Curler for DD(13) with fine hair

[SeasonalWitch]

Dd’s hair is fine, quite thin and not at all sleek/shiny. She loves plaiting her hair overnight after washing and having a bit of a wave in it for a few hours the next day.

I was hoping to get her some kind of curling aid for Christmas, possibly heatless so that she can do it by herself, but i don’t mind helping her if there’s an effective heated option.

I have curly hair and therefore know nothing about curling straight hair like hers. There’s so much on the market but the “results” are mostly on luscious thick and shiny hair.

Any recs for something that would suit her age and hair type? Or any products that would help the curl to hold nicely?

TIA

A lot of people on instagram seem to use those heatless curls sets that are like a long padded sausage (based on the dressing gown belt method I believe) and clips to attach the hair to it, I saw some candy cane themed satin sets in Primark the other day but lots of places sell them.

Thanks Hamster, I’ve seen those but didn’t know if they created curls with any staying power? Do you need any extra products?

I must admit I haven't used them myself, (I've got thick wavy hair). Is her hair very very straight? Very straight fine hair often struggles to hold a curl at all even with heat styling I think and I wouldn't encourage heat styling at this age as it's quite damaging and so time consuming.

I would probably try putting mousse or a light gel in the hair when it's damp for some grip and then using the heatless curls kit on maybe slightly damp hair overnight. I think if she can get a wave from plaits then she will get a curl from the kit, (and it's a different kind of curl, more grown up and fashionable which she'll probably like) and a bit of mousse or gel should help with hold. Obviously she could also use a hairspray after taking the heatless curls out.

As it's for a present maybe you could put a little set together with some products, the kit and maybe a silk pillowcase. this kit is made from silk rather than polyester which is nicer for a gift and more environmentally friendly but like I said they are everywhere at every price point: https://mermadehair.co.uk/products/heatless-curls-kit

I think it's great that it's fashionable to embrace your own hair texture and not to use heat on your hair now, it's so damaging, and such a big time suck, I remember straightening mine every day before school.

If you look up #heatlesscurls on Instagram or Tiktok you should get loads of videos of people demonstrating these types of kits and other methods, I would see if you can find anyone with similar hair to your daughter.

I've just found this youtube tutorial and this girl has pretty thin, fine and short hair and I think the results look good, certainly as good as heat styling would:

There are ones on amazon that kinda stuck the hair in. Presume there is heat involved. Also waving wands that look good. Santa is bringing both to my 5 year old who is mad about herself! 😂

I use one of those heartless curlers for my flat, straight hair and I love it. Holds a curl far better than the eye-wateringly expensive Dyson air wrap. It does mean showering at night instead of the morning or using a shower cap in the morning as you have to leave it overnight but it’s worth it.

@hamsterchump Fantastic, thanks hamster. I’ll give that a watch now. A little set would make a lovely gift.

@RainbowCrayons Good to know it works for you. It would suit DD as she showers at night anyway. I was watching some videos about blow dry brushes earlier, dreading having to do all that faff before we leave for school at 7:45 in the morning!

Heatless curlers are fab i use one and sleep in it, it was a cheap one from amazon and worth its weight in gold. Get one of the soft bands that have a bendy wire in the padding not one of the harder tube types then she can sleep in it and unravel in the morning to curls. After a day mine drop to strong waves but the texture lasts days until i wash again. The sucky in heated things are good but you want to avoid heat on fine hair especially at her Age. Like a pp said there are loads of u tube videos about how to use them but its quite simply just wrapping chunks around gathering more as you go then securing it, dampish hair not wet.