How to curl your hair with a flat iron

It is much easier to curl your hair with a flat iron than a curling iron! Very user friendly and you will be pleased with the result (Curls come out much more perfect and less frizzy!)

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Styling product of your choice (gel, mousse, curl construct, etc)
• Comb
• Flat iron (preferably ceramic and 1")
• Hairspray

1. Distribute styling product of your choice even throughout your hair (My personal preference is Garnier Fructis curling mousse - I put this into wet hair and then blowdry so that I don't have the stiff feeling of hairspray)

2. Separate dry hair into three sections (bottom, middle and top). You will start working with the bottom section of your hair.

3. Take a strand of hair (the bigger the strand, the looser and larger the curl)and comb it with a large tooth comb.

4. I like to run the flat iron down the strand once only b/c I have really frizzy and puffy hair and it makes it sleeker, but if you don't have a need for it just start on the next step for the curling process:

5. Clamp flat iron about 2' from the scalp as if you were to straighten that strand. Loop the strand over the front of the flat iron and twist iron upwards so that hair is fully looped around iron (just one loop around).

6. Slowly pull iron down in the straightening hair movement. The slower you pull down the tighter the curl and vice versa. Don't get discouraged as it will look as though you are straightening that piece of hair but if you do it correctly (with the hair looped around it once) you will come out with a perfect curl!

7. I like to twist the curl with my finger to make it extra bouncy.

8. Spraying hairspray is optional (I hate the stiff hair feeling so I choose not to since I apply mousse for hold before I blowdry my hair) however this will cause the curls to fall slightly thoughout the day. You may use a scrunching motion while spraying a holding product to get an extra bit of bounce and volume.

9. Repeat same process with middle and top section.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't be tempted to use your flat iron the same way you would use a curling iron and wrap your hair fully around. This will cause unnecessary damage to your hair and will not work!!
• Don't be discouraged if it doesn't work the first time. Practice makes perfect! You can find some video tutorials on YouTube that may be helpful.
• Be careful when wrapping your hair around the iron. Sometimes it is easier to twist the iron up to loop hair around once and it may get close to your scalp!

[azorean53]

on 1/22/2009 Check out other ways to curl hair at http://www.ehow.com/how_4729364_curl-hair.html

[mattlee]

on 9/29/2008 excellent