Confession: Before I had my son, I used to see new moms and think to myself, “It honestly can’t be that hard.” And I’m embarrassed because that attitude came from an extremely naive place. Today my son is eleven months old and I completely get how straight up hard it can be.

Let’s be honest…busy moms aren’t always showering, let alone doing our hair. No judgment girl, no judgment. You’ve got other things that you need to do, and honestly, it’s not great for your hair to wash it every day anyway. The key is to make each wash last for days and stretch it out as long as you can. A good rule of thumb for washing your hair is once to twice a week depending on texture and thickness.

So I’m here today to give you 4 super easy styles that help you get the most out of each shampoo and give you 4 days of great hair.

Day 1: The Flat Iron Wave

You’ll need:

• Mousse
• A light finishing spray
• A flat iron
• Hair clips if needed
• A paddle brush

Who doesn’t love a wave? This style lasts the longest and will carry the following three days of styling if done right. I also love this style for its versatility. It looks great on everyone, it can be messy around the bottom and it still looks polished versus straight hair which, if you get one kink, looks out of place.

To start, run a generous handful of mousse through damp, freshly washed hair and blow dry as usual. Once the hair is dry. Start at the front of the head and section out the hair along the hairline, pulling out a 1-2 inch section closest to the temple and clipping the rest of the hair so that it’s up and out of the way.

Now take your 1-2 inch section of hair and place the flat iron at the root, near your temple. Grab the hair with the flat iron and close, turning the flat iron once, away from the face, and pull the entire shaft of the hair through the flat iron while keeping it angled away from the face and towards the back of the head. The angle of the flat iron creates a tight wave as you pull the hair through, so when you’re done you have a perfect, beachy wave.

From there, section out another 1-2 inch piece and repeat. The key with the flat iron is to turn it away from the face so that the curl is directed toward the back of the head for a seamless, natural wave.

One trick that I swear by with flat iron curls is to spray each section with a light finishing spray immediately after pulling it through the flat iron. This will give you the longest hold and help you get the most out of the style.

Remember to always keep your straightener in constant movement so you can avoid any stiff kinks and get flowing waves. And don’t worry, practice makes perfect. Start at the back of your head and work your way forward, by the time you get to the front, you’re perfect!

If you’d like to see more on how to do a flat iron curl, check out my video below!

Day 2: The High PonyTail

You’ll need:

• A paddle brush
• Finishing spray
• An elastic
• A comb

 The day one wave will give you a nice textured base for a high pony on day two, and the high pony will give you lots of volume for day three, which is a half up half down style.

Now let me just say that I think the ponytail is seriously underrated. It can be so fashionable, and it’s the perfect style to take you from day to night. You can do yours either sleek or messy, depending on your preference. What really makes this style is the body in the ponytail itself.

So to start, you have yesterday’s wave, which you can freshen up with either a bit of mousse or a light sea salt spray. Run the product through the hair with your hands and give your hair a good scrunch while you do.

I recommend gathering your hair at the highest point of your head, directly on the crown. The easiest way, honestly, is putting your head upside down and gathering it that way. Once you’ve secured the hair at the top of the head, secure with an elastic.

Next, go in with a comb and backcomb sections of the ponytail to give it extra volume. Start in the middle of the ponytail, sectioning out the top layer and moving it out of the way. You want to backcomb heavily at the root and ease up gradually as you move your way down the shaft so that by the time you’re at the tip you’re doing it with your fingers. Now, the middle is the hardest part to backcomb but the good news is you can hide everything when you’re done by bringing the top section back over the ponytail once you have some nice, bold volume.

Once you’re done, lift your whole ponytail high up in the air and spray with finishing spray as you let it fall.

Day 3: Half Up / Half Down

You’ll need:

• Finishing spray
• A comb
• An elastic
• Maybe a flat iron

I love this style because it’s very trendy but it’s also a bit of a throwback to when we were younger. And actually, it seems simple but it is one of the trickier styles to pull off. Many women struggle with it because it’s difficult to find the perfect place to pull the top half of the hair back from. But the key is to take the hair along the hairline from below the occipital bone, usually around the browline.

Since it’s the third day since your last shampoo you may want to use a little dry shampoo if you have oily hair. One tip that I always recommend is to apply dry shampoo the night before. This will give it some time to settle into the hair and it helps avoid the white layer that some dry shampoos might leave around the roots.

Start with a center part and draw your comb from where your eyebrow ends directly back to the hairline. This is the point from which you’re going to want to draw the hair back. So with that point in mind, sweep the comb back on a diagonal from your hairline to the crown of your head, gathering the hair at the crown and securing it with a clip. Repeat on the opposite side.

Once you have both sides gathered at the crown of the head, secure it in place with your elastic. Refresh a few of the waves using your flat iron and add a little backcombing to the ponytail as needed.

If you prefer, you can also opt for a topknot or bun in lieu of the ponytail.

Day 4: The Double Bun

You’ll need:

• Finishing spray
• Bobby pins
• Elastics
• Comb

The double bun is so hot right now and I love it! It’s a wonderfully unexpected take on a classic, which gets me every time. The key is to get your two buns as close together as you can.

For this style, you want to start with your half up half down style and gather your top pony at the top of your head. Twist it so that it naturally wraps around itself, but try to keep from twisting it too tight. The idea is that the hair will loosely wrap around itself at the base where your first elastic is at the crown of your head. Once you have your first top knot, pin it loosely with a bobby pin and spray with finishing spray.

When you’re bringing the back section up, you might want to pin the top bun so that it’s out of the way to avoid accidentally brushing it while you’re styling your second bun. Next, gather the bottom half of your hair straight back from the hairline to the back of the head, just above the nape of the neck and directly under your first bun. Secure it with an elastic, take that ponytail and repeat the twist, creating the second bun just under the first.

Finish off with a light finishing spray for your double bun and around the hairline to tame any flyaways.