To curl or how to curl- that is the question

A few weeks ago I was asked for advice on what to use to do curl your hair. I thought I could do a lot of research or I could ask the most amazing hairdresser ever, my hairdresser Ruth.

So today I put the question to Ruth- what piece of equipment should you use to curl you hair. She said " I don't know." Haha no she didn't- this is what she said.

You basically have three main options. A GHD, A curling iron, hot rollers or velcro rollers. There is also the good old fashioned big round brush- but that not so much a curler as a bodier. ( I have no clue if that is a word either, but I just made it up and I'm going with it).

Step 1 is that no matter what tool you use you must  put some styling product in your hair. It will increase the staying power of your curl. Some moroccian oil, or a styling lotion or a mousse (yes really but if you have been following my blog you would be familiar with the resurgence of mousse.)

Lets start with a GHD (or straightener of any description)- 

I may have mentioned this before, but the dog ate my GHD, so I was GHDless for the first time in 7 years. It was 6 months worth of top knots and curls, because GHD is the only thing that straightens and smooths my curly, frizzy hair. They are expensive, but not as expensive as they were, but last forever.

Anyway back to curls- the GHD curl is good for a smooth curl, that tends to have more a a long ringlet feel to it.  The curl doesn't have as much as a a long life, but give it a good spray of hair spray when you are done and it should be fine. 

This is Mollie King and her hair has been curled (very well) with a GHD.

To curl with a GHD

1. Straighten your hair (bizarre but true)

2. Section off you hair , but leave you front bits until last because you want to get them right.

3. Start with small bits and wrap your hair around the GHD. It is all in the wrist action-  which is quite tricky to master, but practise. Just make sure your twirl away from your face.

Click here to go to the GHD youtube channel for tutorials

4.When you have done all of your hair, do the front bits (away from your face remember) but I find it is best not to curl for too long.

5. Once you are happy with the curl you can either mess it up for a casual,sexy, beachy look, or smooth it out with a brush for a more polished look.

Click here to go to the GHD shop- otherwise you can buy them from a hairdresser. Try not to buy them off ebay. They tend not to be real. The cheapest you should get one for is about $200. They are worth every cent.

Reading back I think I have made this sound much easier than I actually think it is. I am not going to lie, I am not good at doing this. I am old school- I tend to use the good old fashioned curling wand (as we called it in the 80's) I think it is called an iron now.

There are two kinds of wands they are either the old fashioned ones with a clamp, or the pointing ones with no clamps. If you have a non clamper you wrap the hair around and hold it, or if you have a clamper, you wind the hair around and the clamp holds it in place.

A non clamper

A clamper. I have a clamper, I like it so I don't burn my fingers. I should also add that clamper is not it's real name, I made that up, but I think it works.

Curls with a wand have a bit more staying power than the GHD, because it is held in place for a bit longer, so theoretically you should get more curl for your buck. The instructions are similar-

1. Straighten hair ( I know= again bizarre)

2. Section off hair

3. Wind you hair around the want and hold it for no more than 10 secs - you don't want to burn it.

4. Gentle unwrap the wand, and try not to "straighten" the curl- the reason for this is because it is actually the cooling down of the hair that held the curl hold, so the longer it stays in the original shape the better. So DON"T TOUCH.

5. Once you are curled give your hair a shake, a tousle, or whatever you want to do and give it a good spray with a hairspray.

                                        

Here is a tutorial I got from Paula Joye on say beach waves with a wand . It's pretty good. Her web site is called Lifestyled. It is also pretty good. CLick here to have a look

Finally the good old fashioned hot rollers.

Awesome for body and bounce, but your curl will not be as smooth as if you did it with the other two tools. You routine for using hot rollers is a little bit more time consuming but worth a try.

Hot rollers have come a long way- and are much easier to clamp. There's that word again.

Yes, hot roller can make you look like this.

1. Do not, I repeat DO NOT straighten your hair!! By all means give it a lovely blow dry and try and get as much frizz as possible, but if you straighten you will not get curl.

2. Pop in your heated rollers, I'm sure there is a secret formula that your Nan could tell you to put them in your hair, but I am going with chuck them in all over just ensuring that you curl away from your face. Have a look on Youtube or Pintrest if you want specific instructions.

3. Put your make up on, fold the washing (as if), go on Facebook, spend a bit of time on Pintrest, do all of the above because you MUST let them cool COMPLETELY. Yes I am shouting at you because that is important. Nan knew what she was doing when she used to pop her rollers in first thing in the morning, pop her scarf on and go about her business for a big night out, because those babies need to cool completely because ( repeat after me) - THAT IS WHAT SETS THE CURL.

"Sit down and have a cuppa and a ciggie with me luv while my hair sets and the smell of smoke soaks into me curls"

4. When you rollers are cool - just before you unwind (or in my case untangle because my hair always tangles) give it a good spray with your favourite hair spray because that will get in to the roots, giving you body and bounce that only Beyonce can dream about (well if her hair was real and she didn't wear wigs, or weaves)

You will not look like this with your rollers in. Sorry.

If you feel the need to purchase some Click here to look at Priceline- apart from the fact they have EVERTHING, they have some cheap, good rollers.

Finally another fab tool when we are talking sexy curls with a bit of body, is dry shampoo. I know I have talked about this before but it is awesome for adding a bit of body and texture.

Remember curls can take a while to perfect, so practise, and  if it all goes terribly wrong and you end up looking more Chutney than Elle .....

That is why God invented the top knot.

I don't own any of these images. The come from Pinterest or the wonderful world of Google.