STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

small fry · Chanel

getting curls for fine hair

Ally S · Kate Spade

And when someone knows the answer to this age old question please let me know too, I am also cursed and would love curls too on occasion.

Christine · Coach

My hair is medium thickness, but I have a ton of it, so overall it's very heavy and never wants to hold a curl. I feel your pain!

The only way I can get curls to stick around for a few hours is to spray my hair with a curl hold product - salons have tons to choose from - and then use a ceramic curling iron on the hottest setting. That's the only thing that has worked for me, and the curls last about 5 hours.

blubirde · Chanel

I managed to curl a friend's hair (very fine hair that never holds a curl) and I used a curl cream (something uber-cheap at Sallys) and a defuser. Scrunch and defuse, scrunch and defuse. Spray with a light spray afterwards and you should be good to go.

It's the kind of thing that your hair has to get used to. My hair used to only have one style: board straight. Now it does waves, curls, etc., depending on what I do with it. So if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

bex · Chanel

kaykay wrote:

I have fine hair and I was wondering how to get some curls. My hair does not hold curl very well so Iam cursed for life

kaykay- are you trying to add curl with an iron or diffuser?

if by curling iron: use either Redken Hot Sets or Kenra Thermal Styling Spray. On dry hair, grab the section you want to curl, spritz the product, then wrap around the iron. hold and release. upon releasing, spritz a little more on to it to "lock" it. after you have curled your entire head of hair, work a small pomade through it to "pull" the curls out

if by diffuser: use TiGi Curls Rock Curl Booster in damp hair and then scrunch and diffuse until you have achieved some wave. as blubirde says, sometimes your hair becomes accustomed to this treatment and eventually starts to grab curl easier.

eta: here is a picture of me when i did the above description (for the curling iron) in my stick straight flat fine thin hair. we were going to the theatre and it didn't fall all day!

-- Edited by bex at 18:44, 2006-02-28

-- Edited by bex at 09:02, 2006-03-17

halleybird · Hermes

I have never been able to get curls to stay all over my head, but I can usually get the ends to curl if I use gel or mousse beforehand, then hairspray after. I have always had the best luck with hot rollers.

bumblebee · Coach

i second bex's rec on redken hot sets--i think it actually contains potato starch (i read the ingredients one time)--it really holds well. another that i like is a different redken one and i can't for the life of me think of the name right now. it's supposed to be a texturizer, but it makes my hair hold a curl very well. i will check when i get home tonight.

greendiamond · Marc Jacobs

When you take your curl off of the curling iron, pin the whole curl to your scalp with some little metal alligator clips you can pick up at sally's for about $2.50 for 12. (I call them alligator clips, I don't know the technical name. Their is a hinge at the end, and then to little prongs set side by side that look like an alligator mouth, PS, you'll want 2 packages) Be careful, because your hair is actually pretty hot. Let it cool on your head and then about 15 minutes after you finish, take them down, seperate and sprizt. I did this on Saturday for example (I already had gel in my hair, and I lightly hairsprayed before curling root to tip) and my hair lasted for 6 hours looking perfect (and I was dancing around and sweating and whatnot) the next morning my hair was still supercurly, just very bedhead.

Hopefully this works for you. Also, if you have any of those dreadful baby butterfly clips that were so popular about 7 years ago, this is a great way to reuse them. They will work well for holding small curls.

-gd

small fry · Chanel

Thank you ladies and Bex I will try your tricks. Your hair looks awesome I love it.Well its been a long time since I tried to curl it but I have done it with a curling iron and hot rollers and the curls just fell right out.

erin · Chanel

it's time consuming, but i think velcro rollers in wet hair that has a ton of setting lotion/gel/spray works well.

80schick · Nine West

I love my Richard Caruso Steam Curlers. I must admit, I do have nice naturally wavy medium thick hair but.......my best girlfriend has very straight hair and they even work for her. Not for as long as on mine, but enough through the night of her B-day to give it some bounce and soft curls for the night & enough for her to then purchase it 2 weeks later on ebay......

The key for her is usuing the John Frieda Frizz Ease #4 curling moose right after you shower on damp hair. Once your hair has dried completely and I mean Completely, turn on the steam curlers, they get hot in like 3 minutes, & roll them up. I use the medium size ones, you might want to try the smaller ones for a tighter curl if you have problems holding one in general. They are light weight & very managable. Let them sit for half an hour, or longer if you're REALLY can't hold a curl & you should have great curls when they come out. I'll have to get some more feed back from my friend as when she tried hers the first time without me, the curl only lasted a half hour. But then she told me her hair was a little damp. No good, it's got to be dry.

You can find them on ebay & several beauty stores on the web. The newest brand is the "ionic" one which helps defrizz hair a little but the older ones work just as well. My regieme (sp?) for my wavy hair is the John Frieda Frizz Ease steps 2-4 after the shower, let it air dry, curlers for 10-20 minutes, take out, loosely tossle, spritz with JF step 5 & it's done. Hope they work for you all! My mom & I have been using this brand since I was 14!

-- Edited by 80schick at 23:53, 2006-03-09

Alegria · Kate Spade

My hair is super straight and heavy. I have a hard time too. Kind of gross but hair holds curl better when it's dirty. Really all the hair product are doing is making your hair not so clean. If I am going to curl my hair I make sure I use products in it, I either wash it the night before and put gel or mouse in it that night or I skip a day. It really seems to help.

RyanJ · Coach

I have straight, thin hair, but a lot of it. Everytime I get my haircut my stylist can't belive how long it takes and how much hair I have. I use a cermaic curling iron and a curl creme. I have not found a creme that I love yet, so no suggestions on that.

I wash my hair w/ and don't use conditioner. I scruch it dry w/ a diffuser. Then I spray hair spray all over and start to curl my hair. I use a smaller curling iron because I find that they bigger the barrel the shorter the life of the curl is. Usually I spray the curl while it is on the barrel. This works very well for me. At the start of the eveing I have curly hair and towards the end the curls are a little bigger, but still look cute.