Remember when you were little and would accidentally sleep in a braid, then wake up in the morning to find miraculous waves? We researched a few different ways of making that happy accident even better and are sharing some tips for the perfect overnight mermaid waves in partnership with Garnier Whole Blends hair products.

This post was sponsored by Garnier through their partnership with POPSUGAR. While I was compensated by POPSUGAR to write a post about Garnier all opinions are my own.

Happy to hear that Garnier has a new line of Whole Blends products that are good for you and the environment. They’re paraben-free, with select ingredients like argan and coconut oil that are purchased fairly and sustainably. They’re also made of recyclable PET plastic and have committed to keeping beauty products out of landfills. The fragrances in these new Whole Blends products are delightful like coconut water + vanilla extracts, and argan oil + cranberry extracts . We tried the green apple + green tea extracts shampoo, conditioner, and 5-in- 1 lightweight spray for our overnight mermaid hair and loved how it turned out.

Here’s how to do the overnight mermaid braid yourself:

1. Wash your hair the night before and dry completely.

2. Braid into a high, side fishtail braid. We found this braid is the best for soft mermaid waves without the sharp kinks other braids would leave. Here’s a video tutorial for a fishtail braid if you haven’t tried one before.

3. Sleep on that fishtail. Pull the braid out the next morning being careful not to separate individual waves too much.

4. Add a finishing spray as you separate. We used Whole Blends 5-in-1 lightweight spray which softens, primes, and lightly conditions the hair in a crisp green apple and green tea fragrance.

5. Spray a bit all over hair, gently separating larger sections with your hands.

6. Flip your head over and use your fingers to loosen up waves around the face.

Ta dah! Natural mermaid hair for the day!

Photography by Liz Stanley. Modeling by Gaby Viglas. Assisted by Stephanie Gardner.