How to Curl Hair with a Flat Iron: A Step-by-Step Guide

For those who have recently opted for a shorter haircut, exploring new styling techniques becomes essential. If you can’t just pull it up into a messy bun anymore, you’ve had to get better at styling your hair down. This guide delves into creating loose, natural curls using a flat iron, a method that offers a unique approach to hairstyling.

Why Use a Flat Iron to Curl Hair?

Using a flat iron to curl hair might seem counterintuitive, but it offers several advantages:

• Relaxed Curls: A flat iron creates flatter, more relaxed curls because it bends the hair around the straightener that is somewhat square instead of wrapping it around a circular curling iron.
• Messy Look: It’s easier to create a more “messy” look by leaving the top and bottom parts of the hair shaft straight.

This technique is versatile and suitable for various hair lengths.

Essential Products

Before diving into the curling process, gather these essential products:

• Heat Protectant: TRESemme Heat Tamer is an inexpensive spray that does the job well. Apply a generous amount of heat protectant to shield your hair from heat damage.
• Texture Spray: Not Your Mother’s Double Take Dry Finish Texture Spray works 10x better than dry shampoo for adding volume and texture to your hair, and it made styling my curls so much easier.
• Hairspray: L’Oreal Elnett Satin Extra Strong Hold Volume Spray is a humidity resistant hairspray with a super fine mist that leaves your hair feeling clean and soft and not at all sticky.

Step-by-Step Curling Guide

Follow these steps to achieve beautiful curls with a flat iron:

Read also: Is Verb Curl Good for Curly Hair?

1. Preparation: First, brush through your dry hair and put the top two-thirds of your hair up in a clip.
2. Curling the Bottom Section: Slowly slide the straightener down the hair strand, keeping tension as you pull the straightener backwards. The key to getting a curl is keeping the straightener rotated backwards and clamped just barely loose enough for the hair to slide through.
3. Twisting the Curl: As soon as you finish the curl, use your fingers to help twist/twirl the hair in the direction you curled it.
   • Tip: For a more natural, relaxed, messy look, leave the top inch or two and the very bottom of your hair uncurled.
4. Adding Texture: Once you finish the entire bottom section with curls, mess them up a bit by separating each curl into two pieces or loosely running your fingers through the curls. After separating the curls, spray your hair with the texture spray to add extra fullness and help fluff up the curls. This will also help hold them in place all day without making them stiff.
5. Curling Subsequent Sections: Once you are finished with one section, let down the next (I usually do two more sections on top) and repeat the same process: heat spray, curling, separating, and adding texture.
6. Curling the Top Layer: When I’m curling the very top layer around my face, I usually do these curls even looser, leaving more of the hair straight at my roots and on the ends.
7. Final Touches: Don’t be afraid to go back and re-curl any pieces you don’t like once you have everything curled. If a piece looks too straight, go ahead and curl it again, making sure you have the straightener clamped tight as it is rotated backwards.

Maintaining Your Curls

To extend the life of your curls and maintain healthy hair:

1. Nighttime Routine: First, I will brush the curls out before I go to bed at night. As I mentioned before, the hairspray I use is super fine and brushes out really easily without ripping through your hair.
2. Morning Refresh: Then in the morning I’ll use a little bit of dry shampoo on my roots if needed (my hair doesn’t get very oily). Some of the curl will still be in my hair in the morning, so most days I’ll only re-curl the top two layers using the same method above: always use heat spray, curl, separate, and texture spray.
3. Alternative Styles: If I’m not liking the way the curls look the next day, sometimes I will pull it out of my face a bit by putting the top half in a bun or ponytail, pinning a few pieces back with a bobby pin, or doing a braid around my face.

Read also: Curl Shampoo for Men: Expert Advice

Read also: No-Curler Lash Techniques

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