Beachy Wave Hair... on me

I've been obsessed with the beachy wave hair lately, which I'd just found out is the new trend for 2011 spring/summer style..In case you don't know what's a beachy wave, see the pics below: =)

Vanessa Hudgens

Kate Hudson

Mary-Kate Olsen

I'm torn between getting a permanent perm or a curling thong/straightener.The thing about permanent perms are that normal hair saloons here are not that advanced, of course unless if u go to a professional one that costs a fortune, so there's a risk that i need to take of ending up with a full body perm/maggie mee curl like in the 90s.. ughhh >.<

I did some research of my own:
Firstly, the term wavy hair --> beachy wavy hair, apparently there are a lot of difference btwn the two similar terms.. Secondly, I could totally use a curling thong to create that look.. ONE worry- I have too much hair, it's gonna take me forever, and I admit that I'm no good at styling anything that's at the back of my head. =/ Thirdly, I could create that style fast and easy, no-heating tools, minimum cost and products. (learned from a youtube tutorial)

all you need is mousse, rubber bands and bobby pins

I tried it out but improvised with the tying up of hair after applying mousse. I've tried it twice since yesterday and once was with a bun and the other time was with braids. =)

The result below is the bun effect:

The bun effect lasted about 4 hrs and the braid effect lasted more than 5 hrs(coz i went for a workout). Will try it again next time to confirm. =)