How to curl your hair with straighteners

published 7 October 2015

Ditch your tongs - your straighteners can basically give your curls to die for

Hands up who has tried to curl their hair with their straighteners before? Were you left with singed, wonky or weirdly angled bends in their hair making you look like a long lost relative of The Wurzels? It's happened to the best of us, but curling your hair with straighteners IS the quickest way to create waves and curls that look undone and effortless. They look far more natural than the super glam Hollywood-esque curls that heated rollers and tongs create. (We’re not knocking those techniques – but if you’ve got ten minutes to style your hair, this is probably the easiest way guys.)

Ok, here's how to do it.

BRUSH UP

Give the old locks a brush first. If you don’t and there are tangles in the hair they’ll just get even more damaged when the heated plates slide over them. Treat your hair gently, it deserves that.

SAFEGUARD YOUR HAIR

Tempting as it may be to just whack the straighteners in, you need to create a barrier between the plates and your hair with a primer. That absorbs the impact of the heated plates on the shaft of your hair, and is essential if you’re worried about breakage or if you heat style your hair regularly. Do it – we can’t stress that enough.

CURL IT

This technique does take practice – but the best advice is to just pretend to use the straighteners like you would a curling tong – or as if you were curling ribbon. Think about it this way, you’re trying to crease a spiral in the hair so that’s the shape you need to create with the straighteners. Don’t overthink it, just focus on the shape of what you want to create.

BRUSH IT

Brush through afterwards to ensure it looks cool and natural rather than deliberately styled. You want to look breezy.

FINISH IT

Finish with a mist of hairspray. Focus on the ends of the hair – they hold the most weight and they’re what cause your curls to drop during the day, so that’s where you need the staying power.

BEWARE

If, like me, you’ve got extensions in, that you don’t catch the bonds causing them to come out or burn. Nobody wants that!

BOOM – we’re done. Now here’s the kit we used:

B. Finishing Brush £9.99

Easilocks Paddle Brush £14

GHD Platinum Vintage Pink Styler £165

Nioxin 3D Styling Therm Activ Protector is £16.90

KMS Hair Stay Maximum Hold Spray, £11.90