Flat-iron waves with GHDs - do I need a different tool?

[lawn]

I am totally rubbish at hair styling but love the beachy waves my hairdresser did with straighteners last weekend so am going to give them another go myself. I'm wondering if I'm making life harder by using my old classic GHDs, but I do have a tendency to buy excess hair gadgets. Will I still be crap with an alternative tool? Should I persevere with the one I have?

Any other tips?

I can use GHD's to get curls more than soft waves - I know it's possible but I find it quite hard to do. It does take some practice to get the technique right. I think the longer your hair the harder it is to do yourself.

I have a Mark Hill Elipse wand i think it's called and it is great for soft curls/waves and looks really natural. I don't think it was expensive either and takes about the same time for me to do as with my GHD's.

I generally keep my GHD's for straight hair days as I'm not keen on the curls it gives my hair and I can't do waves with it at all.

Agree with Pp. I can easily curl my hair with straighteners but it's more curl than waves. I use a tong for waves.

Thanks both. I have tongs but they give me more of a ringlet effect than beach waves. What am I doing wrong?

Ghds can definitely do waves, imo better than a tong/wand.

It took me a while to get the hang of it - I do sort of the same movement as if I'm making a curl but a bit less of a turn and a bit quicker. I'm afraid I think it's just practice- I did have a full head of curls quite a lot while I was trying to get the hang of it.

Don’t waste money on new gadgets. You need to spend time in front of a mirror practising until you have it perfected.

Why not contact your hairdresser and ask if you can book an appointment for her to teach you how to do it yourself? A short 1:1 session should be enough to learn the technique. Then just keep practising.

Thanks both, I am going to try with my GHDs + YouTube today! And will ask hairdresser if I can't get the hang of it on my own

When pulling the straighteners through your hair, pull DOWN instead of out to the side a bit. That’ll wave it rather than curl.

Thanks CeeCee but I never get a curl with straighteners! Only with tongs. With straighteners I use the techniques I see on YouTube, but my hair stays more or less straight!

I ended up doing beachy waves with my Dyson Airwrap today but they're not quite as smooth and long-lasting as I think I might get if I can get the flat-iron method to work so will try again soon - all tips gratefully received!