Cassandra Thurswell started Kitsch in 2010, when she was 25, from her apartment in Los Angeles. The first products were hair ties she made by hand and sold door to door, and she paid for it all with $30,000 of her own savings instead of outside money. The brand grew from there into clips, satin accessories and towel wraps, and eventually into hair care, including the Kitsch air dry cream.

I like that the brand began with something as small as a hair tie, because air-drying is really about small habits. The cream matters, but so does how you towel off, what you sleep in and whether you can leave your hair alone for an hour.

Kitsch's own air dry cream is not stocked at Sephora or Bloomingdale's, so the first grid is the creams from other brands that do the same job: a light leave-in you work through damp hair before letting it dry on its own. They vary mostly by weight and by hair type. The second grid is Kitsch itself, the towel wrap, heatless curling set, rods, shower cap, clips and its rice water shampoo and conditioner bars, which are what make an air-dry routine actually work.

Here is a test I like: on your next wash, put cream on one half of your head and nothing on the other. Look at the ends once it is dry. That tells you more than any label.

The point of an air-dry cream is shape with no heat at all. Work a pea-to-almond-sized amount through damp, not soaking, hair from the middle down, scrunch or twist, and then leave it alone. Touching it while it dries is the fastest way to frizz.

For fine hair, start with Bumble and bumble's Don't Blow It Fine, which is made for fine to medium hair and adds body so it dries bouncy instead of flat. Living Proof's StyleLab is the clever one: it is designed to cut down air-dry time, with crunch-free hold that tames frizz.

For waves, IGK's Rich Kid is a light coconut oil gel-cream that gives piecey texture and shine without crunch, ideal for loose curls and waves. JVN's cream is softer, with squalane, chia and moringa, and it defines curls, waves and straight hair alike, with UV protection as a bonus.

For frizz, Briogeo's Style + Treat is a soft leave-in that promises 24 hours of frizz reduction, with yuzu and plum oil. Bumble and bumble's Seaweed cream gives twice the frizz reduction, the brand says, along with all-day hold. Crown Affair's Smoothing cream is the one I reach for when I want a smoother finish, with yuzu ceramide and squalane for shine and soft, buildable hold.

For curls, Curlsmith's Weightless Air-Dry cream is a leave-in conditioner that hydrates and brings out curl pattern without weighing it down.

What I would skip: using too much on the first try. Start small and add more next time, because heavy cream on fine hair dries limp.

This is the part people skip. How you dry your hair matters as much as what you put in it, and Kitsch makes the tools for every step.

Start in the shower with the rice water shampoo and conditioner bars. Both are solid bars scented with white tea and ginger over rice water, herbs, vanilla and amber, and the brand calls them protein strengthening. They are also easy to travel with, since there is nothing to spill.

Then swap your bath towel for the extra large quick-dry towel wrap. Rubbing wet hair with a rough towel roughs up the cuticle, and a wrap lets you blot and walk away. Wear it for ten minutes while you do your skin, then take it off and put in your cream.

If you want heatless curls or waves, the satin curling set wraps damp hair around a soft rod overnight, and the satin-wrapped flexi rods, a set of six, give smaller, bouncier curls. Satin is the point here, since it is smoother on hair than cotton.

The creaseless clips hold the front pieces back while they dry without leaving a dent, and the puffy claw clip is for the in-between hour when your hair is almost dry and in the way. The satin-lined shower cap keeps a second-day style dry in the shower.

Here is a routine I like: bars in the shower, wrap for ten minutes, cream, clip the front, curling set overnight if you want waves.

What I would skip: sleeping on soaking-wet hair in the curling set. Let it get about three-quarters dry first.

I think the hardest part of air-drying is not the product. It is patience. Put the cream in, twist, clip the front and walk away, and do not touch it until it is completely dry.

Give any routine three or four washes before you judge it. Your hair will adjust, you will figure out how much cream it wants, and the no-heat nights will start to look better than the blow-dried ones. That is what I like about the Kitsch approach: a few small tools and one good cream, and your hair gets a night off from the dryer.