Today I’m excited to share my most common everyday hairstyle. I style it this way after every washing (I try to only wash my hair 2-3 times per week), and on the in-between days, I usually only style my bangs and maybe comb my fingers through the rest of it real fast.
First, I wanted to share a photo of my natural hair texture. This is after being air dried (my bangs are already straightened here, I wish I would have left them too so you could see how truly crazy my natural texture is).
I wasn’t blessed with hair that air dries into a pretty curl or wave, but instead frizz that is pretty intense. And to add insult to injury, the top of my hair always dries flat and straight, but it’s the bottom that goes crazy—so it’s like I have natural hat hair. Cool.
If you have frizzy hair, you are going to love this method. You don’t have to use a ton of products to tame your hair. You’ll see here I only use one really simple oil. No hairspray or anything!
Note: I am almost always wearing hair extensions (20 inches) in photos I share here. But I decided to leave them out for this post because they have a different texture than my natural hair before being styled. If you happen to wear extensions, the best way to do this is with them already in your hair so it all gets styled together. I only left them out because I felt like it would make a better tutorial for you here.
First I add a little bit of this Mermaid Hair Oil to my ends. This helps to protect them from heat.
If your flat iron has adjustable heat settings, it’s a good idea to keep the temperature below 300 as well.
Start with the bottom layer of your hair, flat iron curling each piece, twisting it into a little ring like this and clipping it up to cool (I use these clips).
I used to do these exact same curls but without the clips, and the results were not nearly as good. The clips are the key factor for me. My hair holds curl pretty well, so as long as I use the clips and let each curl fully cool (just a few minutes) before taking them out, they will hold until my next wash.
OK, so here’s how to actually do each curl!
The smaller the section of hair you use, the more intense the curl. So do bigger sections if you want just a very soft wave.
I usually like to curl away from my face. Start at the top of each section and drag the iron out as if you are flat ironing. Halfway down, flip the iron around one full time to create a curl. Leave the ends out (even just a little bit) for a beachy wave.
As soon as you let go of the curl, twist it into the little “nests” or twists and clip them to your scalp. Let it fully cool before pulling the clip out.
Practice makes perfect! It took me some time and practice to find my own technique for my hair. Don’t give up.
At the end your hair will look kind of like this.
Once your curls are cool, pull all the clips out and tousle your hair until it feels natural. Don’t leave the curls too tight.
If your hair has a tough time holding curl, you can always give it a little hairspray at this stage. Mine does OK, and I like using minimal hair products, so I just leave it.
I have pretty dry hair, so something I do in between wash days, ESPECIALLY if I am heat styling it more, is to use a little more hair oil on my ends. This helps a lot. I am trying to grow my hair out and heat styling is pretty much the worst enemy of that, so I try to keep it pretty minimal.
By the way, the reason I don’t wash my hair too much is because since I dye my hair red, it fades extremely fast. Also washing too much can dry out your hair, and my hair is already naturally dry.
So one of the reasons I don’t like to use too many hair products is because I am sleeping with those products at night, which can be a gross thought. Haha.
Anyway! I hope this was helpful to you!
Thanks for reading! xx -Elsie
Hi Elsie! I was just wondering what action/filter you used for these if you used one? I can’t find any way to edit my photos to make my red hair look so pretty:)
Lovely colour and lovely style.
My girlfriend always iron her hair everyday. i love her hairstyle, is same as your.
Very nice hairstyle. How long did it told you?
What type of flat iron do you use? It doesn’t look like my flat iron. Your hair is beautiful!
I love the hair tutorials on here but I am not good with following pictures, especially with hair in my face and tools in my hands. I would love if the hair tutorials could be videos.
Possibly a dumb question, but on days you don’t shampoo your hair, I’m assuming you don’t get it wet either, since your curl would go away. So do you wear a shower cap? I don’t shampoo every day either, but I find that my hair gets so frizzy from the shower I end up having to at least wet it down and restyle it. I would love to find a better solution!
this actually worked for me! i love seeing hair tutorials, but i never attempt them because i don’t think my hair is going to do anything i want it to. i had some extra time and tried this and it was perfect! thanks for sharing!
Love the easy styling tips! I have been obsessing over red hair lately and really like the color of yours. I have brown hair. What color red do you use?
I always love your hair so thanks for this tutorial! I need to get ahold of some of those clips, that seems to be the key step that I’m missing when I curl my hair!
Thanks for sharing. I am always looking for easy styling with less products. This is perfect.
Hems
Hi!
What color do you wear on your nails?
These curls are gorgeous! I need to get a better functioning flat iron so I can do this!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
I’m going to try this. We have nearly the same type of hair! Love you!!!…mom
YAY! Love you mom!
It will look so pretty on you! xx
Yes, love this! I never thought about using the clips while the curls cool off.
Why hasn’t anyone asked where is your shirt from yet?!
i’m glad i’m not the only one whose natural hair looks like that… 🙂 it’s SUPER frustrating when i’m in a hurry after showering!
Haha my hair gets crazy frizzy also when I blow dry it! That why I hardly ever blow dry it, after I shower I’ll put a little coconut oil and lavender oil but just a teansy bit then I’ll braid it and the next morning when I pull out my braid walla! No frizz! (: your hair color is absolutely gorgeous! It took my a minute to recognize you with your new hair color! it’s been a while since I’ve been on ABM!
https://avigailife.wordpress.com/
Great post! Your hair looks great but. ..your LASHES! OMG. Gorgeous lashes. Is that mascara or strips or Latisse or a combo? I’d love to know. Thanks again! 🙂
Hi Els,
thanks for this!
for the in between days, what kind of drys shampoo do you use?
or what do you usually do?
i dont like washing my hair everyday (out of sheer laziness) and it’ll last me a while, it just drives me insane when it starts getting oily.
thanks!
I have the same texture hair except my hair is thin! Thank you so much for this tutorial! I never thought to pin curls up as they cool. I’ll have to give it a shot!