My Bumble and Bumble Seaweed Air Dry Cream review: My full-time job is testing air dry creams for fine hair and this is the best of all of them.
An air dry cream has a simple job: to provide texture and wave straight out of the shower, while also reducing frizz and doing all of this without adding heat. Essentially: natural, post-beach waves.
Not mermaid waves, which if you ask me have been co-opted by brands that sell $400 curling wands — very Botticelli, very neat and clean, but not what I’m looking for. I’m looking for what I think of as my “natural” hair texture: wavy, not frizzy, volume-y but not ridiculous.
I’ve tried a zillion, including R+Co’s (literally just made my hair wet) and Pureology’s. This is the only one that’s ever given me what I want. I suspect this is because my hair is so fine, and Bumble’s Seaweed Air Dream Cream is just lighter than the others, which means it’s not literally weighing down my hair. (It’s hard to get waves when your hair feels heavy.)
BUY IT HERE: BUMBLE AND BUMBLE AIR DRY CREAM: SEPHORA
Air Dry Creams: The Basics
Air dry creams are a specific category, despite how some reviews lump them in with leave-in conditioners and curl creams. Air dry creams are a mixture of the two: They’re similar to leave-in conditioners but have extra ingredients to build texture. A curl cream can be used in conjunction with a leave-in conditioner but is focused on shaping and holding curls. (Of course, there’s a lot of overlap between these products, as they’ll all promise extra hydration, shine, moisturizing, etc etc.) I think of an air dry cream as a meeting point between the two of them. I personally have had trouble finding a leave-in conditioner that’s lightweight enough for my hair — some of them have led to massive breakage — and I also have hair that generally takes well to a wave, so air dry creams it is.
Bumble and Bumble Seaweed Air Dry Cream: How to Use
It couldn’t be easier: Use a wide-toothed comb to distribute it evenly through wet hair — maybe in the shower, maybe right after and go outside, live your life, have a nice day. I actually like applying it and then working out — the sweat and salt adds a little more texture and a little more volume.
For me, I get the best results when I leave air-dry it partway, then when my hair’s about half-dry, I’ll loosely braid it, and it’ll pick up all those curls. Voila, presto-change-o, wavy hair as soon as I take the braids out. And loads of volume — enough that people who see my hair every day will notice.
Now of course, the question is how long those defined curls stay defined. This depends on a number of outside factors: the humidity/dryness of the air, how long it’s been since I’ve washed my hair, etc. I’ve tried to extend them by trying to layer in a number of other products, which has … not worked well. I just enjoy them as long as they’re there, and start over a few days later.
Bumble and Bumble: A Few Words
I’m really partial to Bumble and Bumble, because I worked in a Bumble salon while I was in art school — not cutting hair but sweeping it up. My favorite non-sweeping job was “product information” — basically memorizing all the Bumble talking points and helping people figure out which products to buy for their hair. I still have my favorites from that line, like the Sunday clarifying shampoo (sadly, it’s too clarifying for my color-treated hair, but it totally does the job.) I also have more bottles of Surf Spray than I know what to do with. (Note I no longer recommend this product — there’s a reason it has so many one-star reviews. Breakage, tangling, etc. — it’s literally a mess.) But I generally think their products do what they’re supposed to do — a rare quality in the beauty industry.
The Final Analysis of Bumble and Bumble Seaweed Air Dry Cream
I love it. I’d check a piece of luggage to travel with it. Buy it at Sephora.
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