Hey everyone :)
I don't know if I've ever talked about it before, but my hair is getting CRAZY long.
Until recently, my hair hadn't passed my shoulders since I was 8 years old.
I started growing it out in 2011 for my wedding (more hair = more updo possibilities ;) and haven't cut it since. I mean, I've gotten it trimmed, but that hardly counts.
Now it reaches the bottom of my rib cage and I absolutely love it.
Just one little problem:
I actually have to find new ways to do my hair now.
When it was short I didn't have to do anything. I could just roll out of bed and it would look cute. Now I have to brush it all the time (and ALOT) and style it in all these different ways so I don't always look the same. So whenever I see new ways to make curling or styling your hair easier, I get really excited.
Which brings us to:
My Adventures with Curlformers
I saw a tutorial for these things about a month ago and freaked out. How has no one thought of this before? It's such a simple idea yet this is the first I've ever heard about it (maybe I'm just out of the loop).
But I'm getting ahead of myself, let me first explain about the product for anyone else that is still out of the know.
Curlformers are flat, hollow spirals made out of plastic mesh with rubber-like ends.
They are sturdy but flexible and are used to curl hair without heat.
Each kit comes with a set of Curlformers (there are different kinds and quantities), and a hair hook. How they work is simple, but since it's probably easier to see than to read about, I'm going to post the tutorial that I found:
Basically, slide the Curlformer onto the hook, use the hook to grip a section of hair, and slide your hair into the Curlformer. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
I ordered a knock off set about 2 weeks ago (the name brand ones are a little expensive for something I had never tried before), and have learned a few things that I wanted to share with anyone who wants to start using these things.
1. Watch ALL the youtube tutorials.
Obviously I'm exaggerating, you can't possibly watch ALL of them. But watch a couple of them at least, you won't be sorry. Since I ordered the knock offs, they didn't come with any sort of instructions. Luckily, I had already watched like 6 different tutorials (not exaggerating this time) and I knew exactly what to do. I believe that the real ones come with paper instructions, but nothing really compares to seeing the process in motion.
2. It really does take some practice.
When I got these in the mail I got started almost immediately. It took a really long time and I got really frustrated and I almost gave up. But like almost anything else, practice makes perfect and it's getting easier every time I use them.
3. Do NOT force your hair through the Curlformer.
While you're figuring out how to get them into your hair, the hook is going to get stuck. It's inevitable. But do not, and I mean do NOT force the hook through. The second it catches, stop and get your hair out. Brush through the section to get rid of the tangles and try again.
If the hook gets stuck it means one of two things is happening:
1) you didn't properly hook your hair and now it's tangling while you're trying to feed it through
or
2) you've hooked too much hair and it's formed a tangled mess inside the curlformer.
Either way it's bad, but the damage can be minimal if you don't try to force it through.
What happens if you're like me and try to force it through because you're pissed and stubborn you ask? You pull out a shit ton of hair and it hurts. No fun.
4. Make sure that your hair is the right amount of damp.
The magic behind these things is that they wrap your wet hair into the shape of ringlets and leave them there to dry that way. That means making sure that your hair isn't too wet or too dry is key. What I do is put all my Curlformers in when my hair is dry and then spritz my whole head with water from a spray bottle. This is ensures that all my hair will have the same amount of wetness while also making my hair only as damp as it needs to be to manipulate the shape of my hair.
5. Sleeping in these things is the WORST.
Seriously. I can't recall a time that I've ever been more uncomfortable that wasn't due to physical illness or pain. Almost every girl on youtube said that they slept in theirs and that it was uncomfortable, but bearable. They are FUCKING liars. I'm sure they meant well, but for reals, they must be robots or some kind of super humans because it's absolutely miserable.
I finished putting them in at about midnight and tried to go to sleep, and there's really no way to get comfortable. If you lay directly on them, you're resting your head on hard plastic. If you try to pull them up or off to one side and rest your head beside them, it yanks the shit out of your hair. I managed to fall asleep eventually, but woke up every time I moved my head. Finally at about 4:30am I said fuck it, dragged myself out of bed and removed all 40 of them. I just couldn't do it anymore.
And it sucks because sleeping on them would be great for shaving time off the process, which brings me to my next nugget of wisdom...
6. They may not need heat, but you may want to use heat.
I don't know about you guys, but I rarely have 3 or 4 hours to waste doing my hair. And yes, I know, you're able to do other things when these things do their thing (like cleaning, or your make-up, etc.). But with the exception of my wedding day (and almost every Halloween), I've NEVER needed more than an hour or so to get ready for anything. So now whenever I use these (after my 4am debacle I mean), I use a soft hood attachment for my hair dryer. It's actually made by the same people that make the real Curlformers. It's really big so you're able to fit all of them inside, and it attaches to almost any hairdryer. And it's the tits. It only takes about a half hour to dry my whole head, which is way faster than just waiting around for it to dry.
7. Like any other curling technique, you NEED to use the right products.
My hair is thick, straight and stubborn. It has a hard time holding curl on a normal day, so you can only imagine the horrific time I've been having with this god damned Virginia humidity. It happened last week. I spent about an hour putting them into my hair, another 30 minutes drying them, and 5 minutes taking them out. My curls were gone in less than 10 minutes, and I could have killed someone. That is A LOT of time to waste you guys, so PLEASE make sure you find a good curl booster or hair spray that will help them keep their shape.
But here's the bottom line:
Now that I've warned you about some of the problems that you are bound to come across, let me just say that
these things really do work.
^^ 4:30am. Thank god you can't see my face
^^ 4:30am. No idea how I managed a smile this early in the morning...
^^My first successful attempt with the hood dryer.
Only did half my head to show the before and after ;)
So yeah.
I know that this post has been crazy long but I really wanted to inform you guys about some of the problems I encountered so that you could avoid them when trying these out. These are actually really cool and easy to use once you get the hang of it, and I don't want anyone to get discouraged because it takes time to perfect. Now that I know how to use them, I absolutely love these things and will probably invest in another set in the near future (the REAL ones this time ;)
I hope you enjoyed this post!
Have you tried using Curlformers before?
Do you have any questions about them?
If so, let me know below ;)
Until next time,
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