I love (love, love) bouncy, gorgeous waves in my hair.
The problem? My hair is dead straight. So straight that I have never, ever had to straighten it, and when I do make the effort to curl it, chances are, my hair will fall will fall the minute I step outside my bathroom, leaving me wondering why the heck I just spent 20 minutes of my life curling it.
However, being in the business of writing about beauty, I recently did what what I should have done years ago, and bombarded all my hair experts friends with questions on how to get curls to hold better. And guys – I got some serisouly good advice that actually worked, even on my fine-ish, straight hair.
Want curls with staying power? Here are the three most important ways of ensuring just that:
1. Let it set
Not rushing might just be the biggest secret to getting your curls to stay. When you use a wand or tong, make sure you clip up your curl (Penneys have a great selection of little clips for this) and leave it until your hair is completely cooled down. Trust me, your curls will last twice as long this way.
2. Skip the conditioner
So many of us almost mindlessly reach for the bottle of conditioner once we have finished washing our hair with shampoo. And while it is true that conditioner does help keep dry and damaged hair soft, it also makes your strands super-slippery – which, you know, is not great for getting curls to stay in your hair. So on days when you are planning on curling your hair, skip the conditioner.
3. Don’t shake it out
Look, I know – nobody wants Irish dansing feis-like ringlets, but when you are done curling your hair, don’t be tempted to comb it to loosen the ringlets too quickly – or you risk your hard work being in vain. Instead, curl your hair a while before you have to leave for wherever you are going and then just sit back and let gravity do the job.
