Last fall I twisted Bridget’s arm and convinced her to step outside of our little DIY box and do a beauty post. Do you remember this post where B shared all of the deets about her super cute short hairdo?

The girl gets comments ALL THE TIME about her bouncy short locks and I’m so happy she gave you guys a step-by-step on how she achieves that look with a straightener!

Well, I thought the hair posts were over and it was back to business around here…but I was wrong. During our reader survey, I received a few comments asking for a how-to on my long loose waves, and this time it was Bridget’s turn to convince me to pose for some awkward photos.

How to Curl Long Loose Waves

Wow, it’s a heck of a lot easier to be behind the camera! Let’s just say I’m happy to report that no large chunks of hair burned off in the making of this post. Although holding a hot curling iron on your super thin hair in order to “get the shot” was more difficult than either of us anticipated #sizzle

Time: 10 minutes
Supplies: 2-inch barrel curling iron, brush (I love the wet brush!), teaser, hairspray, butterfly clip
Best Curls: When my hair is washed and just blow dried, but not round brushed with the dryer <–if that makes any sense!
FYI: I have very fine, thin hair that is naturally straight.
Random Thought: As Bridget mentioned in her post…if you’re a trained hair professional, I’m sorry! You’re probably cringing as you read this and see my lack of hair knowledge and skill. This is just what I, a normal gal, does to achieve a certain look.

 

Step 1: I use a butterfly clip to section off the bottom layer of hair. I don’t have much hair, so I don’t need to do too many layers. I’d say I put about 2/3 of my hair up and leave the rest down to be curled. Unlike Bridget (who uses a straightener to curl her hair), I’m all about a good ol’ curling iron. This one is super old and I’ve used it many times over the years…it gets the job done! When I’m getting ready for the day, I typically plug my curling iron in, do my makeup while it heats up, and then start curling. That way my iron is nice and hot and ready to go!

Step 2: I take a 3-inch section in the front and wrap it around the curling iron AWAY from my face. I like my front pieces to curl away from my face so my hair naturally kinda flows backwards. I also like to curl pretty big sections at a time so my hair isn’t too curly…and it’s wavier. I start at closest to my hair root and wrap the rest of my hair around the iron. Then I hold it for about 3 seconds.

Once my front piece is curled, I curl the rest of my head INTO my face. That way the curls are going different ways. I’m not sure if this is a good technique, but it’s what looks best with my hair. #notapro

Step 3: Once the first layer is done, I spray it all over with hair spray and work on another layer of hair. For my second & third layers, I like to tease my hair at the roots prior to curling. This just give me some much-needed height in the back. I like to do it at this step (instead of when I’m done), so I don’t ruin the curls when they’re all nice.

Step 4: For the top layer, I’m a little more cautious with the teasing so it doesn’t get too frizzy. I spend the most time on the top layer of curls to make sure these babies look the best.

Once my last piece is done, I like to brush through my curls. This is definitely optional and sometimes I keep the curls as is and just spray, spray, spray! But, most of the time I like my curls to look a bit more loose and carefree, so I carefully brush them together a bit.

Finally, it’s all about that hairspray! Until I met Bridget I never used hairspray…never! I just didn’t like the crunchy feeling and would rather have my hair fall than use it. Today, that’s a different story. I spray the heck out of my hard work and hope that the humidity doesn’t mess with my curls.

Often times I think my hair looks best a few hours after I’ve done it. I’m not a huge fan of really tight curls and like the way it looks when it’s a little “softer.” Because my hair is so darn thin & flat, curling it like this definitely helps give it some much-needed volume!

So there you have it, my super exciting tutorial on how to curl long loose waves. It’s safe to say that this is probably one of the last hair posts you’ll see here on the blog, because that’s about all B & I have in our hair styling repertoire! Curls, straight hair, and messy buns are just about all we can tackle in the beauty department…

Casey