Curls That Last All Day and the Next Day!

I have very thick, straight hair. Growing up, I always loved trying different ways to curl my hair: crimping, sleeping with wet braids, using hot gel wands, hot rollers, curling irons, you name it (thanks mom!). I'd even buy shampoos with promises to curl my hair and borrow gel from my friends who had beautiful, curly hair. If a curling method miraculously worked to create curls in my thick hair, it would last for a few hours and then go back to being pin straight. I've grown to love my easy, minimum-maintenance straight hair, but there are times I like switching it up with some curls. Over the last few months I've tried tons of hair products, read lots of advice online, and talked to my hair stylist and I've found the remedy: an amazing routine for curls that last all day, and (bonus!) they last the next day too!

 

1.  "Dirty" hair - If you just washed your hair that day or the night before, your hair is clean and therefore slick. Curls need grease or a little grit to help them stay in place or they will just fall out. There are two options: curl your hair a day or two post-shampooing OR put some dry shampoo in the roots to create more volume or "grit" so your hair is less slick/slippery. Side note: I LOVE Batiste Dry Shampoo because it is pretty cheap and works great!

2.  Heat protection - A heat protector keeps your hair healthy and undamaged, so your hair doesn't have tons of split ends and look matte. You wouldn't take a cupcake pan out of the oven without mitts, so don't curl your hair without a heat protector! The heat protector also adds a little extra grit to help keep the curls in place.

3. Curling - I section my hair into 3 main parts: top, middle, and bottom. I start with the top and middle sections in a hair clip and leave the bottom section down. I brush through the bottom section and then divide it off into about 6-7 pieces and curl them individually, twisting each piece in the direction away from my face. Once I'm done with the bottom section, I move to the middle section, and then finally finish with the top section. I use a Hot Tools 1" curling iron (on sale now!) set to about 400 degrees. The older your curling iron gets (mine is 6 years old), the hotter it'll need to be, but 350 degrees should be plenty for a new iron.

4. Hairspray and cooling - As soon as I'm done curling all my hair, I spray hairspray all around the curls. I 1000% recommend Redken Control Addict 28 (on sale at Ulta, and even cheaper on Amazon) if you have straight, thick hair. It's by far the best hairspray I've ever used! Then I let my hair cool for about 10 minutes.

5. One last spray - Once my hair has cooled down, I run my fingers through my hair to make more natural waves and then spray is again. This time I'll flip my hair over and spray the underside and all over. Go flaunt your gorgeous curls :)

The proof is in the curls! After 6 hours my curls were still going STRONG! The next day I just slept normally and when I woke up, put a little more hairspray in my hair. The second day curls are looser with a more natural-looking waves.  Curls that last 2 days with budget products?! Count me in, am I right?!

I've been eyeing this beauty but haven't pulled the trigger because of the price. Do you have any curling tips or favorite products? Comment below!

PS If you're not an Ulta Rewards member, you need to join! You don't need to pay or do anything special to join, it's just a rewards program. If you're part of the program, they send you monthly catalogs of new or on sale products and it always has a $3.50 coupon attached. If you use it every time you buy a beauty product (includes make-up remover, shampoo, blush, mascara, etc), that's $42 in savings a year. Cha-ching money back in you're wallet :)

Thanks for reading!