Easy Mom Hair: Curling Hair With a Flat Iron (Video + Steps)

My top 5 go-to hair styles as a mom are 1) Straightened, 2) Ponytail, 3) Braided, 4) Messy Bun, and 5) Curled. Of these five, the straightened and curled style take the most amount of my time, but they also most easily transform into a bazillion other hair styles that I can enjoy for 2-3 days. So to me, when I can squeeze in the extra few minutes, I know it’ll make the next few day’s prep time so much faster. 

How often do you wash your hair?

I only wash my full head of hair every 2-4 days. Don’t worry, I shower more often than that and simply use a shower cap. When I shower but am not washing all of my hair, I simply push back the shower cap a couple of inches and shampoo the roots of my hair by my face/neck/ears. This keeps my hair looking clean without requiring the whole drying/styling process every day. I use dry shampoo (homemade recipe I’ll share in a future post) whenever I don’t have time to shower.

When do you find the time?

Curling my hair currently takes just under 13 minutes (when I start with hair that is already dry). I usually curl it while my toddler is having his morning quiet time in his room or before he wakes up in the morning. When I wash my hair in the morning, I’ll let it air dry and style it during his afternoon nap. 

Note: Stylists categorize my hair length as “Long,” with shoulder length being “Medium” and any shorter being “Short.” So for tutorial purposes, “long” is how I will refer to my hair length, even though there are obviously much longer lengths out there!

Here are the steps I follow along with my first video tutorial! I hope this is helpful. Please let me know how I can improve in the comments below!

Curling Hair with a Flat Iron

Hair Length: Long

Time: 12-13 Minutes

What You’ll Need: Chi Flat Iron, Jaw Clip, Hair spray, Heat protection spray (optional)

Note: I invested in a CHI styling iron and found it at Costco for $59.99, a $30 savings! They don’t have it in stock all the time, but if you are looking for one and have a Costco membership, be sure to check there! As always, Amazon has it otherwise.?

Steps:

1. Start with just-washed, air- or blow-dried hair (I always let my hair air-dry. I either wash it the night before so it’s ready to style first thing or I let it dry all morning and style it during my toddler’s afternoon nap.)

2. Gently brush any knots out of hair.

3. Start styling from the lower layers to the top. I divide my hair horizontally, using a jaw clip to pin the extra hair to the top of my head. You can either use a few clips to divide your hair in the total number of layers you’ll be styling or just one clip, letting some more hair down and re-pinning the rest to the top of your head as you go.

4. If you want to use a heat protection spray apply that now, using your hands to lift sections of hair as you spray. Brush this out again.

5. Using your heated flat iron, take a small section of hair and slide the iron from the roots to about half-way down your length of hair. Repeat with a couple of strokes and then continue down the rest of the hair, simultaneously turning the iron away from your face like you would do with a curling iron. Allow the hair to remain wrapped around the iron for as long as your hair type/iron requires to set a curl, then release. Use your finger to twirl the curl in the same direction again so that it tries as tight as possible (be careful, your hair may be very hot and could burn your finger!).

6. Continue working around your head. When you reach the back of your head, start turning the iron the opposite direction as it applies to the other side of your face/head. (You want curls to twirl away from your face.)

7. If you have bangs, use the flat iron to shape them as you like. Don’t run the iron through them too much or for too long or your bangs will be awkwardly straight/pointy. I like to very slightly turn my iron inwards at the end of the bangs to get them to tuck in.

8. When all the sections of hair are styled, gently run your fingers through the cooled hair, gathering or separating curls as you like them. Lightly apply hair spray all over hair. I especially use hair spray on the top/roots of my hair to calm frizz and fly-aways, but I like my curls free and loose so I don’t apply much to the actual curls.

before/after

For the first day, I usually just leave my hair down, or half-up. On the next couple of mornings I only need to spend 1-2 minutes using the flat iron to revive the top and front layers with fresh curls and leave it down or style it into a ponytail or other fun style (usually involving braids!). 

Now THAT you can do, Momma!

I look forward to creating more easy mom hair tutorials for you, my wonderful readers! Thanks for your patience with the video quality/lighting as I improve my skill! You all are the best!

What do you use to curl your hair?