STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

GucciGal19 · BCBG

How to create waves w/curling iron?

bex · Chanel

what type of curls are you going for? the big wavy ones like the stars are wearing or the beachy curls that others are wearing?

for the beacy curls: you twist sections of your hair and run a ceramic flat iron up and down it and voila! it created beachy curls

for big wavy ones: use a 1 1/4 inch curling iron and make big spiral curls in two sections (one bottom section and one top) curling AWAY from your face. after you have curled your entire head- grab some wax or taffy product and piece the curls out.

hth!

halleybird · Hermes

have you tried holding the curling iron vertically/parallel to your head and then wrapping the hair around it (not using the clamp)? My hair doesn't curl, but I have seen people on TV do it that way.

mikacat · Coach

i go to bed with my hair wet when i want curls and voila!!

they are everywhere in the AM.

Drew · Gucci

You say waves, so I this is specifically for wavy hair only:

Use whatever size curling iron you want; bigger barrels create more subtle waves, smaller barrell = many more waves.

I find that blow drying my hair makes it lose its ability to hold curls. I wash my hair at night, part it, and allow it to air dry.

In the morning I use a curling iron, starting at the base of my hair and including more hair as I curl more. (I hope that is descriptive enough; basically just start at your scalp with a section of hair, curl it, loosen the grip to pull in more hair curling as you go until you reach the ends of your hair). Curling your hair this way instead of starting at the ends will help the curl stay better. If you really want the wave/curl to be more pronounced use a bobby pin to hold it against your head until you have gone all the way around your head. Allow 30 - 40 minutes if it's your first attempt and 20 - 30 once you have practice.

Once you have curled all your hair allow at least 15 minutes for it to set (eat breakfast, get dressed, or put on your makeup while your hair sets). After it sets, if there are bobby pins, pull them out starting with the side you originally started curling. Once all the culs are out, get a brush and brush your hair. This will create perfect waves. DO NOT FREAK OUT IF YOUR HAIR IS CURLIER THAN YOU WANT! If your hair seems really curly or short from the curls, don't worry as it will soften beautifully within half an hour so by time you leave the house or get to where you are going your hair will be perfect. It will continue to fall throughout the day, but only mildly so. By the end of the day you should still have a good amount of waves, just less at the top and on the under layer.

I don't use products as I feel it weighs my hair down causing the curl to fall faster/immediately.

PS. I have long hair that is frizzy when I don't "do" it (so you know my hair type). If you have stick-straight hair I am sorry to say but there is no hope for you having and keeping a curl for longer than an hour.

RyanJ · Coach

I do just like Drew does-expect I have not used the bobby pins. I will have to try them. My hair is super straight and thin. I have a lot of thin hair- if that makes sense. My hair holds a curl pretty well.

Drew- How do you put the bobby pins in? I don't know how to ask this w/ out showing you. Do you nice bobby pin all that ahir up in the curl? Do you just bobby pin ends up so they make a loop? Hmm...so confusing.

Drew · Gucci

quote:
Originally posted by: RyanJ
"I do just like Drew does-expect I have not used the bobby pins. I will have to try them. My hair is super straight and thin. I have a lot of thin hair- if that makes sense. My hair holds a curl pretty well. Drew- How do you put the bobby pins in? I don't know how to ask this w/ out showing you. Do you nice bobby pin all that ahir up in the curl? Do you just bobby pin ends up so they make a loop? Hmm...so confusing."

When I take the hair out of the iron I am careful to keep it in the curl shape and just flatten the entire curl against my head and secure it with a bobby pin. Think about a spring and just flattening the spring and using a bobby pin to secure at least one side of the "spring."

RyanJ · Coach

Thanks Drew- understand. I will have to try that next time.

flknight24 · Dooney & Bourke

Drew - what size curling iron do you use for this "process"?

Drew · Gucci

flknight24 wrote:

Drew - what size curling iron do you use for this "process"?

Sorry, I don't know the widths, but I have three curling irons; a small, medium, and a large barrel. I use all three (not at the same time, although that is an interesting idea in itself I will have to try) depending on how much time I want to spend curling (the smaller the barrel the longer it will take to curl all the hair), and how much wave/curl I want (the only difference between the wave and curl is that I brush my hair for the wave and tousel for the curl). The smaller the barrel the longer the curl will stay, but the tighter the curl will be/the more pronounced the wave will be. If you want subtle go large, if you want drastic go small, and of course there's that somewhere-inbetween with the medium barrel.

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

drew, that's so funny, i thought my friend and i were the only ones that did the bobby pin trick, btw, that is exactly how we did our hair for prom in h.s., except we sprayed each and every curl before pinning because we wanted the big round curl look as opposed to waves-- what can i say it was the nineties!

on a related note, here's a method you can use for waves w/o a curling iron. wash hair. flip head upside down in shower, apply conditioner, detangle w/ wide-tooth comb while hair is dripping wet in shower, rinse out (your head is still flipped upside down this whole time). wring out water w/ hands only, then pat dry w/ towel but do not rub dry, leave hair wet but not dripping. detangle w/ fingers. scrunch up w/ hands. apply gel mousse (i like ecoly) w/ hands, scrunching up as you go. blowdry on low w/ diffuser attachment. flip hair up. voila! perfect curls/waves.

the above method will work best if you have some texture and wave/curl in your hair to begin w/. hth!

ETA: here's what my diffuser looks like: (sorry pasted it twice by mistake), it costs about $5 at Target and fits almost any blowdryer.

oh and here's the gel mousse i use:

Ecoly Thyme Volumizing Gel Mousse

-- Edited by esquiress at 17:02, 2005-06-02

ViViDogWear · Kate Spade

Drew wrote:

If you have stick-straight hair I am sorry to say but there is no hope for you having and keeping a curl for longer than an hour.

This is me stick straight asian hair. I've wanted "wavy" hair so dsperatel I tried a wave perm about 4 yrs ago which was a disaster. Then tried again a year later - utter horror. BF has forbade me to ever try a wave perm again!

I can curl it and get it to look cute for about an hour just like you said, but then it falls flat.

ladysi78250 · Dooney & Bourke

Esquiress: Tried your method this Saturday, and I really worked!!! I post pics, I got lots of comments!

-- Edited by ladysi78250 at 13:15, 2005-06-06

Cali · Kenneth Cole

mine isnt curled the best here but what i do is take a curling iron and open it and bring the barrel all the way to my root and clamp it down. Then I wrap my hair around the barrel and hold it for 10 sec or so and let it go! It turns out pretty well

greendiamond · Marc Jacobs

I get subtle marks from where the bobby pins were, so I use those terrible small butterfly clips that were popular many years ago. They are faster for me to put in and out too.

-gd