How to Get Waves in Your Hair
Go ahead and make waves: Anyone can transform pin straight hair into bouncy curls with these styling instructions.
Up next in Haircuts & Hair Styling (63 videos)
Get the look of a professional haircut or hairstyle without the salon prices by watching the videos in this hair styling series from Howcast.
You Will Need
- Medium-length or long hair
- Towel or cotton T-shirt
- Mousse
- Blow-dryer with diffuser
- Curling iron
- Bobby pins or clips
- Hair spray
- Hair brush (optional)
Steps
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Step 1
Wash hair
Wash hair and blot excess water with a towel or cotton T-shirt. Distribute mousse from roots to ends.
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Use a tennis ball-size amount of mousse for very long hair; golf ball-size for medium hair.
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Step 2
Dry hair
Using a diffuser attachment, blow-dry your hair while bending forward. Drying it upside down creates volume at the roots.
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Step 3
Curl your hair
Find your natural part. Holding a 1-inch section of hair straight out from your head and holding the curling iron vertically, clamp the iron at the root and wrap the hair around the outside of the barrel, except for 2 inches at the end. Hold for 3 seconds and release; then loosely wrap the curled section around 2 fingers and pin it at the scalp. Repeat until all your hair is curled.
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Alternate the direction in which you wrap each section of hair around the curling iron to create a more natural look.
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Step 4
Set the curls
Using your dryer's diffuser attachment and cool setting, briefly blow-dry the curls to set them; then let the hair set for 5 minutes before releasing the clips.
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Step 5
Finger comb
Very gently finger-comb your curls, or lightly brush them, into your desired style. Finish with a light mist of hair spray, holding the can about a foot away from your head.
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Step 6
Hands off!
Keep your hands off your hair if you want your waves to last. Enjoy your good hair day!
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About 65 percent of American women have naturally curly hair.
