Hair How To: For the Round Brush Challenged

I feel like imparting some hard won hair wisdom.  For years I’ve struggled with my own mane.  Thick and fine, it tangles like unspooled fishing line jostled in a tackle box for too long (my apologies for the analogy – you can take a girl out of the country…), if you don’t fish you’ll have to trust me on this.    Once it gets to a certain length it starts to look like I should be part of the Pride roaming through southern Africa.  And not in a good way.  For years I drooled over long, perfect celebrity hair thinking to myself, “I don’t have the right type for it; it isn’t to be.”  I kept my hair in a boring medium length all through my teens and early twenties, prime long hair time in a girl’s life.

Eventually I realized that to keep my hair long it needed to be thinned and layered regularly.  And as for those startlets, one word:  extensions.  Hair trends have been going toward a messy bed-head look, or soft loose curls for seasons.  And I wondered, how can I do that?  After experimenting I’ve got a fool proof way that does not involve a round brush.  If you’re one of the lucky few who can wield one, quit your job and offer your services, we need you!

This post is already long, so I’ll keep it simple:

You’ll need: A plastic brush with holes in the back (to let in the heat from the dryer), a straightener, a medium or large barrel curling iron, shine spray, and a fine tooth comb – all available at the drug store.

Let your hair air dry for 15-20 min, it makes the blow drying process a lot shorter. Comb your damp hair to get any tangles out.  Blow dry your hair straight by pulling the brush through it as you dry — it doesn’t have to be perfect.  After you’re finished your hair will probably look frizzy, don’t worry you aren’t done yet.

Clip the top of your hair up, and run the straightner through the bottom and then the top section, this will eliminate frizz and unwanted volume, for a smooth texture. It helps to use the comb with the straightener for more control of straightening each section.  Next, bust out your curling iron.  If you want soft curls wrap sections of your hair around the barrel (medium sized), do not clamp them in.  If you want your hair to have that salon straightened round brushed look, take the large (and I do mean the larger the better) iron, clamp in hair sections and curl the ends.  They’ll gently curve inward, rather than be curled.

Finally, spritz on your shine spray, it’s unbelievable how it makes a difference.  Next up:  Bed Head.

Tags: Hair, round brush

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