How to Create a Hair Towel Wrap

Most of us are familiar with the hair towel wrap typically sported post-shower. You know, the one where you wrap your damp strands in a towel to speed up the drying process and get your hair out of your face while you go through your skin care routine and makeup regimen. Of course, achieving the simple hair towel wrap isn’t as easy as it looks — if you don’t know what you’re doing, that is. Ready to wrap things up? Don’t add that towel turban to your online shopping cart. Instead, check out our easy step-by-step tutorial on how to wrap hair in a towel.

1. Pick The Right Towel

First thing’s first — you need the right towel! Ideally, you’ll want to use a microfiber towel, as these are soft and won’t damage your hair. It’s also important to choose a towel that’s wide enough to reach from the nape of your neck to your hairline and long enough to fall past your shoulders.

Editor’s tip: You can also opt to use a head wrap — which is specifically made for hair wrapping — as these are also made from a light, microfiber material and will have a button or another type of fastener to keep the wrap from coming undone. If you don’t have either of these, another great alternative for a hair towel wrap is a cotton T-shirt. Like a microfiber towel, a plain tee helps absorb excess water while preventing frizz. 

2. Remove Excess Water

To speed up the drying process and prevent your wrap from leaking, you’ll want to remove excess water from your strands. To do so, gently blot your hair with your microfiber towel to soak up some of the water. If you have thick or long hair, flip your hair over during this step to ensure you go over your entire mane with the towel.

3. Detangle Your Strands

Before wrapping your hair up in a towel, it’s important to detangle it. Skipping this step will cause your knots and tangles to become even more knotted and tangled. Use a wide-tooth comb and a detangler, to gently comb through your damp strands. 

Editor’s tip: You can also use other hair care products to help work through and reduce matted hair. The L’Oréal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Conditioner For Long, Damaged Hair moisturizes, strengthens damaged hair and adds slips to help you detangle hair without any fuss. Simply apply a dime-sized amount to wet hair and let it sit for one to three minutes to work its detangling magic. Then, rinse out the product and carry on with your hair towel wrap routine.

For curly hair folks , you can also use the L’Oréal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Curls Refresh & Reshape Leave-in Spray. Formulated with nourishing hyaluronic acid and castor oil, this miracle formula helps lock in moisture, define curls and detangles without breaking your hair’s shape — all at the same time. 

4. Flip Your Hair

Bend forward so that all of your hair is flipped over, hanging in front of your face. Don’t tie your hair up with a hair tie if you have a lot of length. Use your comb to help guide your strands forward if needed. This step tends to be more difficult for those with longer strands, but an easy solution to avoiding a wet mess is flipping your hair over a basin such as a bathtub, sink or shower. This will ensure water doesn't get everywhere. 

5. Position Your Towel

Then position your towel so that your head's at its center, and the edge is aligned with the nape of your neck. If needed, adjust so there’s equal length on either side of your head. 

Bring each side of the towel toward the front of your head, bringing it together at the middle of your hairline. Make sure each side is positioned firmly around your head — applying slight pressure will ultimately be the determining factor in whether your hair dries. If you want, tuck the towel behind your ears.

6. Twist, Twist, Twist

Now for the fun part: Begin to twist the length of your towel, starting at the center of your hairline. Twist all the way until you reach the ends!

7. Flip It Back

Stand upright and fold your towel (and hair, in the process) backward so that it falls over your head and hangs down behind you.

8. Secure In Place

If needed, use a clip to secure the end of the towel in place. You don’t want your towel to shift during the next two steps.

9. Wait It Out

You know what they say — patience is a virtue. Wait for your hair to dry (depending on the length, thickness and porosity of your hair this could be as little as 30 minutes or more). If it’s still wet, replace your towel with a new one, as the one already in use has likely soaked up too much water to really dry your hair further.

10. Flip and Remove

Flip your head forward once more and gently unwrap your towel. Your hair should be mostly dry at this point. Let it air dry the rest of the way if you need to. Use this time to your advantage by working on other areas of your beauty routine, such as doing your makeup or painting your nails.

Editor’s tip: Waiting for your hair to dry on its own takes time, but allowing it to air dry when possible is worth it. Rather than turning to your blow dryer each time, try to cut down on your use of hot tools by letting your hair dry on its own (or with the help of a towel turban) here and there.

Next: How To Make Your Bathroom A Self-Care Oasis

Edited by Sophie Dweck, Photo Credit: Shalwah Evans