse than having a great wash day, going to sleep and waking up looking like you’ve been dragged through a bush (frizz, tangles etc).

You must protect your waves at night. Firstly, swap your cotton pillow case for a silk pillow case. Silk results in less friction with your hair, which is a big cause of frizz. A silk hair bonnet for sleeping in will also keep your hair tidied away and secure. Putting your hair up in a pineapple will also keep it safe.

Full video tutorial on how to do that here.

Depends on your hair type and lifestyle. We’ve compiled a full guide on how often you should wash your hair. Read it here. 

Likely because you haven't broken the cast. The Cast Foam creates a crispy cast around your waves as they dry. 

You need to break the cast when your hair is fully dry by clapping or scrunching it out. This is called ‘scrunching out the crunch’. 

There’s a video on this page showing you how to do this. 

If it still feels a little dry try adding a few drops of oil through your hair. 

Few reasons why... 

1. Used too much styling product (steps 4 & 5). Next time use less. 

2. Haven't scrunched out the scrunch as mentioned in question D1. 

3. Not use to having product in your hair 

This is due to a lack of moisture. 

So, remove Step 3 (Feed Treatment) from your next wash.

At this stage your hair doesn’t need protein. It’s craving moisture. 

So treat it to a deep condition using our Deep Conditioning Mask. Wash hair as normal, apply mask and leave on for 30 minutes, rinse off, then style as normal.

Main reason why is because you didn’t protect it when sleeping (see question C3).

You may just be going through the transition stage (question C1) so your hair is reacting differently to the new products. If this is the case you need to persevere. It will get better, as members in our group have confirmed.

If your hair is messy in the morning, perform a refresh. See question C2.

It’s normal to lose between 50-100 strands of hair per day. You may notice you’re losing more hair, yet the main reason for this is because you’ve gone from brushing your hair daily to only brushing it in the shower when conditioning it.

Instead of brushing out 50+ strands daily, you’re now only brushing it twice a week, which has caused a backlog of dead hair strands.

If you do see chunks of hair coming out then it’s advised to speak to your doctor.