Side part mens hair question??

[clokwise]

I am doing a side part to my hair. I don't want the wet look I want it to look more dry and natural. What I do now is put gel in to form, then blow dry it out so it adds the shape and some volume, then i put in American Crew Fiber for a hold. I will usually hit it with the blowdryer once more to give it a little more natural look without the shiny or look of product.

Problem i have is it doesn't look great until late in the day. I usually get home from work and just run my hands all through it and mess it up then I can run a comb right back through it and looks almost exactly how i wish it looked all day. So I thought why not try that in the morning, but it doesn't work. The only solution I can come up with is doing my hair 4 or 5 hours ahead of time before I am going somewhere and then rub it all out and recomb before leaving and it looks fine.

I'd love to have hair similar to this
I have tried to follow these steps but can't seem to get there.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[CTJoyce]

Aveda styling clay. Allows you to sculpt your hair into whatever you want but leaves a matte finish instead of a glossy "wet" finish making it look much more natural. I am absolutely in love with this stuff.