I love to curl my short hair. I can do it on Monday and typically wear the curls until at least Friday. Throughout the years, with a pixie haircut, I’ve learned a lot of tricks for curling very short hair. Keep reading to learn about my three favorite hair-curling tools and the multitude of ways that I use them to achieve my curly hairstyles. Tutorials are included.
For all curl techniques, you will need to start with dry hair. Whenever I need to prep my clean hair, this is what I do. After shampooing, I use a leave-in conditioner and a styling mousse. Then, blow dry, smoothing with a round brush a bit. Once my hair is completely dry, I apply a leave-in serum as a heat-protective layer for the hot tool. This last step is important: Do not forget to use a product to protect your hair from the heat.
Most hot tools come with a temperature gauge. When choosing the proper heat setting, think about the quality of your hair and what heat setting you will need to style it. Hard-to-manage, or thick hair, will need a higher temperature compared to hair that’s fine and fragile. If your hair is none of these extremes, pre-heating your iron to a medium heat setting (360 F) should suffice.
Size matters, so you must find the right-diameter tool for the length of your hair. The size of the iron will determine curl size and the tool size you will need for your hair length. For example, if your hair is 1-inch long, a wand that’s 1 inch or larger won’t be of use to you.
