How can you curl your hair without using heat?
For those of us not blessed with natural curls, it can be quite time consuming, and damaging to our hair, to be continually using heated appliances such as wands, straighteners and heated curlers to give our hair that cheeky bounce we crave. We thought we would help out by taking a look at 5 top ways to achieve gorgeous curls without frying your hair or burning your scalp.
Finger curling
A fairly self-explanatory method of creating waves in your hair is to take slightly damp sections of hair and twist them around your finger, creating little mini buns, pinning them into place with a hair grip. Leave in situ for a few hours until the hair has dried or, alternatively, don a silk scarf or something similar to hold them in place and leave them in overnight. You should wake up with beautiful coiled hair. Tease it out and give it a quick blast with some fixing spray to see you through to the end of the day. What could be easier than that?
Rags
A technique borrowed from the Victorians, rags are a really effective way of achieving tight spiral curls that hold their shape, even with the straightest of hair. Your hair will need to be damp for the best results. As the name suggests, take some long, thin strips of clean material such as an old t-shirt or a tea towel, roughly twice the length of your hair. Next, separate your hair into equal segments. The smaller you want the curls, the more sections you will need. Holding one end of the material in place near to the scalp with a clip, begin to wind your hair around the material. Once at the bottom, wind the excess material back up over the hair to keep it in place and tie. All you have to do then is go to bed, wake up and voila! An abundance of curls.
Braiding
Braiding is an easy way to obtain crimped curls. From one large plait that gives a soft look, to a multitude of much smaller plaits, for a novel, corrugated effect, braiding is an enduring favourite the world over. It’s also a method that you can happily wear out and about whilst waiting for it to work its magic. In its simplest form, hair is separated into three sections, with one of the outer sections crossed over the middle section to take its place in the middle. The same is then done with the strand from the opposite side in order to weave all three strands together. It is especially effective if hair is damp, but it is not necessary if the braid will be in place for a long time.
Scrunching
Unlike some of the other methods, scrunching is a really quick and easy way of generating beach style waves and boosting volume, more so if your hair already has a natural kink. Spritz damp hair with a sea salt spray, and from the middle out towards the end of the strands work your way around, squeezing your hair upwards in the palm of your hand. Do this in sections, working your way up towards the scalp. You can always add a little mousse or fixing spray to help maintain this look, but don't go overboard.
Rollers (non-heated)
Often associated with the older generation, rollers are not to be sniffed at as a hair-friendly way of achieving buoyant kinks. Once again, with hair that has been combed through and dampened, take a section at a time and place the roller down flat on the bottom of the hair and then roll it up towards the scalp, pinning it firmly and neatly into place once done. Vary the number of rollers you use depending upon whether you want lots of small, tight curls or larger, softer waves. Leave in place overnight or throughout the day if you’re not going out and you’ll be really impressed with the results.
