Big (Slightly Messy) Curls Tutorial.

Hey guys, hope you’re all well and are having a lovely last few days of summer!
First off, I just wanted to apologise for being a bit quiet the past week or so, I’m on holiday with no internet, so I’m just trying to use whatever wifi I can find in cafes. I meant to put a post up before I left, but I was so busying working on things that I never got the chance to! So sorry 🙁
Anyway, I’m doing something a little different today, as I was lucky enough to get these absolutely gorgeous emerald ghds ^.^. I’m so excited about them, because not only are ghd straighteners considered the Aston Martin of hair stylers, but these particular ones look so lovely!

 

 

 

I used to constantly borrow my Mum’s ghds as well, so she’ probably pretty pleased that she can properly use hers now that I have these beauties, ha :3.

I’ll be doing a little tutorial on how to get big, bouncy waves/curls like in the first picture, though I’ll also be including instructions on how to make it more uniform-looking like in the original ghd tutorial that I was following (it was the second one down on that  link!).
So first up, put volumising mousse through your towel-dried
hair, before combing it through and roughly drying it (I always hang my head
upside down as I dry  it for extra volume).
I borrowed this Charles Worthington off my Mum, because I didn’t have any
volumising mousse- I used it once (though not this one) and it didn’t seem to
do much!
While it did leave my hair looking much more voluminous than usual (i.e. not flat to my head) even while straight, my hair felt pretty gross (for want of a better word, I’m not too sure how to describe it, it just felt full of product and kind of sticky and greasy..?) It looked alright for a bit, but after a while it got a bit windy, loads of the strands of my hair separated out and I just looked like I needed a good wash, which is not entirely ideal! Brushing it through helped quite a bit, but then I was just brushing all the curls out.
Back to the tutorial, switch your straighteners on so they can heat up while you’re separating out your hair. These ghds are dead simple (and fancy!), you just slide up the switch,the logo lights up, then they heat up in no time, before beeping to tell you they’re ready.

 

Grab a strand- remember, if you want the neater waves to separate each layer into same size sections to work with, but if you want messier different sized curls then you can be more random with the sizing.

 

Then you want to start twisting the section a little loosely around your thumb (because if you do it too tight it can be a pain to get back off your thumb, ha ^.^’), like this:

 

(Yup, that picture’s of a different section of hair, but I completely failed at getting a decent shot of this step on the first strand!)
Just continue winding the length around your thumb until it makes a spiral, then take your thumb out:

 

Then clamp the straighteners down on the spiral for a little while- the original tutorial recommends 6 seconds, but it can totally depend on the thickness of your hair. This can be a bit of a tricky bit, when it comes to avoiding burning yourself, but the best method I found was to hold one half of the spiral before putting the straighteners on the other side and then lightly pushing the rest of the spiral in, so the straightener was in the middle of the spiral (it’s hard to explain but once you’re doing it and have got the knack of it, you’ll be fine!)
Then take the spiral out (again can be tricky, but once you get used to it you’re fine, and even if it falls out you can just twist it back up to how it was!) and clip it to your head to cool. You’re supposed to use nice big hairdressing slide clips like these), but I didn’t have any and had to improvise with standard clips.. much less useful as they hold less hair, ha!

 

Then you just continue on around your head, until everything is pinned up in the spirals (and you somewhat resemble Little Orphan Annie…).

Once all of the spirals are cooled, the you can take them out, lightly twisting the hair in the direction of the curl as you do to help the curl set. You will then most likely then slightly resemble Shirley Temple:

 

So brush it through..

 

 Tah-dahhh! All curly  and whatnot :3. You can finish it with some hairspray if you think you need it.

 

All in all, I’m dead happy with how it came out, there was so much volume to my hair, which lasted until I brushed it out. The ghds were a dream to use, definitely the best straighteners I’ve ever used, and they were really lightweight which is great if you’re holding them up and using them for ages, ha ^.^’! I don’t think I’ll be using that volume mousse again, because of how it made my hair feel and separate in the wind, though maybe it was because I just used too much? Does anyone have one (or something similarly volumising) that they would recommend?

So a quick run-down of everything I used:
ghd V Emerald Styler* – ghd
Volume Salon Finish Body Booster Mousse – Charles Worthington (they don’t seem to make this anymore, it’s been repackaged with a different name, so maybe it will be an improved formula now!)
Random Clips – Collected from round the house
Top – UNIF
Anyway, what did you guys think? Should I do more things
like this every once in a while (I’m sure I’ll get better at it as I go on, or
at least I hope!)? If you have any pointers or anything then I’d love to know
^.^.
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36 Comments

  1. 27th August 2013 / 2:55 pm

    I actually never though of curling my hair this way, may try it for school next week. And those GHDs are gorgeous <3

    Cute to the Fashion

  2. 27th August 2013 / 4:05 pm

    wishing I had your hair right now!

