Trying to Curl straight hair....

Dublin21

Ok so im currently in work and totally depressed about my now 'Shaggy' hair!!!

I curled my hair last night with a curling tongs (babyliss ceramic).. it looked great for around 10 mins and then pretty much fell straight.
This morning i got up early and went over a few straight bits with the tongs again.
Its now 10.30am and my hair looks like i've been dragged through a bush

Has anyone any tips on how to curl poker straight hair and get a day out of the results?!

I have very straight hair and its a few inches below my shoulder, i would consider my hair limp enough but ive a lot of it if that makes sense!.. A few years ago i used to curl it at the weekends (i would use the bendy curlers and sleep in them).. Id get about half a day out of them which was grand as i usually only wanted them for going out that night.
However i don't want to have to sleep in curlers everytime i want curls or even wave to my hair!
It seems everything i try leaves me with lank straggly 'twists' after a couple of hours.

Ive tried mousse in wet hair, Treseme iron hold, hairspray on wet and dry hair. I find the iron hold good but it makes my hair very hard and thats not the effect i want!
Also i usually bang some velcro rollers in for a few hours before to give me some 'Volume' which again never seems to last long!

I have a hot tools curling tongs also but its large and doesn't give me much of a curl (Even if they were to stay in!)

I would love to get the balayging done but won't do this until i master curling my hair with a tongs.. So if anyone has any tips, products etc i would be forever grateful!!!

Honey-ec

Ok, I have pretty much the exact same hair as you, by the sounds of things - poker straight, fairly fine, but loads of it. I finally mastered the art of curling it this year. Mind you, I still only ever get a day and a night out of it, but anyway.

1. Never try and curl freshly washed hair, it's a total waste of time. Wash it the day (or even two days) before and let it dry naturally - don't blow-dry or straighten it.

2. Tie up 2/3s of your hair so you're only curling the bottom "layer" first. Take your hair in approx. one-inch sections, spray the entire length with a firm-hold hairspray, and tongs (I actually use a wand, but anyway). Hold for 30 seconds, then move on to the next section. Keep going til you've all the hair curled, then repeat with the middle third of your hair, and again with the top section.

3. At this stage you'll have a head full of rock-hard ringlets. About 15 minutes before you leave the house, brush your hair out with an afro comb or a wide-toothed brush. You'll look like Diana Ross in the video for "Chain Reaction" for a while but it will drop, leaving you with a lovely head of natural looking curls.

As I said, this is the only technique that works for me at home. I do have a fab hairdresser who does GHD curls that last about 3 days on me, but at €55 a pop it's not exactly feasible every time I fancy curly hair!

Dublin21

Thanks Honey-ec.

I might actually invest in a wand. A girl i work with is a fan but i was waiting for more reviews before i went out and bought one!

Can you tell me if you use a specific hairspray or do you find any firm hold does the trick?
I usually use Treseme firm hold (I actually have the mini one in my handbag however its not needed now!! )

I would Love to be able to do the GHD curls. A friend of mine did them for me me every night when we went to Lanzarote a few years ago and they looked great.. however when i try i literally get a line across the section of hair which looks like i tried to straighten it but left the iron in one place too long

Off to buy a wand me thinks!

Honey-ec

Dublin21 wrote: »

Can you tell me if you use a specific hairspray or do you find any firm hold does the trick?

I use Tresemme Platinum Shine hairspray, but really any firm hold one should be fine.

Magenta

Try this method with some curling mousse and then sleep on it, use hairspray afterwards, it lasts all day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLeSKaPaUOA

Niamho!

Yeah I have naturally straight hair and for the first while of curling my hair it always fell out after a couple of hours.

I do everything in Honey-ec's post except the third bit. Might try it and see next time.

The only other thing I tend to have to do is spray each layer after i've curled as well. then a big general spray all over at the end. And surprisingly....it's never usually that hard, but they stay in. there is still the occassional night that they fall out a bit but normally ok.

Definitely agree with the not on clean hair rule too!!!

Sometimes I also wash my hair then tie it up in a messy bun to dry so that it's a little bit wavy in preparation for the curls, and not poker straight.

God... Being a girl huh!?

Dublin21

Yeah i absolutely plaster my hair with hairspray after the curls! Never seems to do a whole lot though!

Like i will literally have a ringlet for a about a minute, then they drop slightly and look Good for about ten minutes and then bam! Stupid straggly mess..

Im sitting in work hoping it rains so i have an excuse to put my hood up!
Might just put it up anyway at this stage...

I have literally 10 mins at home after work before i need to run back out again so i don't know whether to wash it quickly and let it dry naturally (Having poker straight hair has it advantages Sometimes!) or try to re-curl the mess.. Going for dinner so don't exactly want to be sitting there with soaking hair either!!

Novella

I have really straight, long hair and I curl it with a wand and it lasts all day (unless I go outside for a while and it's particularly windy!). I curled my hair yesterday evening before I went to work and have since slept on it while it was in a pony-tail and it's still curly. I am going to wash it now but I could get away with again.

I don't always use product but when I do it will either be a volumising mousse or John Frieda Luxurious Volume spray which I put in when my hair is wet. Then I blow-dry my hair and because mine is fine, I turn my head upside down to try get volume!

I'm not fussy about neatness 'cause I like sort of messy, loose curls so I don't section my hair, I just take strands of differing sizes and curl. I use a Boots own-brand wand 'cause I figured I'd try that before I invested and I actually love it. Then when I've curled all my hair, I just run my fingers through it to separate the curls and make 'em looser. Sometimes I mist with hairspray but I currently don't have any, and that's it!

xxkazxx

Definitely a wand!You can get them in peter marks for about 60 euro and you get three different extensions to put on depending what type of curl you want. My hair is poker straight and this is the only thing that will curl it! It also takes half the time to do it. pop in a bit of hairspray after your hair is curled and you will be good to go for the whole day.