Making determined-to-be-straight hair curl?

[Tahti]

I lovvvve curly hair. Unfortunately, my hair is completely stick straight (thankyou Scandinavian heritage... hmmmph) and will not hold a curl. At all. I've even had it curled at the hairdressers and it falls out in 10 minutes and looks like a ratty hot mess.
Any hints? I've tried rollers, heat styling, setting lotion, et cetera...

 

[gildedangel]

I have hair like that too! I like to wear rollers overnight and douse my hair in hairspray. Needless to say I don't curl it often!

 

[Meisje]

My hair is also incredibly stick-straight (I have native heritage).

Curls made with heated devices don't last well in my hair, especially in humidity or damp weather.

Sometimes I will pincurl damp hair and dry it with a hairdryer and let it sit for a long time. That takes almost a full day but if you are going out at night and don't have anywhere to be...

Two overnight solutions are sponge rollers and braids. These are cool because you can sleep with them overnight and if you do it right, it doesn't interfere with your sleep.

For the sponge rollers, just dampen hair slightly at bedtime, add some product and roll up. You can roll them so they're on top of your head --- that way you can sleep and it doesn't hurt. In the morning, take them out.

The braids are similar... dampen hair a little, add product, and braid your hair. Big braids give you big waves, little braids give a crimped effect... you can alternate the braid sizes for a really wild look. Braid as far down to the ends as you can. If the ends look too straight in the morning, you can use a heated crimper to fix them.

 

[laraVENGEANCE]

YouTube - Curls that last for days?

maybe try something like that? if the curls last for days on normal hair they might last a day on yours haha!

 

[Meisje]

I just wanted to post here with an "I feel your pain" story:

I had to photograph a wedding on a humid day. I applied setting lotion, carefully curled each strand of hair, sprayed it and put it in a pin curl. I let it set three hours. Just before I walked out of the house, I let it down --- it looked great! Super curly and bouncy.

After the four-minute car ride to the wedding... it was completely straight again.

 

[Tahti]

^ Oh my god, I know the feeling!... D: it's horrific isn't it?
That's always happened to me... I remember beginning curling my hair with setting lotion, pincurls, et cetera at about 1 p.m. one day in preparation for a fancy dinner the next evening... Woke up the next day and spent about 3 hours curling it and spraying it before the dinner.
By the time I sat down at the table (all of ten minutes later) my hair looked like the biggest mess in the entire world (NOT a good look for a fancy dinner, lol) I'm sure you know the way - all that product in it looks unnoticeable really when you've curled it, then it falls out and... it's just... ugggggghhhh xD

 

[starlaj]

I have the same problem, hot sticks are pretty good with hairspray and recently ive been told to invest in some steam tongs by Braun , about £15 from Boots apparently

 

[narcissy]

My hair used to be curly but it went straight/wavy a couple of years ago and will not hold a decent curl for love or money! i'm so gutted and i miss my curls!
one piece of advice i can give you girls is NEVER use the swarzkopf freeze hairspray(the yellow one) when curling cause it just drags the curls down in half the time.

I'm going to try and curl my hair again tonight but i'm going to use some mousse before styling and see how it goes. will keep you posted!

 

[Meisje]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tahti I'm sure you know the way - all that product in it looks unnoticeable really when you've curled it, then it falls out and... it's just... ugggggghhhh xD

Yeah, when that happens to me, it looks like I haven't washed my hair in a week plus I must have dragged my head up and down someone's living room carpet for an hour. But also somehow totally straight and limp.

 

[luvsic]

I just want to say I feel your pain too

I used to have rather thick hair, but over the years it's redueced to really thin stick-straight Asian hair. And no matter what I use - a curling iron, hot rollers, pin curls...my hair will NOT STAY.

Something I've found to work DECENTLY well is to put some heat protecting spray on, curl it with your hot tool of choice (hot rollers for me!!) And then pin curl them. Then, spray them lightly with some light hairspray (do not overspray!! Just one or two small sprits will suffice...we'll lock in the style later) Then, afterwards, use hair putty or pomade...right now I'm using Garnier Fructis Hair Putty but it's not a stellar product. Once I run out I plan to try Pantene Pro-V Texturize Sculpting Wax...it's been getting pretty good reviews AND is supposed to add volume. Be sure to just take a little goop (about a dime size, trust me a little goes a long way...increase to nickle size possibly if your hair is longer, or a quarter if it's super long) rub it in between your hands, and run your hands through your hair. With my hair, this stuff stays longer than hairspray...but don't use too much or else hair will look greasy and weighed down, like it would look crunchy with too much hairspray!

HTH!

 

[Simply Elegant]

My hair does hold curls well but if I want it to look good for the next day too, I curl one section and gently remove the curling iron from the curl while it's still rolled up and hold it until it's cool then use a tiny spritz of exta hold hairspray and it stays and doesn't look crunchy.

 

[xsnowwhite]

try putting a curl enhancing gel in your hair while damp, roundbrushing it dry making sure to roll the ends and hold the heat on it for a second so it creates a curl, then after its all round brushed put it up in hot rollers. While in the rollers spray it with hair spray.

 

[greengoesmoo]

My hair is poker straight as well, but I find I can get curls for most of a day.
I always use the cheap 80's style bendy curlers, freshly washed hair with no conditioner.
Towel dry.
Work while your hair is still damp, but not wet. I smooth a small amount of Lush's Goth Juice through the whole head and brush into sections.
Made sure you roll in the same direction everyime, otherwise you get opposite direction spirals.
Once you have the curlers in, secure tightly, the better set the longer they last. Add a BIG swooosh of hair spray, some kind of firm hold.
Put on a hat which will secure your hair from smells and knocks and sleep on it.
Before taking out add one final spritz of spray and voila.


Your own hair could be dragging itself down though. The weight and length of it might be the underlying problem. Sorry to have to tell you that.

 

[hello_kitty]

Same situation for me! I had some luck making curls with a straightener and using a crapton of hairspray. But it's a lot of effort, and my hair is really long so it ends up taking forever. I figure there's ton of people that would kill to have my hair, so I should just love my straightness

 

[Lerina]

My hair no longer curls as well as it use to, but two things that have always worked for me: leaving some sort of rollers in your hair overnight. You must have rollers in your hair for at least 6 hours for them to last the entire day. I don't even use any product on my hair beforehand. Sponge rollers work well and so do pin curls, but both of these must be used on damp hair. I don't ever use any curl enhancing products because after 6+ hours of having my hair in rollers/pins I don't even need it. If you continue doing these kind of techniques for months at a time, you should notice your hair will become easier to curl (at least with my experience ) and I started to have more of a natural wave to my hair. Also, curls tend to last longer on more coarse hair. If you don't want to style your hair when damp, spray some extra hold hairspray (I love Tresemme) on dry hair, shake it, and brush it out. It'll dry the hair out a bit, but it'll help hold your curls a hell of a lot better. From my experience, the softer my hair was...the harder it was to keep my hair curly.

 

[Caderas]

i'm just suggesting this because no one else has mentioned it! you could do a perm with a large diametrical rod to give you the really gorgeous loose, but still there curls! no hatin' on a little perm-doin'! ;D

 

[luxury]

I have the Caruso curlers, my hair is chemically straightened as well and with those I have to add setting lotion to the water and it helps.

Try wet rollersetting with setting lotion under a hooded dryer until completely dry and you will have great curls. get the magnetic rollers not the self grip