How to Get Waves on the Sides

If your waves are spinning on top but refusing to come in on the sides, you’re not alone. Side waves are the hardest part of building a full 360 wave pattern, and most wavers struggle here because of brushing angles, hair length, and inconsistent routines.

The good news? Side waves are possible — if you brush them correctly and stay disciplined.

Why Side Waves Are So Hard to Get

The sides of your head:

• Grow at awkward angles. They arent brushed straight down in comparison to the top of your pattern, so your angles need to be perfect.
• Are brushed less consistently because of the awkwardness of brushing them. Brushing the sides of your hair isn’t as comfortable as brushing your tops straight down.
• Are often cut too low. If your sides arent fully developed, and you cut your waves too low, you wont see as much progress on your sides.
• Get neglected during wolfing. As your waves start to develop, you may focus on your strong sides more often compared to your weak side, thus making your  strong sides develop faster while your sides develop forks and weak connections.

Unlike the top, side hair doesn’t naturally lay down unless you train it deliberately. Remember, waves are just laid down curls.

Step 1: Grow Your Hair to Curl Length

If your sides are cut too low, waves cannot form.

Rule:

Never cut below your curl length — especially on the sides. Waves are just laid down curls, meaning your hair must be curly for it to wave.

If you’re fading too high or cutting your sides too short every haircut, you’re resetting all your progress.

✅ Ask your barber to:

• dont cut your hair too low. Low haircuts make it difficult to build waves if your pattern isn’t fully set yet.
• Avoid high skin fades. These cuts may look the best, but youre cutting off majority of the hair on your side, making it impossible to wave up properly.
• Taper instead of a full fade. A taper is a small fade right beside your ear, where a fade cuts a bit higher into your pattern. An elite waver will just get low tapers, so their waves crash all the way down to the hairline.

Step 2: Use the Correct Brushing Angles

Most people brush the sides straight down — this is the biggest mistake.

Your side waves should be brushed:

• From your crown outward. Starting your brush strokes from the crown will develop uniformity in your wave pattern.
• On a 45° angle. I like to start from the top of my crown, and angle all the way to the temples of my forehead
• Following your natural growth pattern. This is the easiest way to get waves. Following the growth direction of your hair cuts your wave development time in half. Unfortunately, we may want to have a different angle, or the natural direction of hair growth isn’t as straight forward. At that point, you have to brush even more to further develop your pattern.

🔁 Always start brushing from the crown and work your way to the sideburn area.

Step 3: Brush the Sides More Than You Think

If you brush the top 100 strokes, your sides should get 150–200 strokes.

Why?

The sides take longer to train, meaning they need more effort and attention for development.

They resist laying down. The natural growth direction of the hair on your sides may not be the way you want your wave pattern to grow, thus, requiring more brushing on the sides. 

They need more repetition. Consistently training your hair to lay down a certain way will increase the speed at which waves start to develop.

Use:

• Medium brush for daily brushing. This will be your main brush. It pulls your hair, but the bristles are soft enough for daily use.
• Hard brush during wolfing. As you wolf, your hair gets harder to train. The firm bristles from a hard brush will pull your hair from the root, developing deeper waves.
• Soft brush to finish and lay hair down. A soft brush is a finisher brush. It adds shine, reduces frizz, and is best used as a polisher brush before you put on your durag.

➡️Our brush collection contains every brush you need; soft, medium, and hard brushes.

Step 4: Compress After Every Session

Brushing alone won’t lock side waves in. You need to save your progress by wearing a durag. Make it a habit to wear your durag anytime you arent brushing your waves.

My method for max compression:

• Apply a light wave cream before you finish your brush session with the soft brush. The soft brush will spread the product through your hair.
• Put on a durag or compression cap. With the wave cream added, wearing a durag will compress and flatten your waves. This saves your progress for the next brush session.
• Let the hair set for hours (or overnight.) When you take off your durag, your hair should be laid.

Compression is what teaches your difficult sides to lay down and wave up.

❗️Our Durag FAQ article will answer all of your questions regarding durags.

Step 5: Be Patient (Side Waves Take Time)

Side waves usually come in last. They get brushed the least, and require the most training.

If you stay consistent:

• Proper angles will reduce forks and improve connections. It takes time to develop, but with consistency, your waves will come in.
• Enough length is needed. Waves are just laid down curls; if your hair isn’t at curl length, you cant get waves. Find your perfect cut length, and dont go below that guard.
• Daily compression will keep your hair laid. The hair on your sides may want to spike up, but with constant brushing and compressing, your waves will be trained to stay laid.

Your side waves will eventually connect cleanly into your 360 pattern.

Waves are just laid-down curls — train your curls to lay down, and your 360 wave pattern will set.

FAQ: Getting Waves on the Sides

Why won’t my side waves come in?

Your sides may be cut too low, brushed incorrectly, or not compressed enough after brushing.

How long does it take to get side waves?

Side waves take longer than the top. With consistency, most wavers see progress in 2–4 weeks.

Should I brush my sides more than the top?

Yes. The sides need more brushing because the hair grows in tougher directions.

What brush is best for side waves?

A medium brush for daily brushing, hard brush during wolfing, and a soft brush to finish.

Do durags help side waves?

Absolutely. Compression is essential for laying side hair down and locking waves in.