Do you ever get your hair done and the hairstylist curls your hair and you leave feeling so beautiful? Fast forward 2-3 days and your curls still look great and you really don't want to shampoo your hair... At this point do you question what sort of sorcery did your stylist do for this to happen? We all have been there... you try to curl your hair and by the time you get to the other side of your head the curls have fallen. Isn't that frustrating? Well I am here to share some of the reasons why your curls don't last.
Let's talk about the type of hot tools out there. Most curling irons, wands, and even flat irons are either going to be aluminum, ceramic, tourmaline, or titanium. Don't lose interest this chemistry talk won't last long.
Aluminum - it is a great heat conductor, however its very cheap and very damaging to your hair with regular use. I do not recommend using this on your hair.
Ceramic - heats up quickly and distributes heat evenly, however it doesn't reach high temperatures as other hot tools. It's gentle on the hair, but may not be enough for thick or coarse hair. I would recommend ceramic hot tools if you have dry, thin, or damaged hair.
Tourmaline - This is usually used to coat the plates of a ceramic or titanium hot tool. It produces 6 times the amount of negative ions to help smooth the hair to be straighter and shinier. I would recommend tourmaline hot tools if you have a normal to thick hair.
Titanium- it is the latest in technology for styling tools. It heats the fastest, durable, gives superior results, suitable for heavy salon use. I would recommend using a titanium hot tool if you have medium to coarse hair and not damaged.
So given the different types of tools above; One of the reasons your hair might not be holding the curl is you are using the wrong one. If you have super thick coarse hair and you're using a ceramic hot tool then it might not be getting the job done because its not hot enough for your hair. I will leave a chart below that I recommend you set your hot tools at.
Fragile/Fine Hair: 250ºF - 300ºF
Thin Hair: 300ºF - 330ºF
Normal Hair: 330ºF - 350ºF
Wavy Hair: 350ºF - 370ºF
Coarse: 370ºF - 410ºF
Very Thick/Textured: 410ºF - 450ºF
Another reason could be the size of the section you are trying to curl. If you are trying to curl a huge section on a small barrel then it might not be getting hot enough to curl the whole section of hair. So one thing we are taught in cosmetology school when styling whether it is brushes, rollers, or hot tools is use a section the size of the tool you are using. So for instance if your curling iron is 4 inches long then you can't wrap a 6 inch section of hair around it. so use a smaller section of hair so that it will evenly cover the barrel; I would make sure you have a little wiggle room on each side of the hair, and also the thickness of the section wouldn't be bigger than the diameter of the tool being used.
Do you know how many times the hair has to go around the barrel to make a curl?
(insert jeopardy theme song)
What is 1-1/2 turns?
So for your hair to hold a curl it must be able to wrap around 1-1/2 times. So the next reason why your hair won't hold a curl is that maybe you are using too big of a curling iron or wand. I know everyone has their preferences on the size of their curls, but this still applies. Also the length of the hair has something to do with it too. If you have longer or thicker hair and you curl with a bigger size iron; Yes the hair will still wrap around the minimum 1-1/2 turns, however the length and weight of the hair is going to stretch the curl out and won't last. I would recommend going to a smaller iron and also setting the hair. (I will get to setting the hair later)
Now that we have learned the types of hot tools there are, what works best for our hair, what temperature to set our tools to, and how to form a curl let's talk about the execution of curling.
Sometimes when the hair is too clean or isn't properly prepped it will not curl or the curls will not last. A few issues I have seen is you curl the hair with too many products, the wrong products, or even no products in your hair. Depending on what you are using for your hair they may weigh the hair down. Remember less is more. I would recommend curling your hair on day 2, but this will work if you have blow dried the hair on day 1; just make sure the hair is thoroughly dry. When blowdrying your hair make sure to put in a blow-dry cream or something with a heat protectant. If you are starting on day 2 hair that is dry I would spray a lightweight heat protectant in. I recommend Amika - The Shield or Kenra - Blow-Dry Spray. I have used both, they have a similar price point, and both help against humidity.
*If your hair smokes while using a hot tool you may be using too high of heat, or you have too much product on the hair or too much moisture still in the hair.
When doing hair we refer to hair in parts; 1-root area, 2-mid shaft, 3-ends, but for styling I will only be focusing on parts 2 and 3. So part 2 is the mid shaft or the middle section of the hair, and this section is also the coldest part of the hair. So when curling the hair I like to run the curling iron over that section to warm it up. I also will start the curl in this section because it is colder it will need more time in this section that the ends. The ends are the driest and sometimes the most damaged so it doesn't need to be on those sections as much. While the curling iron is on the hair use your other hand and just put your finger on the hair thats wrapped on the curling iron (just a tap is fine) If that hair is too hot for your finger.. Guess what?! It is too hot for your hair too and it's time to move it off the hair, but if its still not too hot then leave your finger in there for a few more seconds until its too hot for your finger. That is another reason your curls do not stay. You aren't leaving your hot tools in your hair long enough.
So when you are curling your hair you are breaking hydrogen bonds. This happens because of the heat which breaks the bonds while you're curling the hair and when the curl cools down it reforms its new (temporary) shape. Most people when they curl their hair; whether it is with a curling iron, wand, or flat iron, most of them after they removed the hot tool they wrap the new curl around their fingers or try to shape it. Guess what?!?! That is another reason why your curls are not holding. You are messing with your hair but internally you are not allowing those bonds to reform the curl you just created and by the time it forms it will be weak and the curl falls. Remember earlier when I mentioned setting the hair well this is where that comes in. Have you ever used hot rollers or every had your hair put on rollers and sat under the dryer for hours? I bet those curls stayed for awhile. The reason being is when you put a hot roller in your hair it heats up the hair and while it sits on the hair it cools down and when they are cool you took them out. So the bonds in the hair were broken because of the heat and formed its new shape (hot roller) and sat on the hair to cool where the bonds reformed to create the curl. If you are using a curling iron you can do 1 of 2 things. Option 1 is you can curl the hair and do not touch the hair and let it cool completely before combing it out. If you are one of my clients I am sure you have seen me do this. Option 2 is you can curl the hair and very carefully use your fingers to curl the hair back up to the head and use a bobby pin to hold the hair curled or clips (I have used pin curl clips). Let the whole head cool down and then take the pins out and your curls will last.
Now that the hair is all curled and cooled the next step is finishing. I typically use a light hold hairspray or a texture spray. Again less is more. The more product in the hair the more it will weight it down. I try to keep my hands out of my hair as much as I can or if you have a wide tooth comb I would then rake the curls out with either hands or the wide tooth comb. If the curls are a bit much just know they will settle and not be so bouncy or you can use a very little bit of hair oil to calm them down.
Let's recap on what we can do to make our hair curl. First of all you need to make sure that you have the proper tools for the job. I am not asking you to go out and buy a $100 hot tool. I have a wand that I paid $25 for off amazon and it curls my hair just as well as my $150 curling iron I use on my clients. Next is to make sure that you have prepped the hair to be curled and when curling that you aren't taking too big of sections and leaving it on the hair long enough to curl. After curling the hair leave it alone to cool or set it with a clip/pin. At this point the rest is up to you and your preference on how you want to style it. I typically just spray mine with a texture spray and comb mine out with a large comb.
Now that you have read this maybe you can figure out in your own routine what you may have been doing wrong and make some adjustments and be able to curl your hair and it last. I know how frustrating it is to spend so much time to curl hair and it doesn't last. I would love to know what helped for you or what you may have been doing wrong. I hope that this was helpful and if there is any questions please feel free to email me at AmieDoesMyHair@gmail.com .
Commentaires