Wednesday, November 7, 2007

reader request: curly hair help

we are using sjp for a learning model today. her hair is as gorgeous and coveted as jennifer aniston's- and look! this wild mane is what she naturally has to work with. i know some people hate their curly hair- but really it's awesome. it gives the body you need to pull off any style. sjp has worn her hair long, medium, and short with every degree of straight or curliness; no matter what she does it looks great because of the texture and body that her curls give it. here's what you can do with your curls and how to pull it off:



look one: work with it! (the long curl) ok, so we know i am obsessed with beachy curls and long flowy hair. and the reason is this: i have wave in my hair, and my hair is thick and coarse. this is a look i can do to work with my body to make it pretty instead of crazy big. this look is easy easy for even the curliest of hair. it is done one of two ways. 1. if you have really tight curls you need to set it when it's wet. comb through and add a texturizing product. then take large sections and hand form them into curls and bobby pin them loosely to your scalp. blow dry hair like this and then take out pins. use your hands to lightly piece through and tossel, and then apply a gloss finish. this might take a couple times to perfect but it will change your life! 2. if you have just wavy unruly hair, blow dry it first in every direction without using a brush, then use an awesome curling iron (come back tomorrow to see which one i use) and curl from the top down away from your face in large sections. set with a flexible hairspray. (this is how i do my hair).


look two: short tossled curls. this cut is so awesome and easily maintained and is really only available to naturally curled ladies so rejoice! (how i wish i could look like meg ryan in city of angels sometimes!) anyway, the key here is the cut. it must be a very good one, and frankly, there are a lot of not very good hairdressers out there that cannot do this. come see me if you live close or really research to find a good one near you. it's layering and layering some more done just so (really, this is true of long or medium curls too. otherwise you have what we call a triangle). when the cut is done right all you need to do to style is run product through your hair, use your hands to shape the curls and blow dry for a few minutes (depends on the amount of curl you start with how quick this process will be).



three: the mediums and "growing it out lengths". so pretty and just require some combo of the short and long styling. just play around with it. you really won't go wrong with the bobby pinned big sections while it's wet.



four: straitening at any length. if you must. you are very lucky because your straight look will have the body and bounce that naturally straight girls go to great lengths to get. to retain some of the curl apply product and then use a round brush to blow out the hair in every direction. to go absolutely straight you're going to have to go to town with a straightener after a punishing blow dry. i just say go with the curls!



look five: this is where curly girls are the luckiest of all! up do's are beautiful when you have soft waves to be loosley falling out and surrounding your face. for days when you have no time at all throw your hair in a messy bun, pull out a few curls and you'll look like juliette!



work with what you've got. get a good stylist, good product and take an evening to play around with it (these styles take the tiniest bit of practice to perfect). soon you will be able to get these looks in five minutes every morning and feel like a million bucks.
curly hair part two coming tomorrow: curling iron and men's curls and trend predictions!

11 comments:

Jessica said...

thanks for the tips for us curly haired girls. i look forward to trying them out.

Anonymous said...

YAY! love these tips. I always had stick straight hair, but for about the last 5 years it's been getting curlier and curlier, and it's about 1/3 gray, so it's getting coarse too. It's hard to know what to do with it since it's so different than what I spent 30 years with. I can't wait to read tomorrow's! Thanks SO MUCH!!!!!

lindsey said...

In her own words (well, Carrie Bradshaw's words) "I love, love, LOVE" Sarah Jessica Parker. She is fabulous and wonderful and beautiful. I love her hair, and am really excited to try out some of your tips. What a great post!

Urmston Family said...

All right I am totally sold on your blog. Thank you for taking the time and also devoting an entire entry on my question. I am free this Friday night now I know what I am going to do. Just one more question, what kind of product would you suggest. ~Jill

heather said...

wow nicole. quite professional.

shoeaddict said...

Hi, new here. I have curly hair and am wearing it shoulder length right now. I'm thinking of going shorter. I am LOVING Aveda's Be Curly products.

I have a lot of hair but, it's fine. That's not usually the case with curls. I hate it straight and so does everyone who knows me.

Lee said...

Love the tips. And I have her short cut! I totally love it. And I am realizing I need a trim. That was totally my inspiration for my hair.

kara jayne said...

I guess I'm in the medium curly crowd and can't wait to try some of these ideas! Sure love this blog!

scrapwitch said...

thanks for the tips..i have what i call the white girls Diana Ross hairstlye.you know ,from the root .not a brush has touched my hair for years and years ..that afro comb is my fizz stopper ..help me..ive had the same cut for way to long.after 20years from birth with a bad bowl hair cut~scary,im hearing you shudder~ive had it long for almost 15 years now i want a cut /not a trim.but im scared ..visit me to share my horror ..lisa

Yo said...

THANK YOU!!! i have long curly hair. i use paul mitchell "the wash", leave in conditioner, and the mousse. i tried the cheaper stuff, but after about a week of it, my hair doesn't curl as well. it feels flat and i have (GASP!) build up.

i brush my hair out before my shower. i'm a fan of washing hair, not conditioning in shower, and using leave in conditioner. after the leave in conditioner is in, i scrunch it and let it air dry. if i play with it, it gets frizzy. so i try and leave it alone until it's completely dry and i fluff it out.

do you do hair in san diego? you should. it's a short little drive.

Anonymous said...

Well said.