Beauty
Widowspeak Molly Hamilton Hair
get molly hamilton’s perfect curls.
Few people are blessed with the kind of hair that Widowspeak front woman Molly Hamilton possesses. We're talking about a gorgeous, full head of curls that are perfectly bouncy without looking the
least
bit like cheesy ringlets--which as anyone who's ever attempted the look knows, is definitely easier said than done. These are locks so effortless, it's almost as if the singer just wakes up every morning, shakes her head and the voluminous waves come sprawling out. You can chalk this amazing result up to good genes (or magic), but as Hamilton told us, her secret also lies in brushing dry, salt spray, and just accepting them the way they are.
Here's her trick:
"Having big, wavy, wild hair can be a blessing and a curse. I love that I can let it do what it wants, that it's unpredictably predictable, that it "does the work for me," in a sense. But it's taken me a long time to accept that natural state. For a while in my early teens I was convinced that blow-drying and straightening my hair made me look more "put-together." I adored that long bangs, '70s Joni Mitchell,
You Are Free-
era Cat Power look, and tried in vain to make that happen. I'd wake up extra early before school and go through all the motions, getting it perfectly flat. Except I grew up in Tacoma, Washington, where it rains pretty much every day; not heavily, just a kind of steady, misty drizzle that meant my painstakingly straightened hair went back to huge and wavy a few hours after I got to class. It got exhausting fighting a losing battle; I had started going to this arts high school and was increasingly busy and preoccupied with creative projects, my classes, shows and friends. An extra hour spent on my hair in the morning was one less hour of sleep, so I started going to school with wet hair, letting it slowly dry and basically ignoring it. That's when I finally realized how great it could look, if I just let it do whatever it wanted."
"My process is pretty basic, but I've noticed certain steps lead to better hair days. I only brush it when it's dry and only right before washing it; brushing it wet breaks up the curls and makes it frizzier. I switch shampoo and conditioner pretty regularly, but use
once a week to keep it from getting weighed down. I towel-dry until it's not inconveniently dripping all over my clothes, and sometimes use some sea-salt spray to give it a beachy sort of texture (like
, but I have also made my own and it is incredibly easy). Then I wait, ignoring it and touching it as little as possible until it's dry a few hours later. Sometimes at shows I use hairspray (I like
) to make it even bigger than normal, kind of finger-back-combing the roots a little while holding my head upside down. And, that's basically it. It's hard on tour because it's such a different pace than everyday life, and I might wash and brush it a little less, or use hairspray more, and I'll get these crazy thick tangles everywhere. But sometimes I even like how that looks, it just hurts trying to get them out. A Lot."
See Hamilton's incredible hair in action in the "Locusts" music video below, and shop her favorite products in the gallery.
Neutrogena Clarifying Shampoo, $4.29
John Masters Organics Sea Salt Mist, $16.50
