5 Ways to Get Curly Hair

Straight-haired women like to wear their hair curly sometimes. Often the way to achieve this is to use a curling iron, flat iron, or hot rollers. Why not give those straight locks a break from heat styling when you go curly? You don’t need to go to the salon to get curls either. Here are five ways to get curly hair that you can do at home.

Roller Wet Set

A roller wet set is just setting your hair in your roller of choice while it is wet. You can help the setting process along by applying a styling product that controls frizz and gives hold like mousse or gel. You can use foam or sponge rollers, rods, plastic rollers, or flexi-rods. You simply take each section of hair, apply a styling product with hold and wrap hair around the roller then secure the roller in place. Each style of roller has its own instructions on how to secure it. Remember that different types of rollers give different curl results.

Braid Out

Braiding damp hair can give it a deep wave or crimp, depending on how thick the braid is. A braid out set in rollers can give waves with curled ends. A good braid out to do at home is to braid one-inch sections of damp hair leaving a half inch of hair free at the ends and wrap the braid around a satin-covered sponge roller. Cover hair with a satin bonnet or wrap hair in a satin scarf before going to sleep. Make sure hair is fully dry before removing rollers and braids the next day. Finger style to limit frizz and maintain a defined curly wave.

Twist Out

I love two-strand and flat twists. When I still used relaxers, I would style my hair in a flat twist style for work, and then when the weekend arrived I would remove my twists and enjoy a curly style for the weekend. Twists give you a “stretched out” spiral curl. The curl is not tight but loose and holds plenty of shine because the hair remains smooth in the twist. For a bouncier, twist out with curled ends follow the same setting method used for the braid set with rollers.

Bantu Knots

This is another hair set I used when my hair was relaxed. This gave me full, bouncy curls that were defined. With a Bantu knot do the following:

1. Twist a section of hair around your finger — think of when you “play with your hair” by twirling it around your finger.
2. Wrap the coiled twist similar to forming a pin curl, only you will end up with a knot.
3. Secure the knot with a covered elastic, bobby pin, or metal clip.
4. Once hair dries, remove the knots, separate the twists with your fingers and shake hair to loosen curls a bit more.

Finger Coils

This is ideal for short hair. I also call this curl set “half on a Bantu knot”. The reason for that is because you twist a small section of hair around your finger in the same manner you do when start your Bantu knot but you don’t create the knot in this case. You need to do this on wet, not damp hair.

1. Wash and condition as normal.
2. Work an anti-frizz serum through hair while it is still wet.
3. Use your rat-tail comb to separate a small (half inch-section) of hair.
4. Apply a small amount of gel to section.
5. Roll hair around finger like you would if you were doing a Bantu knot. Make sure the rolled twist extends from root to end.
6. Release the hair and clip the coiled end to head.
7. Repeat steps three through six until you have coils all over your head. You may need to have a spray bottle of water on hand to re-wet hair if it dries before you finish coiling your entire head.
8. Release the coils from clips once hair is dry. At this point, you can leave the coils intact if you wish or separate them.
9. Separate coils with your fingers and style with your fingers.

These five ways to get curly hair are easy to do after you’ve done them for a while. The roller sets are the easiest with finger coils being the most difficult and requiring the most practice to nail down. Once you get them down you can rock gorgeous curls whenever you want.

More from ShawnTe

How to Take Charge of Your Unruly Curls

Redefine Your Curls with Hair Rollers

Natural Hair Styles: Twisted Knot Set