I Never Liked My Hair Air-Dried Until I Tried the "Twist and Clip" Method

I am a minimalist at heart. I love simple outfits, easy makeup, and hairstyles that take little to no effort. While I occasionally find myself going all out with my looks, more often than not, you can find me doing the bare minimum, especially when it comes to my hair. I only wash it twice a week at most, which means I only style it twice a week as well. I typically give myself a blowout, but in the summer months when the weather is warmer, I try to give my hair a break from heat as much as possible, which often leaves me searching for different heatless hair methods.

I recently stumbled across a video of Dianna Cohen, the founder of hair-care brand Crown Affair, showcasing her "twist and clip" method for air-drying her hair. In the video, Cohen utilizes two hair clips to give herself heatless waves that look incredible. When I heard her describing her method as the "no-makeup-makeup vibe for hair," I knew I needed to test it out for myself.

To test the hack, the only things I needed were two small clips. Then, after washing my hair and hopping out of the shower, I wrapped it in a microfiber towel to soak up some of the moisture. After about 20 minutes, once my hair was damp but mostly dry, I took it out of the towel and applied my favorite leave-in conditioner, the Gisou Honey Infused Leave-In Conditioner ($34). I also applied the Gisou Honey Infused Hair Oil ($25). After combing everything through with a wide-tooth comb and dividing my hair into my normal middle part, it was time to test out Cohen's hack.

I started by dividing my hair into two sections, the top half being one section and the bottom half being the other. From there, I took the top half and began twisting small sections on either side back into tiny rope-like hair twists. I then clipped them together. The final step was to take the bottom half of my hair and divide it into two sections, and then twist them in a backward motion the same way I did with the top. I ended by clipping the bottom sections together just as I did with the top half. While it might sound confusing, trust me: it's easy to master. It wasn't until I tested it out for myself after watching Cohen do it in her TikTok videos that I realized just how simple it was.

After letting my hair sit for about 30 minutes, I took out the clips and released my hair. The twist-and-clip method left me with soft waves that gave me tons of bounce — my curtain bangs even had a perfect swoop to them.

I've tested this hack quite a few times since my initial run, and I've found there are a few key things that help my hair look its best. To start, I add in a wave spray or a beach spray after my leave-in conditioner. I've found that it gives my hair more texture and helps the style stay in place for a longer period of time. I like to finish things off with the Crown Affair Finishing Hair Spray ($38), which won a PS Beauty Award this year.

I have fine hair that falls between straight and wavy, so this hack would probably work best for people with similar textures that need a little help enhancing a curl. It definitely achieved that for me — it was easy to do and made my hair look cute with minimal effort. Ever since stumbling upon Cohen's video, I've been utilizing this method a lot, and I don't plan to stop anytime soon.

Renee Rodriguez (she/her) is a staff writer and social producer for PS. She writes across all verticals, but her main areas of expertise focus on fashion and beauty content with an emphasis on reviews and editor experiments. She also produces social content for the PS TikTok and Instagram accounts.