Heat-Free Soft Curls

A few days ago I chopped off about 8″ of my hair.  That sounds rather dramatic, and I guess it was, but all that was left of that length was pitiful little whisps.  Changing from purple to grey to pink wreaked havoc on my hair, and all the heat styling I did didn’t help.  I was starting to experience severe breakage, so it was time to snip! It feels so much healthier now and I am loving my fresh new lob style.  After my hair mini makeover, I realized that I needed to figure out how to style my hair without heat so that I could prevent future damage.  So I decided to try out flexible hair rods.  I tried them before as a teen but never really mastered them, but my hair guru friend swears by them so I decided to give it another shot.  Well, let me tell you, I am so glad I did because I LOVE THEM! They provide a totally damage free way to get soft, beachy-looking curls.  I really recommend giving them a try.  Using them has a bit of a learning curve so I put together a tutorial to help you understand how to put them in.

THINGS YOU WILL NEED:

– Flexible hair rods (I use the 7/8″, 11/16″, and 5/8″ from this set)

– Leave-in conditioner spray (I am currently using this one)

– Big hair clip

– Hairspray (My fave)

1. Start with dry or almost dry hair.  Spray leave-in conditioner all over to moisten hair.  Clip the top section of your hair on top of your head.

2. Grab small chunks of hair and wrap them around the rods.  Wrap the hair around the middle of the rod, leaving the top and bottom ends of the rod free.  I wrap the frontmost pieces so that they will curl away from my face; the rest I alternate directions and rod sizes for variety in my curls.

3.  Once a section of hair is wrapped around the rod, fold the ends inward and wrap it into a little ball.  I found this part to be the trickiest to master.  It might take a little bit of practice for you to figure out how to wrap it up so that it is secure enough to not fall out.  Luckily the rods that I linked to have a rubbery texture that helps to grip to your hair.

4. Continue to wrap sections of hair until all you have left is the part clipped on top of your head.

5.  Unclip the section of hair on top of your head and then re-clip just your bangs/front section.

6. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the hair on top of your head until all you have left is your bangs/front section.

7. Make sure to use one of your biggest rods for your front section of hair.  Keep a little space between your scalp and where the wrap starts because you want the curls right around your forehead and eyes to be extra loose.

8. Now you’re all wrapped up! The longer you leave these in to set, the more staying power your curls will have.  If you have very straight hair, you can even leave them in overnight.  Since my hair holds a curl easily, I only leave them in for a half hour or an hour while I do my makeup, eat breakfast, etc.

9. Take the rods out slowly.  Look how pretty that spiral curl is! Since the rods have that rubbery finish, they can pull your hair if you aren’t careful.

10.  All done! Brush out the curls with your fingers and add some hairspray.

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I hope you found this tutorial useful! Try not to be intimidated by all these steps; aside from the setting, the whole process only takes me 10-15 minutes.  If you are the kind of person who prefers watching a video tutorial instead of reading steps and looking at photos, check out this one on Youtube.

I love my beach waves so much that I figured what better way was there to show you the finished result than with a beach shoot?! Fall hasn’t really made an appearance yet here in LA.  I sometimes wish I could wear sweaters but let’s be honest…I can’t really complain when I can still splash in the ocean in mid-October!

xoxox

Emily