Wolfing Your Waves? When is it Time to Bring that Wolf out?

Hair Tips Episode 4

Since talking about the Wolf is so taboo in the wave community, we will probably will have a couple different episodes on it. I just want to pretty much introduce it and get you started on a simple wolf time routine today. Not styling but when and why to start one.

What Is A Wolf?

A Wolf, properly known as the wolfing stage, for a waver in the simplest definition is when you let your hair grow out longer than the time you usually get a haircut.

Why Should I Wolf?

This stage is to improve your wave connections, get rid of forks in your waves, improve on weak areas in the wave pattern (weak areas), and get depth in your waves.

If you get your haircut every 4-5 weeks you’re wolfing any time after that.

Wavers talk about their hair progressions in weeks. You want to keep doing your wave routine until your wolf but then you want a wolf routine.

When Should I Wolf?

When have waves (180, 360, 540, 720's) and you’re looking to improve them but you’re not seeing any progress, they call this hitting plateaus. This is time to wolf.

Wolfing is not recommended for beginners because they can be so demotivating and cause them to quit but if you know why you’re doing them. You can keep your head in the game to get some elite waves.

How Long Should You Have A Wolf Session?

Course/Kinky Wavers 4-8 Weeks

Medium Texture Wavers 8-11 Weeks

Straight Hair Wavers 11-14 Weeks

It takes straighter and medium texture wavers a longer time to form waves so their wolfing time is longer in general.

When you’re starting with wolfs you want to ease into it, especially as a new waver. You just started this journey and your wave pattern. You want it to stay and set. So when ever you get a haircut you will have waves. In the beginning the wave pattern is not set so when you get a hair cut your waves may disappear.

You don't want to have to start over and over again.

It is a lot more motivational stay on your journey when you can see your waves and they look good.

I learned the basics of a wolfing schedule from 360Jezzy but I added a name to this method. In the Ladder Method your basically going up a ladder. The newer you are the lower you are on the ladder. The farther you go up is the longer the time you can wolf before getting a cut. There’s levels to this.

Ladder Method

Your fist time starting a wolf go 4-5 weeks. This is so your pattern can stay set and you can keep your progress from your brush sessions while you keep your hair looking good. After this stage is over get a haircut.

The next wolf you can go further up that ladder. Go 6-8 weeks. Your waves should be more set and locked in. If your waves don’t look better when you get your hair cut go back to the first stage if you are going to wolf again.

The next steps are similar just go 1-2 weeks longer than the week before until you see the progress you are looking for. If you do not see any progress you may have to get cuts earlier because you reached farther than your hair should wolf due to texture or your waves may not be trained enough and you should drop a ladder and work on your waves at the lower level.

I will talk more about styling and wolfing in another episode. Want to keep this as short as possible so you read and understand it.

What You’ll Need To Start A Basic Wolf:

Medium, Medium/hard brush, Hard Brush, Comb, Moisturizer, Pomade/wave butter/oil

Wolfing stages are not needed every time before you get a haircut but can be key to add progression to your wave journey. Some wavers never wolf. Some do sometimes and there are some wavers who always do. Find what works for you and what makes your hair look as best as possible.

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