What do you use to curl your hair?

[Plump82]

I have straight/slightly wavy, thick, very long hair which doesn't really hold a curl and currently use a conical wand as it stays reasonably curly but im never keen on the shape of curl it gives.

In the past I've tried my straighteners but I just can't get a hang of using them to curl. Also tried heatless curls which are probably the type of curl I'm after and just couldn't get them to work either! Plus I barely slept a wink with it in.

Does anyone have any suggestions. I don't have the budget for a airwrap etc so that's definitely out.

I use the original version of this but I wouldn’t recommend as thick or long hair takes ages and it very often gets stuck.

Also looking for something easier/faster.

My hair sounds like yours. I use a babyliss wand with a large barrel.

BaByliss Soft Waves amzn.eu/d/0aZ8BIwH

That looks very familiar! I think i might have that 😂 I have a box of hair stuff I'm very rarely in so will look now.

@AFmammaG I bought one of them and it went straight back as it couldn't take all the full length of my hair. My hair is way past my bra so the weight of it probably doesn't help it keeping a curl.

I wish I had returned mine. I was going to update my post to say as well, it advertises different settings with different curls but every setting looks the same in my hair! It takes me well over half an hour to do my hair with it.
I would love a gadget that gives curls quickly. I also have long, quite frizzy hair and it doesn’t straighten nicely either so often end up putting it in a bun.

I have an airwrap. It's not the best.

My hair doesn't hold a curl apart from when I use chopstick tongs. You can control how tight the curl by the amount of hair you tong at one time. The curl stays in my hair until my next wash which is nothing short of a miracle!

You can get chopstick tongs on Amazon and they're pretty inexpensive.

DD has v long thick hair - down to her bottom. She doesn't like to use heat on her hair. Until a couple of years ago, she would twist it around a thick dressing gown belt and sleep in it for waves.
I got her what I called an 'octocurl' from Ale Hop in Spain a couple of years ago and despite being sceptical at first, she uses it each time she washes her hair.

It's a soft band with 8 legs that you wrap hair round then secure with the stretchy band on the legs. She undoes the main band to sleep in. She gets lovely curls that last well considering the weight of her hair. It took her a while to get used to the technique but she does it with no mirror now in about 5 mins on damp hair. She'll give it a quick blast with a hairdryer if she thinks it's too damp to dry overnight

It appears all over the place if you Google octocurl lol

Octopus Heatless Curling Rod, Heatless Curling Rod Headband, Octopus Hair Curler Heatless Curling Rod Headband, Soft No Heat Hair... amzn.eu/d/0c3J7fZV

I used a Jose eber curling wand and they hold quite well.

Have you tried to foil curls? You roll the hair into a curl with your fingers, wrap in tinfoil and clamp with the straighteners. Once cooled remove the tinfoil. There's YouTube videos on this method and the curls last for ages.

Ooh the octocurl sounds interesting! I think it'd find that easier that the one long thing that goes over your head. I've not tried the tinfoil technique, sounds similar to using rags?

Bought a Glamouriser after a similar thread on here last year. I’ve got wavy hair, and I’ve never been able to curl it with straightners. It Holds the curl, really quick easy to use. I’ve had loads of compliments every time I use it.

@Redcrayons do you mind if I ask how long your hair is? It looks a lot like the product I posted upthread which can’t cope with my long hair.

The octopus thing looks interesting but I can’t sleep with wet hair and can’t afford to lose a night of sleep for curly hair. I wonder if it would still work for very damp hair @wwyd2021medicine?

Just checked out the link… photos like this always make me really suspicious 🤣 it looks like it also creates a fabulous balayage effect!

Maybe not what you're thinking of but my hair will dry straight if left or brushed but it can be quite thick and a bit wavy so after washing I just hand scrunch it with gel and it dries in little coils but obviously depends on your natural hair too as I find curling it after it's dried straight doesn't last.

I have a GHD rise hot brush and find it easy to use, there are a lot of tutorial videos on YouTube so might be worth seeing if you can find one by someone who has similar hair to you. GHD regularly have discounts or promotions on the hot brushes so don’t pay full price for it.

@AFmammaG it was probably 3/4 inches past the nape of my neck when I first bought it.

my hair isn’t that thick so I could probably have used it with longer hair.

Octocurl
Her hair is v thick and heavy - most claw clips aren't strong enough

That's exactly me . I too have air wrap but the only curler I've found to hold a curl is chopstick . I use a cheap babyliss one off Amazon.

Does the chopstick not take forever to do. The curls a bit tighter than I'm after. I had a look and do infact have the babyliss @GargoylesofBeelzebub linked. Gave my hair a curl with it so I'll see how long they last.

Have you tried different styling methods to see if they help?

I thought that my hair was pretty straight and frizzy if not heat styled straight

It turns out that I have type 2B/C hair and just need to style differently
Lots of scrunching and mousse helps my hair to hold my waves / curls

I've tried a few different mousses to try and enhance the wave and it doesn't do much to be honest. And scrunching just left it really knotty! I'm pretty low maintenance with my hair as I work from home but I've got a long weekend away coming up where it's likely to be wet and hot so thought my hair tied back with it curled could be nice.

After curling I pin my hair up until it cools completely which helps the curls stay. I also curl it tighter than the look I want as it does always drop a bit.