  3. 27th August 2013 / 4:23 pm

    Hair looks like a ,,first class''. I didn`t know it`s that easy, I have to taste, but I don`t have such equipment as you. Beautiful curls, such a change is good once in a while. And I hope that you spent a good time on vacation!

  4. 27th August 2013 / 4:33 pm

    you have such gorgeous hair! love the retro vibe you have when you curl your hair, very cool. but its beautiful straight too.

    x
    http://1finedai.blogspot.com/

  5. 27th August 2013 / 5:44 pm

    Great tutorial, I've never tried curling my hair this way so I'll definitely be trying it out! x

    Taxi for Jackson

  6. 27th August 2013 / 6:32 pm

    You look absolutely gorgeous with curls! and I would love to do curls as well, but I have so much hair it would take a really long time :/ but you make me want to do it anyways haha hope you're enjoying your vacation!
    xx Ayesha

    http://ayeshaalimfashion.blogspot.com/

  7. 27th August 2013 / 7:37 pm

    I love colour of your hair

  8. 27th August 2013 / 7:55 pm

    I think it would be fantastic if you do more post like this. I would like to know how you dye your hair, which brand and number you use, and how you do your eyebrows' make up, or if you dye them too. I have a similar hair color and I just don't know what to do with my brown eyebrows. Thanks!! 🙂

    • 27th August 2013 / 8:36 pm

      Heya ^.^ Well thankyou ^.^ I guess I'll have to give some more posts like this a go!
      Unfortunately I don't think I can be much help with this lovely, as I don't actually dye my hair (other than an unfortunate run-in with some temporary vegetable rinse stuff for a hair show I was in a few years back), this colour is my natural colour! So I don't know anything about dye numbers or anything I'm afraid 🙁
      As for eyebrows, mine are naturally a little loghter than how they are here, they're more of a strawberry blonde colour. I just darken them and fill them in with Benefit's Brow Zings kit in light! Maybe of you used that after lightening your eyebrows or something that could work? Though I really have no idea though 🙁 sorry I can't be of much help lovely!x

    • 28th August 2013 / 9:59 am

      Okay, I have to look for all the options I have for my eyebrows. Thanks anyway for answering!
      And , oh! I really love your natural hair color, I thinks it's wonderful 😀

  9. 27th August 2013 / 9:26 pm

    Oh my god!! Olivia seriously i swear your getting more beautiful every time i read your blog!? Your hair looks so gorgeous curly, loved the tutorial! And those green straighteners are to die for LOVE the colour of them! xxx

    http://www.heldtogetherbypins.blogspot.co.uk/

  10. 27th August 2013 / 11:20 pm

    Wow that turned out awesome! I've never heard of that method before…I should definitely try it!

    heyniki.wordpress.com

  11. 28th August 2013 / 12:04 am

    what a beauty!

  12. 28th August 2013 / 9:22 am

    I adore the color of your hair =)

  13. 28th August 2013 / 10:59 am

    The curls are amazing, your hair colour just makes everything look even better!

    Roshni’s Journey

  14. 28th August 2013 / 11:44 am

    Ah I've never heard of this way to curl hair before, definitely going to try it! x
    (p.s your hair colour is incredible, I'm sure you get that all the time!)

  15. 28th August 2013 / 1:58 pm

    oh so beautiful <3

  16. 29th August 2013 / 1:22 am

    You've got the most beautiful hair in the world. Love this tutorial!

    Xo, Hannah

    sweetsweetnoir.net

  17. 29th August 2013 / 5:14 pm

    Hey Olivia! I love your blog. You are beautiful and have a great sense of style ^^.

    I really liked your tutorial, please make more.
    I have one question: which camera do you use to take your pictures? The colors in your pictures are are amazing!

    xoxo,
    Isabelle

  18. 29th August 2013 / 11:33 pm

    Ohmygosh, I've never heard of this type of curling before… But it's such a great idea! Thank you so much for sharing… I'm going to have to try this asap! You look beautiful, btw. Lovely pictures too!
    Hugs & Kisses,
    Olivia

  19. 30th August 2013 / 7:20 am

    Ohh, so beautiful, you look great! <3

  20. 31st August 2013 / 2:43 am

    You are out of control gorgeous! And I just love how big your hair is in the post. This tutorial makes it seem so easy to get such big hair. I'll have to give it a try! You should definitely do more hair tutorials, and perhaps makeup tutorials too.

  21. 5th September 2013 / 8:44 pm

    OMG your hair looks gorgeous like this! And you much more beautiful than you are 😉 so in future no more curls gorgeous! lol Im crap with hair 🙁 it doesnt do anything… The colour of those GHDs are gorgeous!

    Hayley xx
    http://www.addictionstoshopping.blogspot.com

  22. 19th September 2013 / 8:58 am

    Completely stunning x

  23. 26th September 2013 / 6:23 pm

    I love your hair ! <3