8 Tips for Long Lasting Curls

In the picture below, I’m on day five hair. My curls lasted through three work days, the weekend, two outdoor runs and four night’s sleep. Each day I hop into the shower with my towel covering my hair and then after, apply this dry shampoo to my roots to soak up any oils or sweat from working out.

Although sometimes I dream of pin-straight, manageable hair, my textured, thick, high maintenance mane does have some perks. One being that it holds curls very well! Whether your hair is similar to mine or you struggle to hold curls for even a day, I hope some of these tricks I’ve earned for making my curls last will be helpful to you!
1. Start with a tight curl: While Shirley Temple curls are not desirable, starting with very tight curls will allow your hair to settle naturally. I find that a traditional clamp curling iron gives the most tight curls, that will then settle into the desirable beachy, loose look (more details on that below). With a wand, you’re basically starting with a loose curl right after your hair leaves the iron (since the clamp is what forms a tight curl). Your curl then gets even more loose as the days go on. The tighter the curl you start with, the more likely you’ll still have a curl as the days go on.

2. Use a clamp curling iron: Hair wands are all the trend right now, but honestly curls that last day over day are created with a traditional clamp curling iron. The clamp presses the hair against the barrel, allowing for more a tighter curl at first (that will settle and be loose). The more hair that presses against the iron, the more hair that gets hot and intact within the curl. With a wand, only one side of the hair is being touched with heat and there is nothing applying pressure to the hair to press it against barrel/heat.

3. Swirling barrel iron: To take it up a notch, find a clamp iron that has a spinning barrel. When you have a clamp pressing the hair against the barrel, plus the barrel rotates touching more hair, the better the result. I have been using this one for two years and haven’t found any product that compares. While it’s an investment, it is worth every penny because I spend less time styling my hair and apply less heat to my hair through the week, resulting in less damage and saved time. The swirling barrel feels really unnatural at first, but after three uses I was a barrel twirlin’ pro.

4. Small sections: The smaller the section, the easier it is to apply the heat through the entire chunk of hair. I part my hair into three horizontal sections: the area that touches my neck, the area on the top of my head/frames my face and then the remaining hair located in the middle. I then split each of those three sections into four to six smaller chunks to curl. So to curl my entire head, I create 12-18 curls. These then break up into smaller curls, but that’s how many I create in order to get the most hair heated.

5. Hold the curl to cool: Right when I remove the curl from the curling iron, I lightly hold it in the curl formation for a few moments to cool which allows it to hold it’s shape a bit more. Ideally, setting the curl on your hair with a curl clip will make them last even longer. That’s why you see wedding beauticians clip the bride’s curls!

6. Use a setting cream: After my hair is all curled, I work a dime size amount of this product between my hands. Like many products from this brand, rubbing the cream for a few moments allows the product to warm up and activate. With an open palm, I lightly scrunch my curls. I’ve noticed that using this product really extends the shape of my curls.

7. Zzz with a plan: The downfall to most curls is SLEEP, but we all need that, right? I make my curls last through five nights by using this hair tie and placing my hair above my head. So let’s break it down, I use this hair tie because it truly is the best option for a reduced hair tie indentation line. I dread using traditional pony tails because they leave that dreaded crinkle indentation! While it does leave a bit of an indentation when wrapped around three times, I sleep with it wrapped around once or twice. My hair is very thick, so the amount of times you wrap it around depends on your own hair, but basically just have it be a looser pony, not tight.

8. Keep it healthy: Just with any hair style, working with healthy hair is going to achieve the best results. To keep my hair strong and healthy, I drink collagen peptides daily, take a multivitamin with biotin, use high quality professional grade hair products and trim off dead ends every few months.

I hope these eight tips for long lasting curls were helpful to you! What’s your tip? Let me know if the comments! Xo Mindy

SHOP MY HAIR ROUTINE