Give your hair vivacious bounce, body, and shine with straw curls. This style is eye-catching and looks tricky to achieve. However, looks can be deceiving, as you'll soon find out!
Curls, Curls, Glorious Curls
Anyone with a head full of curly hair can attest to the fact that when it looks great, it truly looks amazingly great. When the frizz is at bay, the curls are in place and the entire look is full of body and shine, it translates into a great hair day. Of course, curls don't have to be natural to be perfect. Perms, hot rollers, curling irons and even the simple wet braid trick can transform straight hair into vibrant, curly hair.
Salons offer many different styles when it comes to achieving curls. Not all curls are the same, and it's important to understand the distinction if you're striving for a particular look. Some of the curl varieties available at salons or easily accomplished at home include the following:
- Finger Waves: A more complicated (though not necessarily difficult) technique calls for some fancy moves involving the fingers holding the hair in certain positions. However, a simpler method involves allowing naturally curly hair to air dry and simply scrunching a bit of styling product, such as hair gel or a curl enhancing spray, into the hair and gently shaping the curls.
- Pin Curls: Pin curls are often used to accent a look, such as curls achieved with finger waves. These curls are shaped into ringlets and pressed flat against the head, and are usually placed against the forehead, the cheeks or sideburns, and around the nape of the neck. The look is sleek, shiny and dressy.
- Barrel Curls: Similar to pin curls, barrel curls stand away from the head instead of laying flat against the skin. It involves rolling curls in segments around the fingers and securing it gently with a clip or pin. Once the finger is released, the curl will retain its shape.
- Spiral Curls: This look is both playful and sexy at once. Depending on the hair's length, it can take as long as an hour to complete or as little as just a few minutes. A curling iron and a light hairspray are necessary to achieve this look.
- Straw Curls: Don't be fooled by the name! The "straw" in the title doesn't refer to how the hair feels after being transformed - instead, it attributes the instruments used to achieve this look. Simple plastic drinking straws are the ideal tools to use for creating these tight, shiny, charming ringlets.
How to Achieve Straw Curls
Straw curls might best be defined as sassy, sexy, and confident. This look gives curls a completely new style, and though it takes some practice, it's easily mastered with time and patience. This style is often utilized by African American women for shiny, frizz-free, beautiful curls. Of course, if time is short and you prefer a professional stylist's touch, you'll benefit from one of the many hair salons that offer the service.If you choose to try your hand at it, you'll need a few tools to get started. These are basic, everyday items that are easily found at your local drugstore and beauty supply store.
- Plastic drinking straws (perm rods may also be used)
- End papers (available at any beauty supply store)
- Bobby pins
- Hair mousse, gel or setting lotion
- Shine serum
Now that you've collected the products you'll need to achieve this look, you're ready to get started. Read through these steps a couple of times to get a feel for what you will be doing, and then curl away!
- Start with clean hair. Shampoo and condition your hair as you normally would.
- Pat gently dry with a towel, taking care not to rub (rubbing contributes to frizz).
- Apply an alcohol-free mousse, gel or setting lotion, such as Nexxus Alcohol Free Mousse Plus Volumizing Foam Styler or Joice JoiLotion, to the hair. A tennis ball size amount will suffice.
- Cut the drinking straws to a size roughly approximate to the length of your hair. The straw should ideally be one to two inches longer than the hair.
- Separate the hair into ¼" to 1" sections. Remember that the curl will be tighter if the hair section is smaller.
- Prepare the hair for the straws by folding the ends of the hair with the end paper.
- Forming natural spirals, wrap sections of hair lengthwise around the straw, starting at the bottom and rolling upward towards the scalp.
- Secure by pinning the inside of the curl lengthwise against the scalp.
- Dry hair under a hooded dryer under it is completely dry, or allow it to air dry naturally.
- Before unwrapping, ensure that the curls are completely cool. Gently unwind each straw one at a time.
- Apply a light shine serum and gently separate and arrange the curls with the fingers.
For a video visual, visit this How to Do a Straw Set on You Tube.
Enjoy your great straw curls look!
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