You use curling irons when you want your hair to look voluminous and beautiful. However, if you’re struggling to get the style you really want to have or you notice your curls fall out in less than an hour, there’s a good chance you’re making one of the most common mistakes in using a curling iron.
Not Prepping Your Hair
To get nice curls, you have to prep your hair. This is like building a house. You have to create a good foundation to keep it going. To do this, first apply a heat protectant product (important to prevent breakage), then dry your hair completely. This will seal the cuticles and help hold your curls together, and avoid heat damage from using the iron on wet hair. Use pre-ironed glaze styles for control and texture. If you find that your hair is very difficult to curl, go ahead and spray some hairspray before you use the iron.
Setting Heat Level Too High
You should pay attention to the existing heat control settings in place of the equipment you are using to complete your style. Some of these products allow you to control the exact temperature, while others only have basic low, medium and high settings.
There’s no one good reason to use your curling iron on the highest setting, as you could accidentally burn some of your hair, or cause serious damage to your ends. Keep the temperature around 250 degrees Fahrenheit or less for safety.
Wrapping the hair around the curling iron barrel for too long
You want to have perfect curls, but leaving your strands in a hot iron for a few minutes isn’t a good way to do that. In fact, if you leave it on for a long time, your hair can burn right away! The last thing you want to do is burn off some of those lovely strands. If you want to have loose curls, consider letting the strands wrap around the iron for about four or five seconds. If you want them to look a little tighter, the longest it will take to hold the iron in place is about 10 seconds.
Curling Too Many Hairs at Once
While picking up a slightly larger section of hair can give you looser waves, perming too much at once is also not a good idea. You won’t get an even distribution of heat across the section, causing your curls to fade. For the most natural look, wrap a small section of hair around the barrel of your iron using the technique described above (and make sure the sections aren’t all exactly the same size — your curls will look more natural this way).
Buying Curling Iron in Clearance
If you curl your hair frequently, you should buy a good curling iron with a ceramic barrel. There is a difference between spring hinge iron and marcel iron with swivel handle. Although it may take some getting used to, Melville recommends using a marcel iron, as the clips on the springs can cause unwanted creases in your curls. The marcel iron can also be used to curl hair like a wand with no clips at all — simply roll your hair around the iron and hold the ends. Experts recommend leaving the iron tip completely for a more natural “untidy” look.
