How To: Curl Hair with a Straightener

I've been in an exclusive relationship with my clamp curling iron for quite some time now, but I am learning that it's good to branch out and see other hair tools! If you've always seen these beautiful waves on models and wondered why you keep getting the exact same curl pattern with your trusty curling iron, it's because they're not even using a curling iron at all. They're using straighteners! Now, I know a lot of people have already figured out how to curl their hair with a straightener and do it all the time. But for those of us who are slow learners, here is a guide from Cosmopolitan called How to Curl Your Hair With a Straightener that will walk you through it step by step. Mermaid hair is just 7 easy steps away!

I am going to let you in on a little secret. You know how all those girls on IG with perfect beach waves? They’re using hair straighteners to get them. I’m not even kidding—a flat iron (!!!) is how they get those bomb-ass waves and curls. But if you don’t know your way around a flat iron, it can be kind of hard to figure out how TF to maneuver your flat iron through your hair without messing it up. Don’t stress too much about it though—there are only seven easy steps that you need to figure out to get the Insta-worthy hair of your dreams. And if you don’t feel like reading through everything, we have it all in a video for you, here. You’re welcome.

7 Simple Steps

Part a 1-inch section of hair closest to the nape of your neck, and feed the section in between the two clamps of the flat iron. Then, in one fluid motion (or else you’ll create a bunch of not-cute crimps in your hair), twist your wrist away from your face, so the hair flows over (not under) the iron.

To create the curl, you need to make sure the hair continues to wrap around the flat iron’s barrel as you push the iron toward your ends. It’s basically, like, the same technique you’d curl a ribbon with a scissor. Oh, and also a quick reminder: The smaller the section, the curlier your hair will be. So if you want to switch it up and go for some super tight curls, part a section that’s less than 1 inch.