How many of you have had your hair curled with a flat iron at the salon only to have it fall apart by the time you get home? Instead of wishing you had the tools to touch up the hairstyle at home, now you can recreate this look by following these simple steps. If it doesn’t look amazing on the first try just keep practicing!
These instructions will help you achieve beautifully curled hair with your flat iron without having to pay the salon price. In order to make these instructions as useful to you as possible, we are going to give instructions for curly, wavy, and straight hair types.
To achieve the best style results, please follow the instructions for your hair type.
NOTE:
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Hair must be at least shoulder length in order to effectively curl hair with flat iron.
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Do not wash hair directly before styling hair. Your hair produces natural oils that help your style last longer. If you need to wash your hair, do so the night before you plan to curl your hair.
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If at any point in time you smell your hair burning:
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Make sure that hair is completely dry – placing a hot iron on damp hair will cause it to burn.
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Turn down the temperature setting on your flat iron.
STEP ONE
WARNING: Flat irons contain extremely hot plates. Hair can burn if hot plates are placed directly on wet hair or if flat iron is clamped down for a very long time.
DANGER: Flat irons contain extremely hot plates. If hot flat iron is placed directly on skin it can cause severe burns. Avoid direct contact with skin when using a hot flat iron.
STEP TWO
DESCRIPTION OF EQUIPMENT/LIST OF MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT NEEDED
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Flat iron/straightener
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Blow dryer
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Hairbrush
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Hair clips or hair ties
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Mirror
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Heat protector & hair serum
STEP THREE
Gather all materials needed and plug in flat iron. You need to plug in your flat iron first so that it can have enough time to reach the desired temperature. Make sure to plug in flat iron at a safe outlet away from water, and make sure that flat iron lies flat on a sturdy surface.
IDEAL TEMPERATURES:
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CURLY = 380-430°F
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WAVY = 360-380°F
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STRAIGHT = 200-360°F
STEP FOUR
Plug in blow dryer and dry hair until it is completely dry. There should be no damp spots in your hair whatsoever. We recommend brushing your hair while blow drying because it detangles hair and helps hair dry faster. You may also brush hair after blow drying to detangle hair.
STEP FIVE
If you have heat protecting serum at home, place a quarter size amount (unless product specifies otherwise) of the serum in the palm of your hand and apply to hair working from root to tip. This will help fight heat damage to the hair.
STEP SIX
Once hair is completely detangled, make a clean part down the middle of your scalp. Then grab a clip or a hair tie and secure both sections of hair with it. It is important to curl hair in sections because it makes the process easier and it ensures that parts of your hair don’t go uncurled. Sectioning your hair also makes the process much easier. When curling hair you can start with either the right or left side, just make sure you do one whole side (from base of neck to the middle part of your head) before starting on the other side.
STEP SEVEN
Starting at the base of your neck, remove a small section of hair that has been tied off. This should be about 1 square inch section of hair. You can vary this amount based on the size of curl that you want:
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SMALLER SECTION = Tighter curls
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LARGER SECTION = Loose curls